Want2Move

I am in H1B and my wife is in H4. The company is going to start my greencard process in a couple of months. I have posted similar question in Canadian Immigration forum too (if you happened to check both forums) as I am more interested to live in Canada than the US, but if Canada does not work out, I guess the US is not that bad either. But I have a big fear of one thing and here is the story.

My wife was diagnosed with Pituitary Tumor in early 2004 while trying to find why she was not getting pregnant. She went through some blood works, her prolactine level was very high. She went through an MRI and her tumor was pretty big (about 11mm x 10mm). We did not have insurance when she was diagnosed with it and the medicine was going to cost us US$500 per month. Thanks to Canada! we were able to buy the exact medicine online for US$100 including shipping and handling. She took medicine for about 3 months, the prolactine level came back to normal, got pregnant, once found out that she is pregnant doctor asked her to stop the medicine. She has not taken any medicine since. We kept checking prolactine level during preganancy and it was a little higher than normal and the doctor told us that it is normal to have it higher during pregnancy and few months after giving birth.

We already have two kids now. She does not have any symptoms and she feels just fine. We have not checked the prolactine level and have not done an MRI for a very long time, so we do not know the level of prolactine and the size of the tumor.

Now my question is, how is it going to affect our Greencard application? While going through medicals, does she need to declare that she was diagnosed with pituatary tumor? Thanks.

ian-mstm

It should not affect the application at all. With few exceptions, the medical attempts to discover evidence of public threat (such as HIV+) or evidence of contagion (such as TB). Having a diagnosed and treatable medical condition should not make any difference. She will probably need to declare it, but it should not negatively impact the application. (operative word = should).

Ian

Marmalade

I second that. It should not affect the application.

augigi

I hope you're going to rectify this situation - a tumor is not something where ignorance is bliss.

Want2Move

We have a long and sad story what we went through for not having an insurance when she was diaganosed and we were in visas (F1 and F2) and she was not qualified for any government medical supports (she could have been qualified for medicaid or similar programs if she was a greencard holder or a citizen because of our low income). I am not going into detail of that sad story, but we are in the process of getting an insurance policy and hopefully we will be able to do further check ups and take care of it. The insurance company that we have applied has asked her to go through some blood works. I am afraid that they may not offer her insurance or they may not cover her tumor. I have asked an insurance related question in under USA forum. Hopefully somebody will guide me a little bit. Thanks.

Thanks iam-mstm and Marmalade for giving me some hope regarding my GC application.

Marmalade

Good luck to you with the insurance business, as I know it is not easy to figure out what will and won't be covered. Ask questions until you get the answer you need.

Tracym

Medicaid can be a problem if you are sponsored by someone - technically I think that the govt can reclaim the money from your sponsor if they choose to.

I just noticed you're in IL - there is a state program here. Once your wife gets a green card, she would probably be eligible for that program if you can't get her other insurance, or the price of the other insurance is significantly higher than the state program. However... if you are not "HIPAA" eligible, which I think she would not be from your description, they would not cover that pre-existing condition for the first year.

That program would be worth checking into however, imo, once she has a green card.

OK, so it sounds like you are in Chicago, and have been for some time. Want to move to....? I presume that your wife has been without medical insurance through a group or the NHS for over 60 (62?) days? If so, she is not HIPAA eligible, and even a group policy or the Illinois program does not have to cover that pre-existing condition for the first year.

A warning - the pituitary is considered "the master gland" and interacts with so many bodily systems - I would be cautious and try to determine what sorts of illnesses for which payment could be declined by an insurance company, due to that pre-existing condition.

Want2Move

Thank you so much for being so kind. I am no longer in IL. I am in UT now. My wife and I were not sponsored by anybody in the US. We came here in student visa and dad took care of the finance from back home. I looked at some of the options in Utah for my wife and looks like she is not eligible for anything right now. You are right, she never had insurance in the US, so she will not be eligible for HIPAA.

Thank you for the warning. They may not accept her, if they do I will make sure with the insurance company what is covered and what is not covered. I wanted to move to Canada (under skilled worker category), that is why I chose that name. I still would like to, but it sounds like they will not accept us because of my wife's medical condition.

Thank you so much again.

Tracym

You're welcome. I wish you the best of luck.