The "Health Care" system in the USA is barbaric and uncivilized (sort of like the country itself) and you just better hope your husband has a good plan. It's hit and miss and they can drop you anytime if they feel like it - unbelievable but true. Here's a few clips, I would watch them closely, they're all 100% true, I should know, I'm self employed and have to get my own insurance (and my Girl Friend is also my business partner and goes through the same bull sh*t. Luckily, we are both "Healthy" as far as we know so no true life "experience" yet. We're working on being part time - can't go full due to business - expats anyway, get out of this toilet ASAP).BTW, I hope you've been to the states and are familiar with this place. I've been to New Zealand (from Auckland to Wellington to Christchurch) and it's the difference between Day and Night. NZ 's peaceful, the USA is brutal Enjoy the clips.....

US HEALTH CARE SYSTEM KILLS AND BANKRUPTS - NATIONAL DISGRACE (2008)

MICHAEL MOORE TALKS SICKO ON "NIGHTLINE" (ABC)

Zoom might well be his own worst enemy -- but he points out succinctly to the OP that US health care is not going to be like anything she's encountered before.

Obama certainly does want to change the health care system.....as do the 50 million who are not insured and the 200 million extra or so who are one cancer diagnosis off of bankruptcy. Unfortunately the United Corporations of America are winning that battle at the moment. However, they can't win the war because the system will simply devour itself. It's already at double the percentage of the GDP of comparable nations and there's really no end to the grabbing. But somewhere in the future the whole sham will come tumbling down like a pack of cards.

For the OP, you have a nightmare ahead. I have no confidence in the knowledge of HR employees. Now is the time to find out how you will be covered and whether the coverage will extend to your pregnancy. Don't take HR's word for it -- you will need to follow up with the insurance company as well. And even then you'll need a lot of research as well. If you drop the sprog and you aren't covered, expect bills in the tens of thousands for a simple, straightforward delivery up to any number you can imagine for a more complicated one. Pre-existing conditions, continuous coverage and co-pays should become part of your vocabulary.

One thing you should perhaps consider is having the child where you now are, then coming out later. It may be far easier.

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Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE. - Sid Vicious

Fatbrit...
While I respect your opinion on many issues (and agree with you on some of the current comment), I believe you have been watching too many Michael Moores fiction movies. The figure you quote, 50 million is far in excess of those figures that even moderate democrats have quoted. As for the 200 million extra that are one cancer away from BK, what evidence have you to support such comments. I have not read those figures and since I have cancer currently, I would like to see those figures.. Perhaps Mr. Moore quoted that info also?.

I agree that you should check into the high cost of medical treatment and get it in writing so that there are no surprises. That is exactly what I do.. I get the name of the person, the info and then I confirm it in writing.

There is another term that is important for this person, Caps.. Make sure there are sufficiently high caps in case there are complications. Some policies may carry limited coverage (caps) and that could be a problem.

I was obviously low going by this:

Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

"Unless you're a Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, you're one illness away from financial ruin in this country," says lead author Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School, in Cambridge, Mass. "If an illness is long enough and expensive enough, private insurance offers very little protection against medical bankruptcy, and that's the major finding in our study."

Source: Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies - CNN.com

I'll revise it to 50 million without insurance and 249..999 million likely to go bk with a cancer diagnosis.

__________________
Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE. - Sid Vicious

Thank you for the quote.. however, keep in mind the source. While I can obtain quotes from other sources that will refute your info, I believe it will only serve to polarize each of us into different positions. I will respectfully disagree. Again, I respect your comments but on this one, each of us have our own opinions based upon our own opinions.

The source is the American Journal of Medicine! Respectable enough, surely?

__________________
Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE. - Sid Vicious

Fatbrit,

Assuming your numbers are accurate (which I dispute), the more important issue is what part of the medical system do we change and who is going to pay for it? Nothing comes free and I personnally don't want the government to tax me for their inept attempt to do so. I'll agree there should be some adjustments (such as the prior condition exclusion). However, much of this really comes down to the legal field. Everyone wants to sue. The doctors want to protect themselves and run up too many 'tests' and then charge the ins companies..Perhaps the ins companies have too many restrictions... All of this is problematic.. Widespread overhall by a bunch of bureaucrats that know absolutely nothing about the process is not my idea of a good thing.. What do you say? I am interested.

Tort reform is a red herring -- they were around 1.5% of health care spending in 2007, for example. So if we stop the lawyers suing all together, we still haven't solved the problem. Moreover, since the US government is not a regulator and guarantor of good practices like it often is in comparable countries (the average American's idea of the role of an ombudsman never fails to amuse me!), then it is removing the main mechanism for ensuring I get good service.

It's plain to me that the insurance companies have too little restriction by government. That is why we have the mess we have. There's certainly no free market operating here.

The main solution is to learn by looking at how other, comparable countries do it. Because they all do it better than us and at lower cost. It's not a matter of tinkering at the edges -- it's too broken for that. The Swiss-style model is probably the best one to look at, and elements of the French system should be included.

I don't like paying taxes, either. Given the chance, I'd opt out of paying for the armed forces and tax the bloody churches. But to say we can't have a competitive and fair health care system because I don't like paying taxes would be nonsensical.

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Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE. - Sid Vicious

It truly isnt that bad. I didnt have health care through my 20's because I chose not spend that 300 a month on self coverage (120 a month when I had a full time job and had pretty good options and coverage). I see so many 'low income' people rolling around in Cadillacs and on 20's in the united states. You tell me, they can afford 3000 rims but can't afford health insurance? I know why I didnt have coverage.. it was because at the time I didnt mind not having it and having my big rims

When disaster does strike, I am going to wonder exactly how much coverage we are going to get when its 'free'. Everyone cant get everything...

Check the coverage that is offered. Definitely check if they will cover 'preexisting' conditions. If you are already pregnant, that will be a huge factor.

I see Reagan's Cadillac Welfare Queen still hasn't died. Must have touched a raw nerve somewhere.....even if he did make it all up!

__________________
Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE. - Sid Vicious