neprend

Hi,

I just became a US citizen (yesterday ) and am looking into sponsoring a sibling and my parents. My parents will both be over 65 by the time they would receive green cards. Upon arriving into the US, would they be eligable for Medicare? if not, what are the options? will insurance companies in the EU (UK) cover them?

Thanks,

Duncan Roberts

They won't be eligible so you will have to buy insurance for them. UK companies might have a policy but chances are they would require them to be flown back to the UK for anything serious, plus you probably wouldn't have any protection regarding them canceling the policy. That leaves private US healthcare. Now it may be hit or miss if companies will offer a policy but in a few years they will have to. That doesn't mean they will be affordable or good plans though.

neprend

Thanks. I thought there was a rule that if they lived in the US for 5 years they would become eligable? is that not the case ?

Duncan Roberts

They become eligible to BUY medicare (part A I think) but then you get into the limitations that it has.

scrubbedexpat099

Are they extremely wealthy?

You might want to check if you can buy cover for 5 years over 65, I read I think on another board of a couple who moved here over 65 and could not find cover. They were in Florida. I am sure it varies by State. And of course their pre existing conditions.

Siblings take a very long time, so who knows what will the situation be then.

upwoodlady

Congrats on your Citizenship

Good luck with the parents and sibling.I read it can take over 10 years for a sibling to get approved.
Quicker for parent usually.

Happy New Year

shauny2k5

Private US insurance is not offered to people over 65 without Medicare.

You earn Medicare by earning credits based on how much you pay into Medicare through payroll tax deductions when you work. You need 40 credit to earn full Medicare benefits. You earn 1 credit for every $1,120 in income; however, you can only earn a maximum of 4 credits per year, meaning you must work 10 years to get full benefits.

If you earn less credits you can pay for Medicare part A, but this is very expensive and you'll still need to purchase a Supplement to pay what Medicare doesn't cover, and a Part D prescription drug plan.

md95065

Are you sure about that?

I have always assumed that such things were available - just extremely expensive ...

lansbury

Yes it is Blue Cross/Blue Shield do so. It may vary from State to State as most things do, but they certainly offer it. It isn't on their normal price list ,you have to ask but you can get it. It is only available to people over 65 who cannot get in any way medicare.

lansbury

You can also piggy back off of your spouse's contributions to get free medicare. The only disadvantage is you have to wait until they are 65 and claiming.


As someone who will get medicare from my spouse's contributions and will therefore have to pay for medicare for 2 years I wouldn't call it very expensive or even expensive. The total cost of all parts compared to private insurance is reasonable. It is on a par with what I pay Blue Cross/Blue Shield now at 62 and cheaper than their current premiums for a 64 year old, and I bet much better than BC/BS would charge a 66 or 67 year old.

penguinsix

You can buy insurance if you are over 65 and not Medicare eligible, but it's incredibly expensive, oftentimes over $1,000 a month and even double that if you are nearer to 75. I think 75 is a cutoff for many insurance companies though, but like anything, if you have the cash you can find something.

The problem is that vast overwhelming majority of people are on Medicare at that age and that reduces the pool of those without to a slightly more high-risk group, resulting in higher prices for the remaining members. Immigrants are not eligible to 'buy-in' to Medicare until five years AFTER they receive a Green Card, meaning they have the wait to get the card (which is about a year I thought as I think parents are given priority) and then the five years after the fact.

Here is a thread on immigrants and insurance from an immigration site.

http://www.insubuy.com/guide/new-imm...ance-plans.jsp

scrubbedexpat099

The State high risk plans are likely to be a better bet.

lansbury

but most of those are only available to people who have been turned down by the usual insurance companies. If you get accepted by one of those even at a high premium you are not eligible for the State high risk plan.

nun

In MA everyone must have health insurance so if you are over 65 you can buy a a plan through the State's connector program . It will cost about $1000/month for a high deductible plan for a married couple. Oh and as it's MA that includes married same sex couples too. If your income is under $43k/year and you're a US citizen or 5 year resident alien you might qualify for Commonwealth Care and pay a reduced rate

https://www.mahealthconnector.org/po...ite/connector/

MA is proposing to stop paying doctors for each procedure, but will pay them a set amount each year. This is in an effort to control costs.

You might move to VT as well as they are implementing a single payer system.
However, IMHO, I think your parents should stay in UK and just visit you often. The NHS is a reason I'll be moving back to the UK when I retire.

Michael

That would be very hard to implement. People may see different doctors, specialists, out patient surgery, lab tests, and hospitalization.

I believe MA health care system is similar to the federal health care reform which uses private insurance companies. Therefore the state wouldn't have any control over the paying of doctors.