Moving to US with Pregnant Wife

Hi all,

I have found some incredible information here, but haven't been able to find anything on here specific to my situation, so I hope someone can help out.

I and my wife are Canadian, and my wife is 2 months pregnant. I have a job offer in the US as a PostDoc, and would probably go on a TN visa with her on TD. No problem.

What I am worried about is doctor/hospital costs related to pregnancy. Here in Canada, of course, most things would be covered. But not in the US. And pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition (if pregnant when first enrolling) for almost all of the plans I have found related to my potential employer.

Does anyone know of any alternative health plans that would help pay for the costs related to pregnancy? My potential employer is willing to pay for the plans, but I haven't found anything yet that seems to cover us, and given the health costs, I'm actually looking at this as a potential deal breaker for any PostDoc positions in the US.

Thanks.

Most employer plans cover pre-existing condditions (they have to).

Don't they have a plan for their employees?

They do have a plan for employees, however, I don't think I would actually be an employee. As a PostDoc, I would actually be a trainee, and therefore am only eligible for the student insurance plan, which is pretty explicit regarding pre-existing conditions.

I have even looked into going on a J1 visa, and the health plans available from the sponsoring organizations, and even those don't seem to cover pregnancy.

I emailed the administrators of the student health plan to see if I could get any further clarification, but haven't heard back. I may have to email my potential employer and make sure of what is going on. I am not very encouraged thus far.

So, now you probably understand why there is an urgent need for health insurance reform here in US.

She (and you) should probably stay home in canada until next year, when your wife's "pre-existing condition" clears up.

Yeah, it seems pretty messed up.

I'm wondering if there is some possibility of using the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act"? Of course, it might have no bearing because our current group benefits plan is administered in Canada.

I will update this thread if I discover anything new.

Yes, agnelson is right. Your employer has to cover the health costs for pre-existing conditions even pregnancy.

Under a J-1 visa or F-1 even M-1, most student insurance plans do not cover pre-existing leaving you in limbo and with a hefty insurance bill.

Please have the baby in Canada. It is highly encouraged. When the baby is born make the proper preparations to insure the baby and get proper documents to live and work in the U.S.

Reason I encourage is because there was one student I worked with 2 years ago who was pregnant, went with United Health care, and they offered to pay for a measly ultra sound out of "good faith". They would not cover hospital costs, blood work, post pre-natal.. blah blah blah.

Her bill after all of that was at least $10,000. The funny thing is, she is from Montreal but was insistent on having the baby born in America. Now she is sh*ttin' bricks and wishing she had taken the time off from school on her F-1 which is totally allowed to have her baby, dodge those costs then come back. But,,, to each his own right?

One thing that can be looked at is that since this is a temporary assignment of fixed duration in US, some (note: SOME) provincial plans allow for their residents to be out of country for a fixed period of time and still remain covered by Province.

2 BIG warnings though: you nee dto absolutely iron this out before leaving province -- in writing -- and you must keep in mind that the refund you will get form the province will be in the order of pennies on the dollar.

I posted an article last week on how RAMQ covered $800 of a ~$10K bill from one or two nights in hospital.

provincial health plans will only cover a dollar amount that they would cover in Canada. Given the disparity of health care costs between the two countries, you would still end up out of pocket several thousands of dollars. And should anything go wrong, gods forbid, you could be left holding the bill for several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Stay in Canada, have the baby there, then go to the US.

Thanks for all the information that you have all provided.

I did find out a couple of things. The student plan available would waive "pre-existing conditions" if you had been paying into insurance (private or group) previously -> otherwise known as "creditable coverage". My wife has had a group plan at work for 5 years, however it is questionable if it would have counted because it is more of an "extended health" plan, covering drug, vision, and dental and dismemberment stuff (which is what plans normally are in Canada). I really don't see how it would have been possible to get a 100% certain answer from someone (administering the student plan in NC) that this would count, and just what kind of proof we would need.

However, as I looked at the health plan more and more, the amount actually covered by the plan, and thought about what the potential costs could be, I finally decided that this was too big an issue, and declined the job. I will probably stay away from jobs in the US until after the baby is born, or at least jobs that don't qualify for insurance from the employer (i.e. the University employee insurance was pretty decent, but as a trainee I didn't qualify).

Thanks for your help everyone.

Good choice.
It is possible tha the insurance co would have viewed your provincial coverage as 'eligible' for that, but why risk.