Originally Posted by Sugarmooma

I don't think you can be covered by Medicaid if you are a new immigrant. Part of the immigration rules are who ever sponsors you is responsible for you . At least that is how it used to work.
Maybe the OP has been here awhile?

Originally Posted by expat2000

If you must know, I have been here almost years. NJ requires 5 years before eligible for NJ Family Care. But I've not been here for all of the six years because I had health insurance through work but it didn't cover me for what I needed when I got really sick and I had to return to the UK for a year to get treatment (even privately in the UK that treatment was 25% of the US costs). Hence, no, I haven't a bloody clue how the health system works here, but I'm fully aware of how it doesn't work!

Originally Posted by Boiler

NY and CA allow medicaid to new immigrants.

Originally Posted by expat2000

Thanks, Pulaski, for all the suggestions. I suppose it goes to show how effective the NHS is, compared to a system designed for profit over healthcare. The alternative to the "all you can eat buffet" approach seems to be a "menu", with each option leading to another "menu"...all of which is written in another language, and referring to our hunger way into the future. Seems to be asking the customer to rely on a crystal ball. We don't know which disease is going to come after us. We don't know what's going to happen. It's like buying a lottery ticket. What good is an insurance policy, such as one I just looked at, that covers a whole range of things but which doesn't pay for an ambulance or "facility fee" (hospital room)?

The whole health insurance system in the US just seems sick to me.

Originally Posted by Sugarmooma

I thought that was just for children, not adults.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Buried in the Affordable Care Act was an assumption that all states would "extend" Medicaid, to cover those unable to afford ACA insurance. In practice a number of states, being most, but not all, of those run by Republican administrations, took a view that extending Medicaid was too expensive, notably because the Federal subsidy for extending Medicaid would decline significantly after several years, which will require substantial state tax increases to meet the funding gap.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Buried in the Affordable Care Act was an assumption that all states would "extend" Medicaid, to cover those unable to afford ACA insurance. In practice a number of states, being most, but not all, of those run by Republican administrations, took a view that extending Medicaid was too expensive, notably because the Federal subsidy for extending Medicaid would decline significantly after several years, which will require substantial state tax increases to meet the funding gap.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

Buried in the Affordable Care Act was an assumption that all states would "extend" Medicaid, to cover those unable to afford ACA insurance. In practice a number of states, being most, but not all, of those run by Republican administrations, took a view that extending Medicaid was too expensive, notably because the Federal subsidy for extending Medicaid would decline significantly after several years, which will require substantial state tax increases to meet the funding gap.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

I couldn't disagree more, the cost of the NHS is unsustainable, for the entire country, and is forcing many people to buy in to a massive insurance scheme that it is not, in reality in their interests to be funding.

Originally Posted by Giantaxe

I'd say the country that spends 18% of GDP on healthcare whilst leaving tens of millions uninsured is the one that is more unsustainable. And the pandemic has shown just what a nutty idea tying health insurance to employment is.

Originally Posted by mrken30

You have to remember, healthcare is a huge job creation scheme in the US. Many thousands of people would lose their jobs if a single payer system was adopted.

Originally Posted by Giantaxe

I doubt propping up a vastly inefficient and costly enterprise is a sustainable way to grow the economy.

Originally Posted by mrken30

Probably true, but many countries have an expensive, inefficient civil service. What's the difference? One come out of taxes, one comes out of necessity to stay alive and healthy.