Is It Legal to Get Obamacare if I Also Have National Health Insurance in Another Country?

[badkitty]

I'm wondering if this is the reason that Blue Cross still has not sent my my insurance ID card? I did tell them about having another insurance when I called right after signing up and mailing them the first payment.....

I had dual citizenship in the US and a foreign country. I spend 3 to 4 months a year in that country and I'm required by law to enroll in the national health insurance. Fortunately, the monthly premium is only about USD$23 a month, since I don't have a taxable salary in that country. The national health insurance does cover me when I'm overseas, including the US. The paperwork has to be filed by me, but it covers 70%. (with a ceiling of about USD$2782 on maximum out-of-pocket cost) Only for emergencies, not routine doctor visits.

Since I'm right here in the U.S. the other 8 months and work here, I bought health insurance here. Just switched to another company after signing up for it under Obamacare.

However, I'm wondering if I'm doing anything wrong here by technically having two health insurance coverages? The reason I started thinking about this is that someone told me that a dual US/Canada or US/UK citizen can't have both.... that was told to me by a local Blue Cross insurance agent... not sure how good that info it.

 

[OregonDave]

I'm wondering if this is the reason that Blue Cross still has not sent my my insurance ID card? I did tell them about having another insurance when I called right after signing up and mailing them the first payment.....

I had dual citizenship in the US and a foreign country. I spend 3 to 4 months a year in that country and I'm required by law to enroll in the national health insurance. Fortunately, the monthly premium is only about USD$23 a month, since I don't have a taxable salary in that country. The national health insurance does cover me when I'm overseas, including the US. The paperwork has to be filed by me, but it covers 70%. (with a ceiling of about USD$2782 on maximum out-of-pocket cost) Only for emergencies, not routine doctor visits.

Since I'm right here in the U.S. the other 8 months and work here, I bought health insurance here. Just switched to another company after signing up for it under Obamacare.

However, I'm wondering if I'm doing anything wrong here by technically having two health insurance coverages? The reason I started thinking about this is that someone told me that a dual US/Canada or US/UK citizen can't have both.... that was told to me by a local Blue Cross insurance agent... not sure how good that info it.

You found a Blue Cross Agent? Did you take a picture to prove it?

 

[yorkriver1]

I am not an expert on qualifications, but was ready to sell insurance to a dual British citizen who will be in USA at least 8 mo. of the year. He balked at the cost, no subsidy, said he would go back to the UK if he got sick, use the system there.

You can call HC.gov to check on the rules.

Re: late ID card. You have paid your premium. It's probably just that Blue Cross is behind in their paperwork. They seem to be among the slowest right now in my state.

You can call them to ask if there is any problem with your account.

 

[HealthGuy]

seriously, Bad Kitty are you for real? Or is your middle name Clam?

 

[badkitty]

I am not an expert on qualifications, but was ready to sell insurance to a dual British citizen who will be in USA at least 8 mo. of the year. He balked at the cost, no subsidy, said he would go back to the UK if he got sick, use the system there.

You can call HC.gov to check on the rules.

Re: late ID card. You have paid your premium. It's probably just that Blue Cross is behind in their paperwork. They seem to be among the slowest right now in my state.

You can call them to ask if there is any problem with your account.

I called the phone number on healthcare.gov and spoke to two reps. They both said it was fine, so I'm just gonna leave it at that.

I think the original ID card was lost and can be blamed on the post office.

I went to the Blue Cross website and requested another one on 4/1.
It arrived 2 days later in the mail.

 

[yorkriver1]

If you do have emergency medical treatment using your ACA insurance, you may be able to receive reimbursement from your overseas national health plan coverage for the amount not covered by the ACA plan. In USA, your insurers would not allow double payment if you were covered by two plans, only pay the remainder unpaid by the primary plan. In your case the USA plan would probably be considered primary.
With a monthly premium of $23, if you chose an ACA silver plan, your out of pocket expenses may be fairly low.
If you chose a bronze plan to keep the monthly premium down, out of pocket could be up to $6350.
The principle of insurance is to keep you even, not to make money on the loss. (I am also an insurance instructor, can't help throwing that in)
You can also buy plans, called indemnity insurance, that pay dollar amounts for accidents, critical illness, etc. that pay outside of what your medical coverage pays.
Oregon Dave would be one source for those plans.

 

[OregonDave]

That's correct. Getting good insurance is about finding a balance between coverage that lets you sleep well at night and premiums low enough to let you eat during the day. Although I tend to initially recommend the expensive, low deductible plan to shoppers, most of my clients choose instead to purchase a higher deductible plan and then purchase gap insurance that pays cash benefits directly to you, reducing your out of pocket costs to $100 for your most common claims like accidents and critical illnesses.

The combination plan gives you the coverage you're looking for around half the cost of the low deductible plan, giving you more bang for your buck and the peace of mind of knowing exactly what you're going to spend at the hospital when you make a claim.

 

[badkitty]

That's correct. Getting good insurance is about finding a balance between coverage that lets you sleep well at night and premiums low enough to let you eat during the day. Although I tend to initially recommend the expensive, low deductible plan to shoppers, most of my clients choose instead to purchase a higher deductible plan and then purchase gap insurance that pays cash benefits directly to you, reducing your out of pocket costs to $100 for your most common claims like accidents and critical illnesses.

The combination plan gives you the coverage you're looking for around half the cost of the low deductible plan, giving you more bang for your buck and the peace of mind of knowing exactly what you're going to spend at the hospital when you make a claim.

yeah... I had a high deductible insurance before. When I had an injury, the
hospital would not treat me unless I paid the $3500 deductible up front.
I thought it was illegal for hospital emergency rooms to do that?

I charged it to my credit card. The nurse at the reception joked "at least you
are getting 3500 airline miles!"(I used my United credit card) Fortunately,
worker's comp later picked up the bill and reimbursed the $3500, since the
injury occurred on company property(parking lot).

 

[OregonDave]

Hospitals do have to provide emergency services, however it needs to be a true emergency, i.e. you're going to die if they don't treat you. Barring that, they do tend to verify means to pay. Contact a worker's comp ombudsman in the future if you ever have to go through a worker's comp claim again. They'll cut the red tape and get you pointed in the right direction, as well as help with your claim.

What state are you in? Adding supplements to your policy is one of the few changes you can make outside of the open enrollment period and I do have a little more time now to go over things like that.