daveyboy1984

Hi, so me and my wife are moving to the USA shortly. We have most things covered, I hope!, just need to sort out a US bank account and Health Insurance. Things we need a SSN to setup I believe.

We have short term health cover for 30 days whilst we sort it out. We will be living in California. Any recommendations to look into for either would be great. One of us has a pre-condition/medication tablets.

I hear Wells Fargo aren't great - have been doing some dodgy stuff with accounts so won't to stay clear of them.

Any thoughts would be great

Thanks

Twinkle0927

In what capacity are you going? Will you be working?

Pulaski

There was a problem a few years ago, for which Wells Fargo have recently been pilloried, and it would be suicidal for them to make the same mistakes again - or indeed any other mistakes, as they are under a media and regulatory microscope and likely will be for several years. I don't know of anyone who suffered, and it appears likely that the problem (setting unrealistic performance targets) probably was going on at other banks too.

On the positive side, Wells Fargo is consistently reported here on BE to be one of the banks that is most helpful to new immigrants. It can't speak to that personally as I have had my accounts with them for many years.

Pulaski

He has an O-1 visa.

jkeller

Here's a list of credit unions in California. A few will only be employee based, you must work for company xyz to be eligible for membership, most are employee and or where you live membership based. If you are going to work for a US company like Chevron, they have CU's that are very easy for non-US citizens to establish bank accounts/loans/credit cards.
Credit Unions In California - Directory List

If you are not familiar with credit unions or how they work compared to a bank...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union

Pulaski

A CU is a way to run a bank in such as way as to evade, sorry "avoid" paying US corporate taxes.

jkeller

Banks are a for profit business, there to make money for their shareholders. Just like any other company. Credit unions are a not for profit business and exist to benefit their membership.

Pulaski

Except that, to the casual observer they are indistinguishable from banks, and some are larger than many banks.

jkeller

Very true. Navy federal credit union is larger than all but the largest national banks. It and USAA, not a credit union, are great to bank with. Both require some kind of military relationship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Federal_Credit_Union

nun

You won't qualify for Medicare until you've been resident for 5 years and are over medicare age....but you will have to pay FICA and Medicare taxes.
Right now you can apply for health insurance through the California Health Insurance Exchange. A ROM estimate of cost might be around $1k/month premium
with maybe $10k in out of pocket costs for a family. Of course that will probably change with the Trump administration

Pulaski

That's an extraordinarily brief summary - I suspect that either your guess on the premiums is correct OR the deductible, but not both.

With a deductible that high the OP would likely be eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA, which works similarly to a UK private pension account, except you can draw the funds now for eligible expenses), allowing him to use before-tax funds to pay for "out of pocket" medical expenses (deductibles and copays).

scrubbedexpat099

Pretty sure in California you can get Medicaid immediately, well as soon as the application can be processed.

nun

I doubt that an O-1 visa holder would get Medicaid

scrubbedexpat099

Most Immigrants Are Required to Have Health Coverage

Under the Affordable Care Act, most individuals who are U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or lawfully present immigrants are required to have health coverage. There is a tax penalty — known as the “shared responsibility payment” — for those who do not have health coverage and do not qualify for an exemption.

Lawfully present individuals in the United States generally include:

U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals.
Lawful permanent residents or (“green card holders”).
Lawful temporary residents.
Persons fleeing persecution, including refugees and asylees.
Other humanitarian immigrants, including those granted temporary protected status.
Non-immigrant Status holders (including worker visas and student visas).
See www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/immigration-status for more information and for a full list of the groups that are considered lawfully present.

Individuals who are not lawfully present are exempt from the requirement to have health insurance. They must apply for an exemption directly with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on their federal income tax return.


Immigrants Can Apply for Health Care Coverage Through Covered California

Both lawfully present and not lawfully present individuals can apply through Covered California to see if they are eligible for health plan options through Covered California or Medi-Cal. Immigrants who are not lawfully present are not eligible to purchase a health plan through Covered California; however, they may be eligible for coverage through Medi-Cal.

For lawful permanent residents who are seeking health insurance coverage through Covered California or Medi-Cal, there is no "waiting period" or "five-year bar."

Immigrants who are not lawfully present can apply through Covered California to see if they are eligible for health plan options through Medi-Cal, although the benefits may be limited. Immigrants who are not lawfully present can also buy private health insurance coverage on their own outside of Covered California. Additionally, some counties offer other health care options for which immigrants who are not lawfully present might qualify.

Individuals who are under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not considered lawfully present. They are not eligible to purchase a Covered California health plan or receive financial assistance. However, they are not required to pay a tax penalty if they lack health insurance. These individuals may also be eligible for Medi-Cal and can apply for Medi-Cal through Covered California or at a county Medi-Cal office.

Giantaxe

Pulaski's been a big pusher of Wells Fargo on this forum for many years. But when there was a thread about Wells Fargo's appalling behaviour in opening accounts not requested by customers, he was "strangely" silent. Read into that what you will; personally, I wouldn't want to reward them by giving them my business.

Oh, and it wasn't "a few years ago" that they had a problem, they were still doing it just over a year ago.

"The alleged misconduct was revealed when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Los Angeles City Attorney and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) fined the bank $185 million, alleging that more than 2 million bank accounts or credit cards were opened or applied for without customers' knowledge or permission between May 2011 and July 2015."

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/timel...ry?id=42231128