Cliffy39

My monthly premium was $9.11 (nine dollars and 11 cents!). Without subsidy the premium was $1006.11 and the advance Premium Tax Credit (ie the subsidy) was $997 making the actual payment that I had to pay only $9.11! I spent many tens, if not hundreds of hours, researching the ACA before I arrived in the US, and after arriving here as I wanted to make sure that I fully understood all the details. I also visited my potential healthcare insurer while on holiday here before actually emigrating here. It was worth losing all the interest on my savings to ensure that I qualified for the subsidy!!

Cliffy39

The Premium Tax Credit was not included in the items that would disqualify you from getting citizenship.

Steerpike

I agree, this is very helpful! I didn't even know this was possible (to come here as a non-citizen and get a healthcare subsidy).

Whatever subsidy he got back in 2015 should now be significantly higher. Recent changes effectively limit your premium to a certain percentage of your income (8.5% of AGI), although it's actually more complicated than that; the subsidy is calculated based on the benchmark 'silver' plan, in your area, but once the subsidy amount is determined, you can pay more for better, or less for worse, coverage while receiving the same subsidy amount. See this segment " Your subsidy is based on the cost of the benchmark Silver plan in your area." which is taken from this helpful article:

https://www.healthinsurance.org/obam...emium-subsidy/

I'm 63 and the premium for my silver plan in my area is around $1200/mo (and this will go up every year based on age), but I get a large subsidy of around $800/mo, so I pay just under $400/mo. That subsidy is based on a projected income of $50k (which is largely going to be from IRA, capital gains, possibly some part-time consulting, etc). The plan has a deductible of $3,700 and a max out-of-pocket of $8,200. I could use the same subsidy amount and get a bronze plan for less, or get a gold plan for more.

These subsidies are not guaranteed to continue past 2022 ...

penguinsix

While there is a 5-year-ban on Medicare/Medicaid funding, California is an outlier on this in that they do offer some medical assistance to new arrivals under the state-funded Medi-CAL program, but generally only if you are very poor and/or need emergency care. Basically, I wouldn't put my entire health insurance planning in the hands of the state, but did want to note there are some very barebones options available in California.

There is one other relatively rare option but sometimes it does occur: dependent parent insurance. Some insurance plans (well, very few) have the capability of adding a 'dependent parent' to your plan. You can contact your HR/insurance company to see if this is an option (note: I doubt it, but it does exist in some plans).

SanDiegogirl

How does someone arrive in the US and end up paying only $9.11 per month for health insurance because they are eligible for a $1,000 subsidy?
If they came in with a job then presumably they would be earning more than $50K a year (the highest level of income in order to be eligible for subsidies), and if sponsored by a relative isn't the sponsoring relative supposed to earn enough to support the relative without recourse to public funds.
Getting a health subsidy for a $1K sounds like a public fund to me.
Presumably the 3.8 % tax Obama placed on adjusted AGI pays for it.

Steerpike

I don't disagree with your overall message, but the part bolded above ($50K a year (the highest level of income in order to be eligible for subsidies)) is no longer correct. The 'cliff' of ~$50k was removed by the recent legislation described above. You can still get a (reduced) subsidy even at $80k. I worked out when it finally falls to zero, but I don't have the info at hand. I think Giantaxe has the details ...