Americanwife

Hello, guys!
I am here on K-3 visa and one of my MAIN concerns is medical services cost. My husband is a student and currently doesnt work, and i didnt receive my work permit yet so it is a huge burden for us.
i needed a vision check up, new lens, gyn checkups, pills, etc. and the prices are sooooooooo high. Does anyone know any possible solution to this problem, any ideas to get discounts somehow,some help to pay for all this?
Thanks a lot

NC Penguin

I vaguely recall you posting this question elsewhere on BE. Did you not get any reponses that you could follow up and research?

The question about affordable healthcare in the US comes up every so often on this very forum. I would suggest you search through this USA forum for previous threads on the topic.

Manc

NHS
No welfare / medicaid for us. And as soon as you apply, your co-sponsor on the I-864 will be sent a bill.

Americanwife

Yeah i had that question posted in the US marriage-based visas but those guys there advised to ask it here.
I will look here for that topic, thanks

Franklin

Are you saying because your husband is a student he doesn't work ... or he just doesn't do the work-pay-the-bills thing?

Muswell Hill

I would recommend looking in the yellow pages for "Free clinics". Normally run by a charity type body, you may be able to go there as your hubby is a student and you can't work. Some of my friends who are students right now go to one and the care is basic, but free. You may be able to get a prescription and buy generic drugs, which are much cheaper.

Pfizer and other drug companies have info on their websites on ways that low income families can get their drugs for free...look into it.

Lastly, I am not certain, but maybe your husband could apply for medicaid for himself based on low income rules, less than $700/month is the cut off i think. You should go and talk to a medicaid counsellor too, maybe you might qualify???

Does anyone know if medicaid is one of those benefits that AOS applicants "can't" receive, or is it not on the 'recourse to public funds" or whatever it's called list.......any experts on the board know?

Best of luck...i know how incredibly hard life is here without insurance.

Bob

Not sure, but someone on BE mentioned that emergency medicaid care isn't means tested, but general use was, so the sponsor would have to pay back the bills...don't know how true that is though, but worth checking.
Don't know if the USC can claim these benefits for his self though, should be able to I imagine though.

Manc

Foriegn Aliens with less than 40 quarters of work history are entitled to sweet FA.

Duncan Roberts

Actually, you can get emergency medicaid and immunisations for communicable diseases, anything under section 403(c) of the Welfare Reform Act and a few bits and bobs along the way (its on page 5 of form i-865)
If your husband is a student, most colleges offer some kind of student medical benefits. I would start there.

Franklin

My thoughts exactly ... get medical cover from the college group student policy for a married couple so the wife is on it. As we all know, medical insurance does not usually cover 100% of medical costs. The student husband can get a job during college - waiting on tables, anything to help pay the bills, including medical insurance. When one gets married responsibilities soon follow.

I still remember moving to the USA with my American wife and getting hit with a $450 a month medical insurance policy ... it was a family one, my first employer did not have a married couple without children policy and boy did we get panned; the wife took longer to get a job (finally got a temping job at a big insurance company in Chicago, and months later they took her on as an employee and we suddenly had fantastic coverage for a fantastic low rate, I dropped that super-expensive medical insurance policy like a shot. But for a few months I paid for that expensive policy out of my salary, hurt like hell (I got caught out, I did not know the employer had crap medical insurance for married couples only); we had no furniture and slept on a blow up bed, but paid the $450 bucks every month. Not nice. In the shuffle between her moving to the UK and us moving back to the USA we basically ended up with zip furniture. Just too expensive to ship. Did that first job while doing a graduate law degree. If it had just been me, I think I would have forgone having medical coverage, but having a vibrant beautiful wife in full bloom I wanted to protect her and bit the bullet without hesitation.

It's hard, but do-able with the obvious exception that if the hubby is some how compromised and can't work, in bad health ... but there are loans and yeah, if you are in bad health you should be on the group student plan!

Taffyles

Yep what others have said.. check out the student policies. When my daughter went off to school in Virginia our medical insurance would not cover her so we ended up getting a student policy from the school- still had to pay an arm and a leg for certain things but it covered the basics.

Quote of the week goes to my granddaughter's pediatrician- we were there yesterday getting the baby's first shots...of course they had to spend 20 mins on the phone to the insurance company to see if they would pay for them (would have been $500 otherwise). Noticing my daughter's white face as she was mentally trying to work out whether she had enough in their account to cover the bill if the insurance co. refused, The doc, shaking his head, said "the insurance companies are the real terrorists in this country"...he got that right.

Manc

Well yeah you are right, cos the state paid for my chest X-ray for TB, but that's a given.

Unless being short sighted becomes tragically contagious, I doubt the state will pay for her glasses though.

TouristTrap

You should enquire at your local county health clinic. They provide them for free (here in Hillsborough anyway).

rincewind

Well bugger me. I had to cough up $150.00 for mine

Manc

well I live in a blue state, socialist paradise of Michigan mate.