Moving to the USA and scared

Hi Guys

I am moving to the USA with a big company which provides medical coverage for my whole family but it certainly isn't as good as UK.

I have Colitis, and I am currently in a flare up, where I am bleeding bright red blood even without stool. So was wondering what that would mean in the UK. The UK is fantastic for primary care.

I am told in USA I will:

1. Be given money on a card to pay for all our healthcare and medicine - where I have to shop around. So want to know how much Flagyl and Pentasa costs and where to get it from - the two drugs I use.

2. How I find a great GI in Seattle area - one that isn't over zealous, I have mild Chrohns Colitis on right side of Colon and have never been on Steroids.

3. What is Overlake care?

Any help much appreciated.

:(

London

Post Edited (LondonRed) : 8/7/2015 11:08:07 AM (GMT-6)

Did the company you work for tell you that stuff or someone else? Most of that isn't the norm over here. There are some aspects of healthcare over here which are far better than the UK, admittedly not all. It all depends on how good your insurance is and both small and large companies have different kinds of insurance. Some small companies offer better insurance that the bigger companies and vice versa. There are good points and bad points to both systems. Over here there are many different types of insurances, even within the same insurance companies, with many different types of facilities. For medical care there is not much shopping around but sometimes you can shop around pharmacy prices. They are all so different it would be impossible to know what your situation will be. Most insurances have networks where if you get services and drugs in the network you pay a lower price and if you go out of the network in can be much more expensive. Sometimes those networks are fairly large and sometimes they can be very small. If I want the cheapest drug prices I can only go to one pharmacy.

I think you need a little more information about your "RX" card. Is it unlimited monthly expenses ? (I doubt it). Is there a co-pay ? (the amount you pay out of your pocket and the card covers the rest). Is there any deductible? This is the amount you have to reach before the company insurance policy pays either 100% or 50%, etc.

Weirdly in the US there is absolutely no way to know how much your RX meds will cost from any supplier without actually ordering them. I have been told this by several pharmacies. They cannot quote the price because everyone pays a different price for the exact same RX depending on their insurance plan, coverage, etc. There are places online that will "estimate" the cost of RX meds at various national pharmacies, you can a do a search.

If I were you I'd stock up on several months of your RX meds before arriving, tell them you're going on a long vacation. Rectal RX can be expensive, even generic mesalamine enemas, and if you are bleeding that's the best remedy.

If your employer has a good health plan then you are all set. You just need to know all the bits and pieces in advance. They should be able to provide you with documentation about your health plan coverage.

edit to add: when looking for a doctor you will need to know if that doctor or hospital in in your "network". That means the insurance plan has an agreement with that professional to accept your insurance plan. If you choose a doctor or hospital who is "out of network" you will pay more and the insurance company will pay less of the bill. If the doctor I wanted was out of network I'd pay but so far that hasn't happened.

I agree with the university hospital suggestion but the right doctor is more important. You can search ratemds.com in the zip code you will be living in. I found my GI that way and she was 45 minutes away, highest patient ratings and I found it to be true. She retired but handed me over to an equally good doctor.

Post Edited (imagardener2) : 8/7/2015 1:48:34 PM (GMT-6)

As far as US insurance goes, that's pretty amazing. What you're describing is that your maximum out of pocket healthcare costs for the year, for a family of 4, is $300. Make sure you're interpreting that correctly (do you have out-of-network coverage? prescription coverage? do you need a referral to see a specialist?) because as you've described it that is superlative coverage.

Sounds good
And Seattle is a beautiful city

Wow, definitely different systems depending where you live...I saw a documentary once about them comparing health care in the US, Canada and the UK, UK definitely has the best, Canada a close second (our health doesn't cover dental which is ridiculous IMO since your teeth are part of your health) and the US was very low rated in the documentary. In Alberta, Canada, Humira biweekly cost roughly 20,000 a year (I take it weekly so 40,000 for me) hubby's benefits cover 10,000 for RX (separate amounts for dental and eye RX and dental) but when I'm maxed out using my hubby's work benefits for the year then Humira will cover it for me and it'll cost me 25.00 out of pocket for the copay. We had to buy extended health care (separate from hubby's benefits) called Alberta Blue Cross, we pay 119.00 a month and they help me cover Humira so it stretches my hubby's benefit coverage out for me...but the most important thing, if I wasn't able to afford ABC and hubby's benefits didn't cover Humira then Progress (via Humira) would give me my med for free. Hubby doesn't pay for his benefits, with the union it's covered for free.

I can also choose any GI or specialist of any kind that I want and my benefits will pay out to whomever I choose...but that also falls under Alberta Health Care which is different from Alberta Blue Cross, so basically our province pays which ever Dr./specialists we want to see across the entire province...we used to pay for Alberta Health Care but the provincial government tends to go back and forth on charging us out of pocket currently we haven't been paying but that could change (especially since we have a new government in our province now) but the most we've ever paid for family coverage is 800.00 a yr quarterly or depending on what company you work for, they'll sometimes cover the cost or pay it directly for you from your paycheque. The only crappy thing is each province has their own health care system (some better than others with coverage and cost) but if a Canadian travels across Canada and needs emergency medical care then we have to pay for it all out of pocket which is pretty lousy.

I don't blame you for being scared LondonRed, but try not to stress too much, many from the UK have moved to the US and managed just fine, so best of luck to you with it all, and I hope you adjust with no issues!

London, I live in the Seattle area. Let me know if I can help in anyway. And Overlake is the name of the group of clinics and hospitals in our area.

Pluot - No out of network, I can choose whomever I choose.

She is British (she has wicked British accent, and tells me about Bangers and Mash), but got her schooling in the States. Really a good person and a good doc. And absolutely connect with me over email. I'll see if I can send PM it to you.

London happy to help take the stress off of a fellow UCer. If you click on profile you should see my email address. I've made it visible. Anything I can do to help make your move here easier let me know. I've got a great primary care doc too that comes to my house to give me iron and B12 injections.