Temporary Health Insurance

[Bugs 455]

My fiance was approved for a fiance visa, and she will be arriving at the end of December. We will get married January 1st.

I plan on putting her on my employer health plan which will take effect Feb. 1. This means I will need to get some form of health insurance to cover her for the month of January, especially due to the fact our honeymoon will involve some skiing. And (seperate question) does the Obamacare mandate require she be insured every month?

So where/what do I do to find some form of good temporary insurance that will cover her in case of injury during the month of January? I hear that traveler's insurance can balk if they learn that she was actually an intending immigrant. Is this true?

Thanks in advance.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Leon & Mylen

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you get married Dec 31 then you can claim her as your wife for all of 2013 on your taxes. It's worth about $3k.

Why does your employer insurance not start until Feb?

[KailuaPancake 0]

I'm not familiar with US health insurance plan and not sure if this service would help your case, but I found this information.

http://www.immigrationhealth.com/

Hope this helps

[keljopy 1]

My husband couldn't be on my insurance until he had proof of residing in Michigan (which was after a couple months when he got his drivers license) so I put him on http://www2.sevencorners.com/. He never needed to use it, so honestly I can't tell you how it is and I have no idea how things work under Obamacare, but I would think she should be exempt until she actually becomes a resident after AOS, which should be after February unless they are super fast. So I wouldn't think she would be subject to fines or anything. I don't know though, maybe someone else knows for sure?

[Bugs 455]

If you get married Dec 31 then you can claim her as your wife for all of 2013 on your taxes. It's worth about $3k.

Why does your employer insurance not start until Feb?

Well it's rather too late to change it to Dec. 31, as things are reserved. Besides, many guests wouldn't be able to attend on New Year's Eve due to plans. But I do agree that would have been nice.

Employer plan indicates that added family members take effect on the 1st of the following month.

[Bugs 455]

I'm not familiar with US health insurance plan and not sure if this service would help your case, but I found this information.

http://www.immigrationhealth.com/

Hope this helps

This looks promising. I'll look into it. Thanks!

[NickD 203]

A thousand different health insurance companies, a thousand different sets of rules. No problem in adding my wife and stepdaughter to my plan, but it sure didn't cover that I-693 expense. Was out of pocket, and since only USCIS approved doctors can fill out that simple form, most of them tend to rob you to death.

Took quite a search, but found an honest doctor that filled it out for 600 bucks per person, but was 300 miles away. Same qualified doctor in town wanted 5,000 bucks per person. Was sure worth the drive.

What can I say? You have to look and look hard. And insurance companies are regulated by state, with 50 different ones to deal with.

[agnesb 47]

Well it's rather too late to change it to Dec. 31, as things are reserved. Besides, many guests wouldn't be able to attend on New Year's Eve due to plans. But I do agree that would have been nice.

Employer plan indicates that added family members take effect on the 1st of the following month.

For a saving of 3k i'd quietly get married in the courthouse before the end of the 2013 and the actual wedding ;-) then that would solve the problem of adding her to your insurance, you could ad her in january :-)

[Bugs 455]

A thousand different health insurance companies, a thousand different sets of rules. No problem in adding my wife and stepdaughter to my plan, but it sure didn't cover that I-693 expense. Was out of pocket, and since only USCIS approved doctors can fill out that simple form, most of them tend to rob you to death.

Took quite a search, but found an honest doctor that filled it out for 600 bucks per person, but was 300 miles away. Same qualified doctor in town wanted 5,000 bucks per person. Was sure worth the drive.

What can I say? You have to look and look hard. And insurance companies are regulated by state, with 50 different ones to deal with.

Holy cow that's a ridiculous price for the medical. Hopefully, being in a large city (San Diego), I can find something more reasonable.

[Bugs 455]

For a saving of 3k i'd quietly get married in the courthouse before the end of the 2013 and the actual wedding ;-) then that would solve the problem of adding her to your insurance, you could ad her in january :-)

Yes, I'm actually considering that, for that reason.

However, as far as adding her to my plan, I wouldn't be able to do so until I get the marriage certificate, and then have to fill out the forms to add her to my plan, which would take extra days to process as well (not to mention my employer will be on break during the holidays, as I will be). So she wouldn't be covered for most of January anyways even if we did marry at the end if December.