health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Hello everyone,
My MIL is thinking about immigrating to the USA. She's never worked in the States before. She'd be immigrating on her own, thru a petition from her son. What kind of health insurance/coverage is available to someone in her situation?

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Her savings...

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

I agree with the above. The premiums and copays are going to be substantial, and are liable to eat up most of her monthly income.

Unless she is independently wealthy, I would advise against because not only is she not eligible for Medicare, but if she were to need nursing home care soon (anyone can have a stroke, so don't rule it out) she would not be eligible for Medicaid depending on the State.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

California you can get Medicaid, Medi Cal from Day One.

Buy through the Exchange. Limits how much can be charged due to age.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

There are strict eligibility criteria to get Medi-Cal for new immigrants. (there are different rules for undocumented and legal immigrants)
Based on the fact that those sponsoring have to have a certain level of income and have to sign Affidavit of Support agreements, the likely hood of their parent then being eligible for Medical is quite low.
The income level and assets level taken into consideration are extremely low.

https://www.insubuy.com/medi-cal-eli...ew-immigrants/

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

An ACA policy through an exchange appears to be the way to go and has much improved the situation for older immigrants. Of course, any subsidy is income dependent and there is the gotcha of if their income is low enough to qualify for Medicaid they are out of luck in states that don't provide Medicaid to new immigrants.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/med...FAQs2014b.aspx

I know that it is income restricted not savings, insubuy is a dubious source at best. Somebody here with a GC is a legal immigrant.

Affidavit of Support has nothing to do with this, Federal issue and CA fund this from their own resources.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Thanks for all your replies! You've been so helpful!

I'll look into ACA insurance policies. She would be moving to Washington state if she came. We'd likely be paying her premiums and copays, etc.

Another option is for her to come visit for up to 6 months at a time, but I'd like her to have traveler's health insurance in that case. Can anyone recommend a good one? I would want it to cover hospitilization in the case of an emergency.

Thanks again :)

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Travel insurance is like car insurance something she would be buying and who the best is will change. At 70 there might well be Insurers who would quote a 6 month trip assuming no pre existing issues the older you get etc the harder it will get especially for long visits

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Don’t old people become eligible for Medicare after being resident for five years? They have to pay full premiums for BOTH Part A and Part B, but still a good deal for an older person.

Maybe I’m misremembering though.

Yup. Looks like premiums would be about $700 a month, not bad. (After 5 yrs residence)

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Depending on their income ACA could be much cheaper

Now what the situation could be in 5 years who knows, Medicare went up substantially this year

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Plus the cost of prescription drug coverage? So, yes, maybe cheaper than an ACA policy after the first five years depending on the income of the recipient and the ACA subsidy they get, if any.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

https://www.hca.wa.gov/health-care-s...e/non-citizens

It seems Washington does have some cover for new Immigrants, somewhat limited but better than nothing. And this of course could change, will take some time if they decide to go the Immigrant route.

I am assuming as the OP mentioned they were paying MIL has limited income so would qualify and/or benefit from ACA subsidies. There is something for over 65's so they get the benefit even if they can not take it as a tax credit, basically for people who would otherwise be pushed into Medicaid which they do not qualify for due to 5 year bar.

There are plenty of people who sponsor parents with zero income, just need to know how to work the system.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

She would need to get this in the UK - some airlines offer you travel insurance when you book the tickets. You'll need to read the details very carefully, because most do not cover pre-existing conditions.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Try a company called world first - very good for seniors and people with significant pre-existing conditions. Used them for a visit of then 94 YO grandfather with multiple issues (heart bypass, pacemaker, prostate cancer).

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Did the policy cover the pre-conditions?

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

World First are a Broker so what will be available will depend on what the Insurers they deal with are offering, and that changes. They could be excellent this year and not next year or vice versa.

They say they specialize in the difficult over 65 and people with medical issues, where things get really difficult is when you combine age/pre existing conditions/long trip, for very obvious reasons.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

That is why Medicare is a good choice - after five years as a resident.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

They are a UK based travel insurance broker

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Yes. I also have a chronic condition which I used them for and it was also covered. Their questions on which they base the premium are pragmatic and insightful to the conditions declared.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

They managed to get a suitable policy for a 94 YO with multiple pre-existing conditions (covered). We've used them multiple times across multiple years and been good.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Used them to buy a policy or used them to claim? That’s the only time you can really tell if insurnace is good…

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

I didn't claim, so can't vouch for that side of it. However, it's one of the few brokers who actually have a good questionnaire to work out the extent of pre-existing conditions.

And at this point I'm bored of justifying World First. You pays your money and you makes your choice. YMMV

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

I see nothing wrong with World First, I would certainly try for them for Travel Insurance, especially where there may be issues.

I did look them up, they are an offshoot of a small Lloyd's Broker. Historically the big boys were not that interested in the lets say specialist risks, they obviously saw an opportunity. The way it normally works is that they have delegated underwriting authority, sales pitch to the Insurer is their specific skill set in putting together a book of business and rating it to produce a profit. Sounds like their forte is medical underwriting. Claims handling is outsourced.

As far as this situation is concerned:

For travellers aged 69 or below, we can cover up to 186 days per trip. However we can provide cover for people aged up to 100 for up to 31 days or more – depending on your specific age.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

We were in this situation and it was a nightmare. Some serious coin and that was only if we could find a company that was interested in doing this. Travel insurance (when we looked at it) had some restrictions about you being on a tourist visa and not immigrating. That might have changed by now but not sure.

In the end, we were able to get, through our employer's insurance company, a "dependent parent" insurance plan added as a rider to our insurance plan. This is a very rare thing though, but some companies do offer it as a benefit to their employee health plans. You can try reaching out to your employer to see if this is something they might have built into their plan. Still going to cost a bunch, but cheaper than buying on your own direct from an exchange or something.

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Thanks for all the info!

We'll look to see if my husband's employer will let him add her to his health insurance.

And I'll look into world first traveler's insurance. I think traveler's insurance may be the place to start because I'm not sure my MIL will even like it here. I think it's best we start with a long tourist stay to see if she likes the weather and culture, and us :lol:

Re: health insurance for 70-year-old immigrating to USA?
 

Sounds good! Just remember that if she decides to become a resident, she’ll be eligible for Medicare after five years. She’ll pay a monthly premium, but it’s good coverage.