Health insurance for nurses

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Specializes in Adolescent haematology, oncology and BMT.

As a nurse who is preparing to come over and experience healthcare "American style", I'm having to think about things in detail. One of the issues that's on my mind is that of health insurance. As you may well know, as a British citizen, I'm entitled to free healthcare here whether it's for 1 hour or a lifetime. What level of cover are nurses generally able to afford in California? Would being foreign be a disadvantage somehow?

Also, how does the system actually work? Do you have General Practitioners/Family doctors like we do here? These are usually a group of doctors who work together from a small practice and cover a specific area. Local families are registered and individuals only need make an appointment and come in to be seen for non-emergency ailments. In what sorts of situations would I have to pay cash upfront? Any information you can give me would be really helpful.

Thanks, BJB

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We have family practitioners but as a women your primary physician would probably be an oby/gyn who will act as a gatekeeper or traffic director to refer you to a specialist as needed. For minor illnesses we have urgent care centers. Unless you ave an HMO like Kaiser everything is ala carte you go to your insurance company website to find docs in your area that take your insurance if you go to a non participating provider you pay out of pocket. If you use a a participating (takes your flavor of insurance) you pay some kind of co-pay 10-100$ per visit. But you must be clear with him/her to not order test that arent covered or you'll pay out of pocket for that too. If you need a procedure thats not covered or considered experimental (code for too expensive) you pay out of pocket or you must do with out it. All in all our insurance company's take your premiums and try very hard not give anything back but they make lovely ads. I have catastrophic care which means little doc appts are all out of pocket but if I have a MI or MVA I hope my insurance will pay the hospital bill or least 80%. The other 20% will still probably bankrupt me though. So my health care plan is to cross my finger and wish for good health and hope healthcare reform passes and the US starts moving toward a plan that you enjoy right now. Good Luck to both of us !

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