Please sign in to post.

Travel insurance during pregnancy

I am 7 months pregnant woman from France and currently living in Hong Kong, i am planning to move central America soon, and i wondering if any one can share health insurance experience there? currently i have health insurance from www.now-health.com
i am not sure if i need to buy another insurance in America? if yes then who is easy and best provider? is it possibale to buy short terms insurance for pregnant woman?

thanks in advance
Hemu

Posted by
10344 posts

Does your current insurance cover you in the US?

Posted by
6 posts

yes, its international health insurance, but they are not registered in US, i don't now if i can continue with them i may need to buy new one? or i must need to buy from local registered insurer?

Posted by
10344 posts

At the link you provided, I see contact information of your current insurance company. Perhaps the best thing to do is for you to contact them and ask them these questions?

Posted by
6 posts

yes, i asked them, they say i can continue, but they will manage payment by using third party and it can delay some time payment process, it mean can not process urgently, to avoid any complicated situation i am consider to buy another insurance, if you can tell me that do i must need to buy local registered insurer? example aetna or bupa?

Posted by
1994 posts

You could certainly call Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, etc, in the US and ask them what they offer. However you'll need to know where you'll be living, and what kind of coverage you need/want. Also if there are specific doctors or hospital you want to use, you need to make sure the insurance carrier would allow you to use those specific providers.

However, be very, very careful to maintain your existing insurance until you know you have active insurance with US carrier. You do NOT want to end up uninsured, and the US health insurance system has changed a lot in recent months; things can be confusing. Believe me, I just went through this process.

Slow reimbursement from your existing carrier would be far better than no reimbursement.

Posted by
10344 posts

Now I can see why you are asking this question here, because you have already tried to get help from your current insurance company.
I do not know the answer to your question. Thanks to Sherry for trying to help.
I hope that someone else here on this travel forum will see your question and have more answers.
Health insurance in the US is complicated and depends on the things Sherry mentioned.

Your topic says "travel insurance." Does this mean you will just be in the US for a short, temporary period, or for a longer time?

Posted by
23235 posts

At 7 months pregnant, it will be difficult if not impossible to find a US insurance carry to cover the pregnancy if that is your question. It is called, "preexisting condition" and US insurance companies do not cover preexisting conditions without a major time exemption. You can get insurance to cover everything else but not the pregnancy. So you need to stick with your present insurance company. Slow pay is very common in the US insurance structure so the important issuing is having insurance and not how quickly it will be paid. If you intend to deliver in the US, make sure you have complete documentation of your current insurance coverage. If you don't it can be very expensive in the US.

Posted by
10202 posts

This has nothing to do with insurance, but have you verified you will be allowed to fly? You are very far along in your pregnancy.

Posted by
32692 posts

You ask about "central America".

Do you mean the central states of the United States of America, or do you mean Central America, the collection of small countries between Mexico and South America?

I would have thought that the answer would be be much different.

Which country do you want to have your baby in?

Posted by
1994 posts

One correction – as part of this year's healthcare reform, pre-existing condition exclusions were eliminated. So that's generally no longer an issue, although there may be some creative exceptions, so check terms of the policy very carefully.
And you ask about short-term coverage for the delivery – it would amaze me if an insurance company was willing to issue that type of policy, since they would have large expenses associated with the delivery and no time to collect enough premiums to compensate them.
You need to understand that the US system is very different from what you experienced in France with government-sponsored healthcare. Here it is, generally, a for-profit business, and that fact drives insurance company policies.

Posted by
10202 posts

How long will you be in the U.S.? Will you be here as a visitor on vacation or will you be here on some sort of extended visa or with a green card?

I don't know the laws, but I think it's doubtful that U.S. insurance carriers would be required to insure a short term visitor, pregnant or not.

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you for all reply and help.
yes i am moving for 2 years with my husband, he work in multinational company. his company transfer him to US.

Posted by
4151 posts

What does your husband's company say about how you will be insured in the USA? Wouldn't the company's benefits or human resources people be the ones who will be the best able to answer your health insurance and coverage questions?

Posted by
6 posts

Hi,

My husband employer company cover me in normal period, pregnancy expanses and risk is not covered.
and i just inquiry with aetna and bupa they are required to have mature insurance policy, i can not just get insurance before 2 months of delivery. so situation is complicated now.

Thanks for all supports