Springer1

Good day from Norfolk, Virginia.

I am a British expat living in the United States after my British military posting landed me a job here in the states and led me to meet my American spouse. I am now just awaiting the delivery of my full 10 year green card after completing the 2 years of my conditional green card.

In a few years time my parents will be retiring and by that time I should be a dual citizen of both the UK and USA (This is the plan). The plan is in a few years time to apply for green cards for my parents to allow them to live in the USA with us. At that time my dad will be early 60's and my mum 60. One concern which is every immigrants concern is health care. Has anybody been in a similar situation to my perants and know how much they could expect to pay monthly for healthcare. (I understand it is impossible to get a 100% accurate). I understand that they won't be eligible for social security and medicare until working so many years. Just some ball park figures would be appreciated if anybody knows or has had family move out at a later age. If anybody knows of any professionals that may deal in this sector for instance a health care broker or somebody who can give professional sound advice, I would love to have that information also.

Thank you guys, Andy.

tbooth

I moved out here at 60, 4 years ago - I'm still not retired and paying around $650 monthly for health insurance (with $2.5 k deductible). This is in MA, so other states may differ. Having said that, I'm hoping to move onto Medicare as a spouse at the appropriate age so that the more outrageous premiums as you get older can be avoided.

Bob

The way things are going with Trump, in a few years time, there's just no way to predict how things will go.

There are a few threads about folks asking about parents moving over though, so you might have some ideas if you search, but they would all be ACA based answers which probably wouldn't apply by the time your folks would be able to move.

Probably budget a few grand would be my guess.

Anyway, welcome to BE and good luck!

Pulaski

I agree with Bob, at the moment it's impossible to know what the situation will be in a few years. It is unlikely IMO that insurance for a sixty year old would be less than $1,500/mth, so I'd plan on insurance being at least $3,000/mth aggregate for your parents and be pleasantly surprisingly if it is as little as that.

Also assume that there will be significant copays and deductibles, so budget a minimum of $6,000/yr of out-of-pocket medical expenses. Those figures would drop significantly assuming that they could get on to Medicare after fiver years on green cards.

Springer1

Thank you guys for the swift responses, much apprecited! The annoying thing about healthcare is that you cannot really get an estimate until you make the jump which is the gamble! My parents are people who would definitely prefer the worst situation figure so that they can be prepeared for the worse case scenario. Is there any way around this? Perhaps retiring in the U.K and just staying in the USA for extended periods on tourist visa may be a option. Thank you again!

nun

After 5 years residency in the US, and if they are of Medicare age, your parents will be able to buy Medicare at the full premium. So now that would be about $550 per month per person. If they work at least 30 quarters the cost would decrease.

They will have to buy private insurance to cover the first 5 years of their life in the US and that could cost $1500/month for a family plan and have deductibles that might be $5k or $10k per year. There might be subsidies, but I would budget on at least $15k or $20k for health costs per year under the current ACA....of course that will all be changing soon.

Noorah101

Yes, staying in the UK and visiting for less than 6 months per year would be a safe way to go. Once they retire, they stand a good chance of getting B2 visas...or they could make a couple of VWP visits, spaced out throughout the year.

As visitors, they shouldn't be in the USA for more than 6 months in a calendar year, because they become liable for US taxes.

Rene

Springer1

Great responses, thank you all!

scrubbedexpat099

Begs the question how much Travel Insurance would cost for such extended visits, assuming it is available at all.

For that age group, they would currently be looking at c$1000 for a bare bones Bronze policy plus all the extras if they actually needed treatment.

I still am unconvinced if buying into Medicare is better than OCare or whatever will replace it.

Also begs the question how much Medicare will cost in the future, obviously the current premiums will need to increase significantly or benefits be reduced.

bewildering

This!

I cannot bring my parents to the USA, even for a 2 week holiday. No insurance company in the UK will insure my father. He has prostate cancer, and had an arrhythmic heart condition 3 years ago. The prostate cancer is under control and there have been no heart issues in the last 3 years. But no insurance company will insure, very frustrating.

tom169

With respect, there is no requirement for tourists to have health insurance. Whilst I wouldn't recommend it, it is possible.

Springer1

Of course the alternative is that we move back to the U.K? I understand that itself is another kettle of fish. I believe you need at least 18600 GBP before even applying to the UK for a out of country spouse.... :-/

vikingsail

I cannot believe no insurance will insure your father! My own father who has had similar conditions and more, visited last year and was able to purchase a reasonably priced travel policy for 30 days with low deductible. I would research online some more. I cannot recall which Insurance company but will try and locate.

scrubbedexpat099

I can, last time my Mother visited the premium for 2 weeks was similar to the air fare, you can certainly get to the point of effectively being uninsurable.

I remember every time she ended up using a different insurer, underwriting policies changed.

SanDiegogirl

Correct...... there are financial requirements to fulfill for the spouse visa for the UK (together with accommodation and relationship criteria)

The following document provides the details as to how to qualify:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...equirement.pdf