Can we use travel insurance until open enrollment?

[mlh 93]

So I've done loads of searches on here, but I can't find anything similar to what I think we might need to do...Any help would be appreciated.

My husband is going to be coming over the end of July to help move us into our new house. His interview is next week, and now that the visa system is back online, he will (hopefully) have his visa by the time he leaves on the 29th, so he will technically be entering as an LPR. The thing is that he'll only be here for about 10 days and then will head back to the UK. Due to some work obligations, he won't be actually moving here permanently until the end of November.

I know that thanks to Obama, he is now required to have insurance, and I can add him to my insurance through work, which isn't a problem, but just looking at the cost, it would cost us over $1300 for basically only one month of him being in the country. My question is, could we get away with him buying travel insurance to cover the end of Nov through the end of the year, and then I can enroll him in my insurance during open enrollment for 2016 coverage?

I just checked Turbo Tax and the only thing it asks when going through the questions is do you have insurance. There is nothing to validate whether or not you do. I will have insurance for the full year and technically, he will be covered by UK National Insurance, and then travel insurance.

Is this an option, or do we have to suck it up and basically throw away $1300?

He does have a heart issue, so gambling and not having any coverage just for a month is not an option for us, just in case something happened.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

Travel insurance likely won't cover him, because it is for travelling and not immigrating. I know others whose claims have been denied.

You could look into "short term insurance" privately- it i what we did for our kids so they'd have insurance the day we arrived, and was quite affordable; we had a choice of enrolling for 1-6 months.

[D.Ba 85]

No, travel insurance won't cover. As soon as he is leaving the country to immigrate, he is not a resident of UK anymore. My (German) travel insurance is quite explicit on this topic in its conditions. His claims would be denied for sure.

I will be with my then husband's insurance once we're married, but sure as heck I am taking out a short-term insurance from the moment I set foot into the country until marriage. It costs between 100 and 250 USD per month, varying according to deductibles, co-payment and doctor's network.

If you look up short-term insurance, make sure it's for incoming foreigners from day one (not all of them are!). No advertising, but there's even plans that have names like Inbound Immigrant ...

[mlh 93]

Thanks for the help! I knew it was a long shot on the travel insurance, so I'll start my research on the short term policies out there.

[yuna628 9,528]

As you should know all citizens and immigrants of certain status must obtain health insurance or pay the penalty. Travel insurance will neither count as designated ''health insurance'' nor will it offer appropriate coverage you're looking for. Your husband's NHS would certainly take care of him while he is out of the USA, but as for paying for coverage in the US, how long you wait to obtain coverage will be up to you.

I would like to make it clear (because it's often misunderstood) that there is no need to wait until open enrollment. You'll be using the federal exchange, and that is even clearer on the subject. Your husband counts under special circumstances enrollment, for becoming a new immigrant. Since he already has LPR status proving that becomes even more simple. Check out the link in my signature about immigration and the health exchange. You'll see sections about what status qualifies him, what documents he needs to prove his status, and there's also further descriptions on the site about special enrollment.

If you don't want to wait and add him to your work insurance, I don't think under the federal law, that they have the right to make you wait until their own ''open enrollment'' period either. I would at least browse around the federal exchange, if your employment gives you the runaround (usually due to ignorance or illegality) and see if there is a cheaper offer.

Depending on how long your husband is away, I would simply go ahead and bite the bullet so to speak. Sticker shock now or sticker shock later. It takes a while to get all the paperwork in anyway.

Edited June 24, 2015 by yuna628

[mlh 93]

As you should know all citizens and immigrants of certain status must obtain health insurance or pay the penalty. Travel insurance will neither count as designated ''health insurance'' nor will it offer appropriate coverage you're looking for. Your husband's NHS would certainly take care of him while he is out of the USA, but as for paying for coverage in the US, how long you wait to obtain coverage will be up to you.

I would like to make it clear (because it's often misunderstood) that there is no need to wait until open enrollment. You'll be using the federal exchange, and that is even clearer on the subject. Your husband counts under special circumstances enrollment, for becoming a new immigrant. Since he already has LPR status proving that becomes even more simple. Check out the link in my signature about immigration and the health exchange. You'll see sections about what status qualifies him, what documents he needs to prove his status, and there's also further descriptions on the site about special enrollment.

If you don't want to wait and add him to your work insurance, I don't think under the federal law, that they have the right to make you wait until their own ''open enrollment'' period either. I would at least browse around the federal exchange, if your employment gives you the runaround (usually due to ignorance or illegality) and see if there is a cheaper offer.

Depending on how long your husband is away, I would simply go ahead and bite the bullet so to speak. Sticker shock now or sticker shock later. It takes a while to get all the paperwork in anyway.

Thanks Yuna. As I mentioned, I know he can be added to my insurance plan as soon as he gets here due to a life changing event, we're just trying to avoid the extra expense of $1300 when he won't even be here from Aug through Nov.

I've followed the Exemptions Tool on the healthcare.gov website and since he is a bona fide resident of another country for 2015 and the UK has an income tax treaty with the US, he is exempt from having to pay the fee for the months he didn't have US health coverage, so looks like we'll be going with the short term coverage just for the 6 weeks or so at the end of this year until he is covered.

For anyone else that may need it, here's the link to the tool.

https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions-tool/#/

[Darnell 8,478]

usually, immigrating is a life changing event deemed as such by an insurance company.

suggest you contact a supervisor inside of the insurance company and have a quick talk about it.

[ChristinaG 91]

usually, immigrating is a life changing event deemed as such by an insurance company.

suggest you contact a supervisor inside of the insurance company and have a quick talk about it.

My hubby (in Michigan) checked with his... they are a major carrier, and they will not count immigration of spouse/kids as a major life event. I laughed - hard at that one!! We will be without coverage for only a couple of months as his open enrollment is October. He could have added us when we were married last year, but the cost of paying the family rate just wasn't worth it with all the other major immigration expenses

I've found a couple sites that sell short term policies and I will probably get one to cover the kids (just in case) but will chance it for the two months for myself.....

[mlh 93]

usually, immigrating is a life changing event deemed as such by an insurance company.

suggest you contact a supervisor inside of the insurance company and have a quick talk about it.

My hubby (in Michigan) checked with his... they are a major carrier, and they will not count immigration of spouse/kids as a major life event. I laughed - hard at that one!! We will be without coverage for only a couple of months as his open enrollment is October. He could have added us when we were married last year, but the cost of paying the family rate just wasn't worth it with all the other major immigration expenses

I've found a couple sites that sell short term policies and I will probably get one to cover the kids (just in case) but will chance it for the two months for myself.....

Yes it is a life changing event. I've already had that fun go round with my HR dept because initially they said it wasn't, and when I escalated it, they actually called the insurance broker and found out that it IS considered a LCE. Christina, not sure if you can try the same, or if they are totally set at your husband's company that it is not.

My problem is that the LCE happens in July when he comes over to move, because that's when his visa will be stamped for entry, and I know we only have 30-60 days to add him, but we don't want to add him then because that would be 4 months of premiums down the drain while he's back in the UK because he won't be permanently moving until the end of Nov.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I would have your husband check on when that coverage will start - an Open Enrollment period in Oct usually implies a January start date for next year - for most employers. You would be without coverage until next Jan 1

My hubby (in Michigan) checked with his... they are a major carrier, and they will not count immigration of spouse/kids as a major life event. I laughed - hard at that one!! We will be without coverage for only a couple of months as his open enrollment is October. He could have added us when we were married last year, but the cost of paying the family rate just wasn't worth it with all the other major immigration expenses

I've found a couple sites that sell short term policies and I will probably get one to cover the kids (just in case) but will chance it for the two months for myself.....

[Karo&Fer 10]

So I've done loads of searches on here, but I can't find anything similar to what I think we might need to do...Any help would be appreciated.

My husband is going to be coming over the end of July to help move us into our new house. His interview is next week, and now that the visa system is back online, he will (hopefully) have his visa by the time he leaves on the 29th, so he will technically be entering as an LPR. The thing is that he'll only be here for about 10 days and then will head back to the UK. Due to some work obligations, he won't be actually moving here permanently until the end of November.

I know that thanks to Obama, he is now required to have insurance, and I can add him to my insurance through work, which isn't a problem, but just looking at the cost, it would cost us over $1300 for basically only one month of him being in the country. My question is, could we get away with him buying travel insurance to cover the end of Nov through the end of the year, and then I can enroll him in my insurance during open enrollment for 2016 coverage?

I just checked Turbo Tax and the only thing it asks when going through the questions is do you have insurance. There is nothing to validate whether or not you do. I will have insurance for the full year and technically, he will be covered by UK National Insurance, and then travel insurance.

Is this an option, or do we have to suck it up and basically throw away $1300?

He does have a heart issue, so gambling and not having any coverage just for a month is not an option for us, just in case something happened.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I am a licensed insurance agent in Florida, let me see if I can help. You mention you could add him to your work insurance but also mention open enrollment. Do you mean open enrollment for the ACA or Obamacare or do you mean open enrollment for your work insurance? Because yes Obamacare enrollment begins in November but an individual is allowed to apply for healh coverage under special circumstances that are considered a Life Change, marriage is a significant life change and it allows you to apply for coverage before open enrollment. It will not matter if he will be unemployed in the United States because you could qualify him through your income as a married couple, particularly if you will file taxes as jointly as married. Do not worry about penalties because their will be a waiver for his situation but if you want coverage you will not need to wait for open enrollment and prices will depend on where you live and your income that will become the household income.

[mlh 93]

Hi, I am a licensed insurance agent in Florida, let me see if I can help. You mention you could add him to your work insurance but also mention open enrollment. Do you mean open enrollment for the ACA or Obamacare or do you mean open enrollment for your work insurance? Because yes Obamacare enrollment begins in November but an individual is allowed to apply for healh coverage under special circumstances that are considered a Life Change, marriage is a significant life change and it allows you to apply for coverage before open enrollment. It will not matter if he will be unemployed in the United States because you could qualify him through your income as a married couple, particularly if you will file taxes as jointly as married. Do not worry about penalties because their will be a waiver for his situation but if you want coverage you will not need to wait for open enrollment and prices will depend on where you live and your income that will become the household income.

Thanks for trying to help. I think I have it figured out, but to explain for anyone else reading this and it doesn't make sense piecing together the posts...

Yes, when my husband enters the US in July, I could add him to my insurance through work immediately due to a Life Changing Event (immigration). I cannot add him due to marriage because we got married in March 2014, so that window is closed.

The reason we don't want to do this is that it will cost us over $1300 for the 4 months from August to end of Nov when he permanently moves here that we will be paying for insurance when he's not even in the States. We are looking for a short term solution to cover end of Nov through to the end of the year, when he will be on my insurance through work (added during open enrollment in Nov), so I'll be doing a bit of research one of the short term policies that are out there, thanks to everyone here at VJ giving me some great advice on what to look for and where.

[Pitaya 2,576]

~Thread closed per OP request~