Single pregnant immigrant without health insurance in the USA.

Sounds scary!??? It sure is... BUT ONLY, if you're me and you base your decisions on the bigger picture.

Now before anyone thinks I'm stupid for deciding to start a family in the first place, knowing that I would probably have no health insurance covering maternity: We both were well aware of that and before the "We" picture collapsed, everything in regards to that was talked about and a plan established. Only problem: "We" is no longer existent, which makes it more complicated.

I believe it may be quite interesting for the 0.0001% of legal immigrants that will ever be in the same shoes to find out how the whole "pregnant - no insurance" thing works over here.

Looking at the market of individual health insurance, pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition, so once you are pregnant, chances of getting a health insurance plan are veeeeery low. Even if looking for health insurance in that market BEFORE getting pregnant will prove challenging, as there's a lot of fine print and maternity is usually not covered. If you want it covered you start out paying a lot more each month, as pregnancy/maternity is quite expensive for an insurance provider. Just the plain natural labor and delivery without complications and interference in a US hospital bed is likely to cost $10.000,-. Caesarean sections will of course be more and every drug you need will push the bill higher.

Best situation to be in: Get great health insurance from your employer and your life will be much easier. In an employer based health plan, pregnancy can not be labeled a pre-existing condition as there's some legal protection going back to the 70's for that. But not everybody is that lucky!

So let's be the one not having insurance coverage like me. What are the options?

The answer is simple. Not many!

Option 1: You're very fortunate and qualify for federal Medicaid support.
Problems: Medicaid for pregnant women is income based and even if you qualify due to your income... You have to be a US-citizen or a permanent resident of the USA for at least 5 years to qualify, although in some sources it says as greencard holder being pregnant you are exempt from the 5-year bar. All I know is, I was denied :(

Option 2: Pay cash!!! Whoop! As cash is still loved by doctors and hospitals, you will be able to negotiate and get better rates than an insurance provider. You may "only" pay 50% for example of what an insurance would be charged. However, that would still be a lot if you don't belong to the rich and famous.

I was "lucky" enough to have noticed a highway billboard in my first months over here that advertised for a birth center. It is an alternative to hospital care and usually the cheaper option. In my case I found a birth center run by an OB/GYN and a midwife (vs. others where there are only midwifes) and although I'm still having to pay for my care in cash, the package including prenatal care, labor and delivery and postnatal care, will "only" cost me around $4.200,-, IF everything goes without complications. In addition to that, I'm looking at a completely natural birth. Drugs for pain relief? No such option!

May sound scary for many again, but since my birth center has an OB/GYN licensed to operate in the local hospitals, I'm on the safer side. In case of complications he will deliver my baby out of a hospital without additional charge. I would only have extra costs for taking up room and equipment in the hospital then, but that is where Emergency Medicaid for pregnant women could kick in and that is something I would be eligible for.

Now as I ended up on my own, I'm paying everything by myself, which is tough. Quite obvious if you don't make the super big bucks and all of a sudden find yourself with a $740.- extra bill each month on top of your regular bills. But what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger! :)

By the way, there would be an option 3, as some of you may question how illegal aliens get their pregnancy health care. Yes, I could just go to the hospital and demand prenatal care which they couldn't deny me. My problem with that: Within the last 18 months I established quite a nice credit score. Getting care from a hospital and just not paying my bills (like a lot of uninsured citizens and legal as well as illegal aliens do) does therefore not work for me. I rather work my pregnant butt off and pay cash for my medical care, than ruining my credit by not paying those hospital bills and having debt collectors chasing me. I may need my good credit for something once baby girl gets here.

Well, long enough post about that topic! Cross your fingers for me as there is still a lot to figure out in regards to my near future.

Life is a roller coaster...

Nobody ever said life is easy. I mean, yes, some people are more fortunate than others and get to live the good life all the way. Others however get the roller coaster ride of life. That includes me. I've been a little quiet here lately, as my life has once again turned away from "normal". I guess normal would just be too boring. :)

What happened!?

Well, I want to keep this short: In June, I found out several things that made me end the relationship with Andrew. It was best for my personal well-being, but it wasn't a smooth break-up, so things have been rather rocky since.

I am therefore looking towards single motherhood and I'm currently living the crazy life of a single, pregnant immigrant, which brings it's very own stories with it. More in the next posts.


Niemand hat jemals behauptet, dass das Leben einfach ist. Ich meine klar gibt es Leute, die sich gluecklicher als andere schaetzen koennen und nur auf der Sonnenseite leben. Andere dagegen bekommen die Achterbahnfahrt. Dazu gehoere ich. Ich war in letzter Zeit ziemlich ruhig hier, da sich mein Leben einmal mehr vom "Normalen" abwendete. Normal waere wohl einfach zu langweilig. :)

Was ist passiert!?

Ich will es kurz fassen: Im Juni fand ich einige Sachen heraus, die mich meine Beziehung zu Andrew beenden liessen. Fuer mein Wohlergehen war es das Beste, allerdings war das Ende nicht sehr schoen, so dass es seither ein wenig holperig zugeht.

Ich gehe nun demnach auf das Single-Mutter Dasein zu und lebe momentan als alleinstehende, schwangere Immigrantin, was seine ganz eigenen Geschichten mit sich bringt. Dazu mehr in weiteren Eintraegen.

This just made me cry...

...out of happiness!

After managing the store solely on my own for the first time on Saturday and Sunday and handling the unusual rush for a Sunday with a lot of drive and the result of not a single mistake and managing the PM shift today as well, I came back home and this is what awaited me online:

Teri is thinking of how lucky she is, to have Jenny in her life... She's the bomb!!

Another statement of my boss on Facebook. I feel like I'm in heaven!!!

Yes, I have been complimented for my efforts and good work in other jobs before, but especially after my last job in Germany at the hard discount store with the 4 letters and not hearing any nice words from my bosses, it feels soooooo good!

And again I'm thrilled that I took the step of moving over here. Right now the winners of the latest Greencard-Lottery drawing are being notified. As they post their thoughts on the web forum of TAD, some remind me of myself in May/June 2006 after Michael's notification , others, full of doubt, of myself in early 2008, where my dream started falling apart and where I thought I would never be able to take this chance.

Well, here I am, grabbing life by it's horns and being happy! It's been almost 4 months now, that I moved over here with the following results: I'm tanned ;) and my savings are almost back at the point they were at when I left Germany. I'm thankful that in a tough economic time I'm being successful. I surely don't know if it will stay that way, but I, like always, enjoy every moment! Yes, I do miss my family. Yes, I do miss my friends, but No, I don't miss Germany. My country is the USA!

And as you can see, I'm finally back on the internet. I have my own cable internet with Comcast now. Since I couldn't fit their timeslots for installation into my working schedule, Javier offered to stay home yesterday afternoon and wait for the guy to hook up the internet! Yay! First thing this morning was to call my mum "PC to landline" and in the next couple of days I'm finally going to call my German friends. It still is a difference if you send out and receive mails or if you hear a human voice on the other end of the line. I'm excited and wonder how people survived 50 years ago without our generations technologies....


Ja, ich musste gerade eine Traene verdruecken... aus Freude!

Nachdem ich Samstag und Sonntag das Restaurant zum ersten Mal vollstaendig alleine gemanaget und einen fuer Sonntag unueblichen Andrang mit viel Energie und ohne einen einzigen Fehler bewaeltigt und auch heute die Spaetschicht geleitet habe, erwartete mich gerade folgende Nachricht online als ich nach Hause kam:

Teri denkt wieviel Glueck sie doch hat, Jenny in ihrem Leben zu haben... Sie ist die Bombe!!!

Ein weiteres Statement meiner Chefin auf Facebook. Ich fuehle mich gerade wie im Himmel!!!

Es ist ja nicht so, als waere ich niemals in meinen Jobs fuer meinen Fleiss und meine Arbeit gelobt worden, aber gerade nach meinem letzten Job in Deutschland bei dem Discounter mit den 4 Buchstaben und nicht einem netten Wort meiner Vorgesetzten, tut das seeeeehr gut!

Erneut bin ich begeistert, dass ich den Schritt dieses Umzugs hierher gewagt habe. Momentan werden die Gewinner der diesjaehrigen Greencard Lotterie benachrichtigt. Waehrend sie ihre Gedanken im Gewinnerforum von TAD posten, erinnern mich Einige an mich selbst, wie ich die Zeit im Mai/Juni 2006 nach Michael's Benachrichtigung empfand. Andere, mit Zweifeln erfuellt, erinnern mich an meine Situation Anfang 2008, als mein Traum allmaehlich zerfiel und als ich dachte, es wuerde fuer mich nie moeglich sein, diesen Schritt zu gehen.

Nun, hier bin ich - mein Leben am Kragen packend und gluecklich! Es ist nun fast 4 Monate her, seit ich umgezogen/ausgewandert bin und die Resultate sind wie folgend: Ich bin sonnengebraeunt und meine Ersparnisse sind fast schon wieder auf dem Stand, auf dem sie waren, als ich Deutschland verlassen habe. Ich bin dankbar, dass ich in dieser schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Lage erfolgreich bin. Klar weiss ich nicht, ob diese Situation fuer mich anhaelt, aber wie immer, geniesse ich jeden Moment! Ja, ich vermisse meine Familie. Ja, ich vermisse meine Freunde, aber Nein, ich vermisse Deutschland nicht. Mein Land sind die USA!

Wie ihr seht, bin ich nun auch endlich zurueck im Internet. Ich habe nun mein eigenes mit Comcast. Nachdem ich deren Zeitrahmen nicht mit meinem Arbeitsplan vereinbaren konnte, erklaerte sich Javier gestern bereit, den Nachmittag zu Hause zu bleiben und auf den Typen zu waren, der die Internetverbindung erstellen wuerde. Juhu! Das erste was ich heute frueh machte, war meine Mutti ueber den Computer im deutschen Festnetz anzurufen und in den naechsten Tagen werde ich endlich auch meine Freunde anrufen. Es ist eben doch ein grosser Unterschied, ob man Mails hin und herschickt oder eine Stimme am anderen Ende der Leitung hoert. Ich freue mich schon und frage mich, wie Leute vor 50 Jahren ohne die Technologien unserer Generation ueberlebt haben.....