Vasu

Hi,

I am a US citizen by naturalization. I would like to sponsor my aging
parents for PR. I have the following queries pertaining to their
healthcare once they acquire green cards.

1. Will they be eligible for Medicare? I am prepared to pay monthly
premiums if required. My parents are over 70.

2. If not, what private insurance is available, and how do they
consider pre-existing ailments?

Thanks,
Vasu

Rete

No, they are not eligible.

From what others have said when this subject is brought up once a month or so, few insurance companies will take elderly patients without charging a large premium.

Try doing an online search for healthcare insurers and then start calling.

Good luck and remember you will need to sign an I-864 affidavit of support for your parents and that is a binding contract between you and the government. Anything other than emergency medical care that is funded by a government agency means you will be the one that the government will come to for reimbursement. Unless you are financially able, I would rethink your desire to bring them to the US. Anyway that is just my opinion.

Rete

fatbrit

Afraid I have to disagree. The problem is the first five years till they qualify...

Taken from http://medicare.custhelp.com

You will be eligible to apply for Medicare if you have paid into Social Security for at least 10 years or you are eligible to receive Social Security benefits on your spouse’s earnings. If you do not meet these requirements, you can still get Medicare hospital insurance (Part A) by paying a monthly premium if you are a citizen or a lawfully admitted alien who has lived in the U.S. for at least five years.

Also, anyone who is age 65 and a citizen or a lawfully admitted alien with five years of residency in the United States can sign up for Medicare Part B. Medical Insurance and pay a monthly premium.

scrubbedexpat099

That's what I understood too.

But also Medicare is not a catch all, so its not that you are home and dry even then.

I have heard horror stories from those who are USC's and have worked here all there life.

Just a no goer for OAP's unless you have lots of money.

fatbrit

Certainly playing Russian roulette until you get it. There aren't many in their 70's for whom you'd bet they won't have an expensive medical condition in the next 5 years. I think bringing the folks over at that age is not so much the millionaire's choice but the multimillionaire's.

Rete

Yes that is true. But the first five years are more important you are talking about people in their 70's who if not already having health problems will be soon enough and probably within the five years before USCIS allows LP's to become public charges. And rather than Medicare they will probably get Medicaid when they are eligible to become public charges, the financial sponsor is still liable for reimbursement to the government.

So is it Medicaid is it a government loan that big brother wants repaid?

scotta

My wife, who is pregnant, and I arrived at the end of Jan. (Greencards) We have enough money for a simple natural dilevery and when we started looking at medical insurance most private ones won't cover any pre-existing conditions. (pregnancy) Someone suggested trying the department of health which we did and as I am as yet un-employed they have given us coupons that will cover the whole thing. We have only been here a month and certainly haven't paid any social security.

I feel a bit bad about this but in the long run my taxes will probably more than repay this.

Scott

PS: On the forms we filled in qualifing people were those over 65, disabled or pregnant.

Rete

Why am I not surprised?

You showed the US Consulate $50,000 in cash assets and yet come to the US and can't afford to pay for the care of your wife and the birth of your child.

Right ... welcome to America.

scotta

I was looking around to purchase health insurance, $50,000 will disapear overnight if your baby needs an incubator. On referal I ended up at the Department of Health and they said here it is free. I didn't invent a system that that looks at income and not assests, and besides I was looking to pay for insurance. Show me someone who would say "No Thanks"?

As far as the health sector goes, Yes there are the horror stories about being turned away if you can't pay etc and you would be well advised to take heed of them but as I realised it's not always that bad. I have also talked to a hospital administrator who said they would explore all avenues of funding, grants, medicaid etc and often will even write off large amounts depending on your income. This actually has positive repucussions for the hospital in the form of tax rebates and grants. This is from the horses mouth.

American society is capatalistic but there are also a lot of perceptions who's only foundation is the media, and we all know how biased that can be at times.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Scott

Ingo Pakleppa

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Rete wrote:
    | Sorry but this is what pisses me off about the immigration system.

I think you are addressing the wrong system. You should be pissed off at
the health insurance system. One of the ten wealthiest countries in the
world, and we can't even afford to provide health care for every citizen?

Once we decide to invite somebody to join us as a legal immigrant, we
should treat him with the same way we treat citizens. Basically, a Green
Card holder is a "citizen in training" anyway.

    | A USC has to sign an affidavit of support and reimburse the government for
    | monies given to a foreign spouse if those monies were given and yet
    | someone with $50,000 in cash comes into the US with lottery won green
    | cards and gets free medical care.

Um... $50k is supposed to cover five year's worth of living expenses.

- --
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I
encourage everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than
relying on usenet newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under
construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for Spam protection.
See my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.
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Rete

Me, for one. When I had my first child the pregnancy was not covered under my husband's insurance because the insurance was not in effect for 90 days prior to the conception date. This was back in the 60's. We arranged to pay monthly towards the hospital care and the doctor's care. We were never offered a freebie by the hospital and/or the doctor.

As I said welcome to America.

scrubbedexpat099

    | Sorry but this is what pisses me off about the immigration system.

I think you are addressing the wrong system. You should be pissed off at
the health insurance system. One of the ten wealthiest countries in the
world, and we can't even afford to provide health care for every citizen?

Once we decide to invite somebody to join us as a legal immigrant, we
should treat him with the same way we treat citizens. Basically, a Green
Card holder is a "citizen in training" anyway.

[q1]

Well of course most immigrants are treated the same way as USC's for Health care, no benefits.

That's the problem...

Does answer the question of how the many young Mum's around here afforded delivery costs, I was sure that it was not on the back of their parents coverage.

Rete

No I'm addressing the right system. The USCIS has a requirement in place for the lottery winners that says they have to prove they are able to support themselves. Here this person from SA shows $50,000 in cash, brings a pregnant wife with him and then applies for medicaid to pay for her expenses. USCIS should be the one to stop him in his tracks and depend that they repay the US Government for the expenditure of those monies. That is what they were suppose to have the money for ... support and care of the family. They could have remained in SA until the child was born or not gotten pregnant in the first place when they were planning to emigrate. So who pays for their fun and games and then their care? You and I who work and pay taxes. Yes, it pisses me off. and Yes, it pisses me off to see babies having babies in this country and around the world, as well, when they can't afford to bring them into the world financially or emotionally.

Rete

Rant over.

fatbrit

Whereas what should piss you off is a US healthcare system that is so greedy it costs at the very least twice as much as comparable systems in other countries.

I would hazard a guess that at the time you had your child, the costs for the treatment were much more in line with personal income. In that case, it might be more reasonable to expect payment. However, this is certainly not the case today.

Ingo Pakleppa

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Rete wrote:
    | They could have remained in SA until
    | the child was born or not gotten pregnant in the first place when they
    | were planning to emigrate. So who pays for their fun and games and then
    | their care?

Among other things because delivery costs, in particular (also health
insurance cost in general) are really investments that benefit us as a
whole. So you are basically saying that immigrants shouldn't have
children unless they are wealthy enough. Alas, you are killing the goose
that lays your golden egg here. Your nest egg that is, for who do you
think will pay your retirement benefits? Native-born American citizens
have very low birth rates, like most Western countries, and one of the
best ways of fixing social security - besides abolishing the salary cap
- - would be to do whatever we can to *encourage* people to have children.
Not make it too expensive to afford. Paying delivery costs at taxpayer
expense truly is a bargain for us as a nation.

And that applies even if Bush ends up abolishing Social Security. For
who do you think will then make the charitable contributions that
tomorrow's retirees will rely on? Who will buy the stock that they
accumulated in their privatized accounts?

By the way, a similar logic applies to health care cost (and of course
all that applies equally to US citizens): healthy people are more
productive, and we as a society would be much better off fixing health
problems early rather than having people wait until they have a true
emergency, and then sometimes end up on disability.

Rant over.

- --
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I
encourage everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than
relying on usenet newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (always under
construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for Spam protection.
See my Web site for information on how to contact me.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.
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