standard tourist travel insurance for first month in the US on k1 visa

[mlh 93]

This is the site that we used to get my husband coverage for the short period between when he physically moved and when open enrollment for insurance with my company started.  It was pretty reasonable, but that was back in 2015, so no idea what that rates are like these days...

 

www.einsurance.com

[Boiler 43,388]

You should not need to wait for open enrollment check qualifying event.

[George & Roth 1,485]

4 hours ago, yuna628 said:

Okay, this question comes up a lot, so I'll do my best to make it simple.

 

Travel insurance is by a rule strictly for traveling. It expects you to be traveling and not living in the country. So what happens if you want to immigrate and need coverage at least for flying over the pond? Well you'll likely need to call them and ask for 'one way insurance', which covers your stuff and your physical body until you land or expires within 48hrs of landing.

 

Obviously this will not help if you've now moved here and want medical coverage. And that's the point, you've moved here and are no longer a visitor. There are some companies as you've seen above that will offer short term medical insurance for new immigrants. The facts are the coverage you're going to receive isn't always great. If you have pre-existing conditions they won't be covered... and in many situations you might have 'peace of mind' but when you really need it, good luck finding it useful. In the age of O'care I just can't see much use for such plans. And in the eyes of the government, under the law, they don't view you having that kind of short term plan as actual coverage. The tax penalty still used to apply for those who decided to roll with it for longer.

 

You will be eligible to be added to your spouse's plan as soon as you marry (so get that SSN, marry, and transition onto the plan as soon as possible). You're also eligible to go and buy whatever kind of plan you want. You're also still eligible based on marriage and immigration to sign up for O'care. So sure, you could buy short term coverage for peace of mind (no guarantee it will work if you should need it), then jump onto your spouse's plan (prepare for the sticker shock). Some people also spend that gap period without, especially if they are healthy. It's more difficult for those that need constant care or medication, but stocking up before moving can help.

 

I highly doubt these insurances being specifically marketed for K-1 and provided by well-known companies would not cover what they purport to. The thought definitely did cross my mind though...and I would not say I am 100% comfortable with it as I don't trust these insurance companies in the first place. More like 99% comfortable I have her under the same subpar coverage as a standard 'Murican.   

 

As @Boiler mentioned, this should be a special enrollment and you should not wait for the annual enrollment period. In my case the special enrollment is active May 1st, so I only purchased temp coverage until that time. My wife is already approved and added on the coverage, using my marriage certificate as support and they did not require the SS#. 

[yuna628 9,527]

5 minutes ago, George & Roth said:

 

I highly doubt these insurances being specifically marketed for K-1 and provided by well-known companies would not cover what they purport to. The thought definitely did cross my mind though...and I would not say I am 100% comfortable with it as I don't trust these insurance companies in the first place. More like 99% comfortable I have her under the same subpar coverage as a standard 'Murican.   

 

As @Boiler mentioned, this should be a special enrollment and you should not wait for the annual enrollment period. In my case the special enrollment is active May 1st, so I only purchased temp coverage until that time. My wife is already approved and added on the coverage, using my marriage certificate as support and they did not require the SS#. 

Insurances that have been specifically marketed towards K1s and other immigrants do not cover pre-existing conditions. You can examine their terms thoroughly and they will cleverly inform the user of that, though not out front. For that specific purpose is why the government labeled such insurances as non-compliant subpar insurances, and why the penalty still applied if the individual continued to use them for more than a short allowable period. They work for some people though for insurance for conditions that did not pre-exist. For others no one ever really uses them, it's more like a peace of mind type thing. There are some that do market pre-existing, but I've found them to be dubious at best if the going should get rough for the patient, it's moreso lumped into specific plans offering catastrophic medical coverage. There's also the larger question of if a hospital or doctor will even accept the insurance. For an example you can find in the FAQ of 'americanvisitorinsurance' which claims to offer some coverage of pre-existing conditions actually state that they will not cover treatment for blood pressure or diabetes or medication needed. They will cover an extremely limited pool of pre-existing conditions or what they term as 'acute onset' only. So if you know you've got a medical condition, they won't cover it. You may have had HBP underlying condition but didn't realize it until you arrived here for example they may decide to pay by classing it as 'acute onset'.

 

 

[George & Roth 1,485]

8 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Insurances that have been specifically marketed towards K1s and other immigrants do not cover pre-existing conditions. You can examine their terms thoroughly and they will cleverly inform the user of that, though not out front. For that specific purpose is why the government labeled such insurances as non-compliant subpar insurances, and why the penalty still applied if the individual continued to use them for more than a short allowable period. They work for some people though for insurance for conditions that did not pre-exist. For others no one ever really uses them, it's more like a peace of mind type thing. There are some that do market pre-existing, but I've found them to be dubious at best if the going should get rough for the patient, it's moreso lumped into specific plans offering catastrophic medical coverage. There's also the larger question of if a hospital or doctor will even accept the insurance. For an example you can find in the FAQ of 'americanvisitorinsurance' which claims to offer some coverage of pre-existing conditions actually state that they will not cover treatment for blood pressure or diabetes or medication needed. They will cover an extremely limited pool of pre-existing conditions or what they term as 'acute onset' only. So if you know you've got a medical condition, they won't cover it. You may have had HBP underlying condition but didn't realize it until you arrived here for example they may decide to pay by classing it as 'acute onset'.

 

 

That’s right, I consider it to cover for some kind of accident/injury. Not for pre-existing conditions. 

[Daisy.Chain 317]

You might also consider getting legally married asap, then having the wedding later. This way you can start paperwork (and get covered by health insurance) much faster.

[dentsflogged 352]

14 hours ago, Lorna&Alex said:

Yes, I am aware of that thank you. 

 

what do you mean by waiting a year or so to get back? Are you implying that AP is taking at least a year to be approved?

If you need to be repatriated for major medical prior to gaining AP, then you will have been deemed to have abandoned your petition for AOS and you will have to refile for a CR-1 and wait out the 12-14 months.  

 

Edited April 17, 2018 by dentsflogged

[TearsOfBabylon 1,680]

12 hours ago, D.Ba said:

Yuna6287 explained it very well.

 

For my German travel insurance it was no "grey" area at all! It stated very explicitly: if you have no permanent German domicile, it does not cover you.
Being a law-compliant citizen, of course I had told my local registry I am leaving the country and had my address deleted from the file.

I bought short-term insurance in the US for the time before marriage. Expensive, but if you get an option with a high deductible that only kicks in if you have a major accident or such, it is bearable.

I made "Auslands Langzeitschutz" from ADAC. 
That works with no German residence and is bookable very flexible. You can pick the departure date as start and choose how many months you want. If I'm not wrong it was around 40 Euros for 3 months (as member). 

Just in case some other Germaniac is looking in here!

[Mrsjackson 300]

I’m planning on buying temporary insurance specifically for K1 fiancés and here is why: 

As boiler pointed out, we are immigrating not travelling and if something should happen you may run into some issue with the insurer about that little detail. They’ll try pretty hard not to pay you any money so if there is something they can use to not pay you, they will. They may dispute any claim you make by saying they only insure travellers not immigrants (as stupid as that is). 

Also, I have heard that some health insurance companies require that you have resided in the US for at least 6 months to a year before they will insure you. That may not hold true for all companies and hopefully not your finances, but I don’t think it’s so uncommon that it’s not something we should think about. I plan on purchasing one full year of K1 health coverage. It may be relevant that my fiancé is self employed and currently shopping health care plans (I know I have given him so much sh*t for it already). 

 

Basically, to me it seems like the K1 specific insurance plans are just a good way to cover all bases and not run into any problems. Peace of mind is priceless, especially with something like this. Can you imagine an uncovered US health care bill for you and your partner after just getting married? Yikes. 

Edited April 17, 2018 by Mrsjackson

[Lorna&Alex 104]

thanks for all the answers guys! I am going buy some temporary insurance like you guys have suggested, just to cover all bases  Our wedding is all booked and planned for july 14th so after that I will get put on my Husband's insurance

[yuna628 9,527]

8 hours ago, Mrsjackson said:

I’m planning on buying temporary insurance specifically for K1 fiancés and here is why: 

As boiler pointed out, we are immigrating not travelling and if something should happen you may run into some issue with the insurer about that little detail. They’ll try pretty hard not to pay you any money so if there is something they can use to not pay you, they will. They may dispute any claim you make by saying they only insure travellers not immigrants (as stupid as that is). 

Also, I have heard that some health insurance companies require that you have resided in the US for at least 6 months to a year before they will insure you. That may not hold true for all companies and hopefully not your finances, but I don’t think it’s so uncommon that it’s not something we should think about. I plan on purchasing one full year of K1 health coverage. It may be relevant that my fiancé is self employed and currently shopping health care plans (I know I have given him so much sh*t for it already). 

 

Basically, to me it seems like the K1 specific insurance plans are just a good way to cover all bases and not run into any problems. Peace of mind is priceless, especially with something like this. Can you imagine an uncovered US health care bill for you and your partner after just getting married? Yikes. 

Nothing in the current law would allow an insurance company to bar an immigrant from access to health insurance for six months, I assure you. They would be in violation. If you marry you are eligible day one and as soon as you can provide evidence of the marriage to them essentially.

[Mrsjackson 300]

22 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Nothing in the current law would allow an insurance company to bar an immigrant from access to health insurance for six months, I assure you. They would be in violation. If you marry you are eligible day one and as soon as you can provide evidence of the marriage to them essentially.

Well I’m glad to hear that. It was somewhere on here that I read that. Freaked me right out!