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Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Old Jan 18th 2017, 7:22 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by nun
No! not Phew......crossing fingers and toes isn't a solution, you are in the US without health insurance and that is dangerous to both your health and your wallet. Get insurance ASAP. People coming from the UK are use to the NHS, if you need medical care in the US and you don't have insurance you will be billed and that could easily bankrupt you if you need an extended hospital stay.
Sorry Nun, perhaps you missed the start of the thread. I am not in the US. I''m in the U.K. I arrive in April and can enrol in the special enrollment period within 60 days of arrival (advice from California Covered received today) Thanks for your concern though, it's appreciated.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 1:17 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
Sorry Nun, perhaps you missed the start of the thread. I am not in the US. I''m in the U.K. I arrive in April and can enrol in the special enrollment period within 60 days of arrival (advice from California Covered received today) Thanks for your concern though, it's appreciated.
You entered the US on your visa.....that's the start date of your US residency, you've already arrived. You are a US resident. Maybe the NHS will not notice and still consider you UK resident you should investigate that, or maybe not as you are in a gray zone right now. But the US will consider you US resident from the day you entered the US on your immigrant visa. This will definitely be important for your taxes.

Last edited by nun; Jan 19th 2017 at 1:20 pm.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 2:28 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

You've presumably filed a USCIS AR-11 form with a US address on it. The powers-that-be understand you to be resident now for legal matters such as taxes, healthcare, etc. You don't live in the UK any longer; you're just there on a brief trip, like a holiday. (I agree that the NHS is unlikely to notice.)
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 2:38 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by nun
.... the US will consider you US resident from the day you entered the US on your immigrant visa. This will definitely be important for your taxes.
What Nun and Kodokan said.

Irrespective of what the California insurance system says, you run the risk of a fine, through your 2017 tax return, for not having ACA compliant insurance if you delay obtaining insurance.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 2:57 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by kodokan
You've presumably filed a USCIS AR-11 form with a US address on it.
No we haven't done this. Possibly it is inapplicable for us as we were never resident aliens (we filed through consular proceeding).
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 3:41 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
No we haven't done this. Possibly it is inapplicable for us as we were never resident aliens (we filed through consular proceeding).
What visa do you have? When did you enter the US on that visa?

You said in your first post that you entered the US on an immigrant visa in December 2016, so you are a US resident alien.

Last edited by nun; Jan 19th 2017 at 4:01 pm.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 4:00 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by nun
What visa do you have? When did you enter the US on that visa?
EB-1A, entered on December 19, 2016.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 5:12 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by Pulaski
OK then the OP does not fully understand her situation. She is a US permanent resident alien. This has taxation and obviously health insurance implications. If the UK deems her to have moved permanently to the US she will not be covered by the NHS. I wonder if a P85 was ever filed with HMRC?

Last edited by nun; Jan 19th 2017 at 5:15 pm.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 5:22 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
No we haven't done this. Possibly it is inapplicable for us as we were never resident aliens (we filed through consular proceeding).
As soon as you arrive and trigger your immigrant visa, they have to have an address for you, and you need to let them know every time you move, within 10 days, until you are a US citizen. When we first moved over, we had to send them 2-3 different addresses of temporary hotels and holiday villas we were staying in, each for a couple of weeks at a time. You presumably initially gave them your friend's house; the same as for the Green Card mailing? Best to leave it as that for the time being, since you don't have another one to offer right now, but don't forget to update it as soon as you do.

But you must realize you are currently US Permanent Residents. The fact that you've popped back to the UK to sort out a few matters is as irrelevant to matters like taxes, healthcare and immigration rules, as the fact that I spent a month or so in the UK last summer visiting relatives; I still maintained US health insurance and will be liable for taxes during this time. Not having a fixed address or not physically being here for a little while doesn't exempt you from all this, it just makes it tediously inconvenient.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 8:01 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by nun
OK then the OP does not fully understand her situation. She is a US permanent resident alien. This has taxation and obviously health insurance implications. If the UK deems her to have moved permanently to the US she will not be covered by the NHS. I wonder if a P85 was ever filed with HMRC?
Yes you're probably right about that! (as an aside, although our situation is not that unusual, according to our attorney, we seem to be faced with blank looks whenever we describe our situation - the CBP officer did not even know how to process our documentation).

I am still working here (in Manchester). I don't finish my job until April. Probably we should have entered the US in Dec under VWP but our attorney advised against that. I am actually still using the NHS -in fact I've been for physio this morning!

I took all your advice and contacted Covered CA again for the second time. Their advice was the same: you cannot enrol as you do not have any of the information we need yet.

Possibly they are incorrect and you are right. However, going through the enrolment process, I could not click any further through the application as I couldn't complete half of the information (such as bank account). So I feel a bit stuck! (And may have just one day to get round it)

I do have a full transcript of my conversation with CC though.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 8:22 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
Yes you're probably right about that! (as an aside, although our situation is not that unusual, according to our attorney, we seem to be faced with blank looks whenever we describe our situation - the CBP officer did not even know how to process our documentation).

I am still working here (in Manchester). I don't finish my job until April. Probably we should have entered the US in Dec under VWP but our attorney advised against that. I am actually still using the NHS -in fact I've been for physio this morning!

I took all your advice and contacted Covered CA again for the second time. Their advice was the same: you cannot enrol as you do not have any of the information we need yet.

Possibly they are incorrect and you are right. However, going through the enrolment process, I could not click any further through the application as I couldn't complete half of the information (such as bank account). So I feel a bit stuck! (And may have just one day to get round it)

I do have a full transcript of my conversation with CC though.
By entering the US on your EB1 you've triggered some things that will make your life a little complicated. You can probably fly under the radar with the NHS, but a strict interpretation of your status might mean that you are no longer eligible for "free" NHS care, I don't know how the UK authorities will view your status if it comes to their attention.

As far as taxes are concerned there's no uncertainty. Since your date of entry to the US on the EB1 you have been liable to US tax on your worldwide income. You should file your US taxes for 2016 as a dual status alien. Living and working outside the US while holding an immigrant visa is also not advisable.

Last edited by nun; Jan 19th 2017 at 8:29 pm.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 8:50 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by nun
As far as taxes are concerned there's no uncertainty. Since your date of entry to the US on the EB1 you have been liable to US tax on your worldwide income. You should file your US taxes for 2016 as a dual status alien. Living and working outside the US while holding an immigrant visa is also not advisable.
I think we do not qualify as dual status. We were in the US for just 11 days - 31 consecutive days are a prerequisite for this I believe.

Obviously living and working overseas is not advisable but it cannot be avoided. Consular processing under EB1A advises not to "plan travel or employment" prior to acceptance, which we only received last month, and my place of work requires me to give 3 months notice.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 9:22 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
I think we do not qualify as dual status. We were in the US for just 11 days - 31 consecutive days are a prerequisite for this I believe.

Obviously living and working overseas is not advisable but it cannot be avoided. Consular processing under EB1A advises not to "plan travel or employment" prior to acceptance, which we only received last month, and my place of work requires me to give 3 months notice.
Not filing taxes and working abroad can be seen as abandoning your status though, which is kind what I think the others are getting at.

As for working the notice, while it's commendable, what are they going do to about it?

This scenario is really something your lawyer should have gone over with you.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 9:36 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
I think we do not qualify as dual status. We were in the US for just 11 days - 31 consecutive days are a prerequisite for this I believe.

Obviously living and working overseas is not advisable but it cannot be avoided. Consular processing under EB1A advises not to "plan travel or employment" prior to acceptance, which we only received last month, and my place of work requires me to give 3 months notice.
Once you have entered the US under a permanent residence status, as you did by using your EB-1A, you ARE tax resident.

"Dual status" is an IRS concession allowing you to exclude from US taxation a certain period, the first part of a tax year, prior to you obtaining permanent residence status.

Last edited by Pulaski; Jan 19th 2017 at 11:22 pm.
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Old Jan 19th 2017, 10:58 pm
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Default Re: Health insurance - open enrollment - 3 days left.. should I wait?

Originally Posted by catlover3
I took all your advice and contacted Covered CA again for the second time. Their advice was the same: you cannot enrol as you do not have any of the information we need yet.

Possibly they are incorrect and you are right. However, going through the enrolment process, I could not click any further through the application as I couldn't complete half of the information (such as bank account). So I feel a bit stuck! (And may have just one day to get round it)

I do have a full transcript of my conversation with CC though.
My experience is that each government department has its own rules. You're trying to play by CC's rules, which is about the best you can do.

My experience of the NHS (having worked there) is that right now there's nothing to tell them at the moment that you are not a UK resident, so it shouldn't make any difference until you've actually permanently moved.
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