Immigrant status
It is quite easy to get health insurance if you have a Social Security Number (SSN). It is less easy if you haven’t. Today I’ve arranged health insurance for myself for the first 3 months as an immigrant. Lots of sites are offering cover but on all the ones I looked at, once you look at the details, they are essentially selling travel insurance. Still, it covers in an emergency.
There are far too many things that can’t be done until I get my SSN. I think the immigrant experience would be greatly enhanced by speeding up the SSN part of the process. That’s just my view, and I can understand why the SSN is so important, but as an immigrant entering the country on a private basis, rather than as part of a corporate move, the current process simply adds to the burden. Luckily in this case we should be able to manage quite well, but others may have less of a buffer.
Tags: health insurance, immigrant status, Social security number, SSN