Petitioners please read!!!!

[Iluvromania 0]

First Id like to thank everyone. Without your help I would have been lost on how to get my fiance over here. Thank you all. Ok here is what I found, when your fiance or family member gets here they are probably going to need medical care. Vaccination, dental work, etc. When you get married and add them to you insurance. You will have a chance for a new open enrollment for qualifying events. I highly recommend everyone opening a flexible spending account. The vaccinations for my wife were about 300 dollars. Would have been more if she had to get a full medical. You also should consider 2 copays for dentists, doctors, glasses etc.

[Robert&Karen 264]

Assuming everyone has insurance. I got all the shots needed for $10 each at the County medical center. They are $5 each through insurance plus I pay a grand a month for the coverage. Not a good deal. I'd rather have insurance for cataclysmic events and spend pocket change on shots and stuff.

[Iluvromania 0]

Robert for me it was not pocket change, especially after paying for a $1500. plane ticket. The health department wanted about $400. for varicella, mmr, tdap and the flu. Also all ( accept Mercy ST Vincent) Civil Surgeons in my state wanted to charge 200 dollars for the appointment plus $300-$500 for the shots that wasnt including a medical exam. All of the civil surgeons in S.E Michigan and Ohio didnt accept insurance for the vaccinations or the filling out the paperwork. The civil surgeon did state that I may be able to submit the vaccines to the insurance company. Even with that there will still be some other medical expenses that a person who had a flex account would receive money back for.

1000 a month for insurance? Good God, I hope you are a business owner or something or your employer plan is pretty bad.

[Robert&Karen 264]

My plan covers 4 people, anything including previous bad medical things, with a $5 deductible. It was the cheapest one offered to me!

[Iluvromania 0]

$5. deductible is great. Mine are 20. The health departments around here used to give vaccinations for free, I guess everyone is broke these days. OMG the civil surgeons list needs to be updated. None of them really knows the law. I tried to tell them that certain visa types only need vaccinations. I called about 15 of them before 1 of them actually knew what was going on.

[rkk1 34]

Hmm. I'm confused. I could add my husband (who's in India) to my medical plan, paying a bit extra to have him on there. He won't be coming to the US for another 10 months or so until our CR1 visa is approved. How would this save us money by adding him? I think all the medical tests he would be doing would be in India.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I am confused too. County health services were free for her until we were married. Once we got married, I put her on my insurance. Vaccinations, reproductive services, and preventative care are covered at no cost.

Edited January 16, 2012 by ☼

[EminTX 131]

What? Get health insurance on my spouse? Are you crazy? Next thing, you'll be suggesting that we demonstrate our love by being more responsible and having LIFE INSURANCE, too! ;) ;)

Dave Ramsey's Basic Insurance Requirements

[Mononoke28 135]

Having a Flexible Spending Account may make sense to some people but not to all. I had an FSA for three years and every year I didn't get to spend everything I put in it which meant I lost some of it at the end. After thinking it over I came to the conclusion that unless I planned every check up, every exam, every vaccine, and every emergency I may have the following year, which is not only crazy but impossible to do, it didn't make sense to put in X amount of money and then lose it if I didn't use it all. So anyone who's interested in opening an FSA needs to think of all those factors before making a final decision.

Diana

[EminTX 131]

For me, I cut down the coverage to catastrophic care and then bank the rest of the difference from my old full coverage plan into an account with a debit card. I used that when I went to South America to pay for a small surgical procedure and dental care. I also pay for my medicines with it. There is no hassle or scams with it. While I don't have enough in that account to pay for an appendectomy yet, I do have enough to pay for an emergency root canal or some outpatient surgeries. The account is building quickly. This has been only 6 months.

My sister had an HSA with her company and several payments to the cardiologist were refused AFTER THE FACT. Many months after the fact. She had all her documentation and it was legit, but no dice. The organization withdrew the payment (easy to do when there are thousands of patients with that plan) and my sis was stuck with that bill. I think the IDEA of the HSA is like communism. It sounds pretty until it is put into practice--then it screws too many people.