JillNorfolk

Hi

I live in the UK and will be retiring in 7 years time (aged 66) and am considering retiring to Texas. I was married to an American for 22 years before becoming divorced 12 years ago. I have two daughters, both dual nationality US/UK. The elder lives in Australia, and the younger has recently moved to Texas to make a new start after a broken engagement. She is a teacher and lives in south-east Houston. Unfortunately this leaves me 'home alone', my only relatives being 94 year old parents, both in failing health with one in a Care Home suffering from dementia!!
So.... I am seriously considering moving to the US when I retire.
But I would welcome any help with 'costings' - I understand it would cost me around $1,000 per month for health insurance for the first 5 years, and then I would qualify for a lower rate under Medicare/Medicaid?
On top of the obvious utility costs such as electricity and gas and water, what would be a ball-park figure for say, house insurance and property tax on a small house costing around $150K - $200K. Are there any other costs that I am not aware of?
Any help gratefully received!

Kind regards, Jill

scrubbedexpat099

Are you a US Citizen?

Do you have SS contributions?

SanDiegogirl

Presume your daughter is going to sponsor you so the visa will be sorted out.

The first thing to consider is that at the age of 66 you may find it difficult to get health insurance via the usual insurance companies. Most of them expect people at age 65 to go onto Medicare (the Government run health scheme for senior citizens). While there are some who offer individual health insurance to older folks, you can expect a high premium - $1,000 dollars a month is not unrealistic.

After 5 years of permanent residency you may then qualify for Medicare. (Medicaid is for the seriously low income folks). This may not be any cheaper since, unless you have the qualifying Medicare 40 credits via payroll or possibly through your ex-husband's contributions, you will have to pay for Part A in addition to Part B, C etc. Part A alone is currently 405.00 per month.

Can't really help with Houston house costings as I live in CA. However I'm sure someone else will be along shortly. You probably will need a car in Houston so budget for that as well.

JillNorfolk

Hi - thanks for response!

No, I am not a US citizen. I understand that I could get a 'parent' Green Card as both my children are US citizens.

I am just trying to establish whether this would be feasible at all, or whether I should 'go back to the drawing board' and re-consider my future!!

I would be grateful for any help - many thanks!

Jill

JillNorfolk

Thanks for your help SanDiegogirl, much appreciated.

With the cost of housing being so much lower in Texas than the UK, I would have a decent amount of 'cash' over and above buying a small house.

However, I do realise that Health Insurance will be my biggest problem, especially having been spoilt all my life with our National Health Service in the UK!

But I have to balance 'quality of family life' against money in the bank!

Kind regards
Jill

henryh

Did you spend any time living and working in the USA? If so, you might have built up some social security "credit" that could qualify you for medicare sooner.

JillNorfolk

Hi henryh - thanks for your reply

No, I didn't live in the USA - my ex-husband lived and worked in the UK for the 22 years that we were married.

Before that he was a student at Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy, so not working.

Since getting divorced in 2000 he returned to the US, but he will be 65 in 2018, so I'm not sure that he will have built up enough credits himself?

Kind regards, Jill

scrubbedexpat099

I am not sure how Obamacare is supposed to work, if you are on a low income then the exchanges will direct you to Medicare, but of you do not qualify for Medicare then what?

SanDiegogirl

As he only returned to the US after your divorce and will be 65 in 2018 then HE, if he has been working since his return, will probably build up credits for HIMSELF, but YOU are not going to be able to get credit through him.

So even if/when you become eligible for Medicare its going to be expensive for you.

Have you thought about just getting a B/2 visa and visiting for up to six months?

JillNorfolk

Thanks for your help everyone.

Yes, I think I may have to just visit for extended stays. It won't be ideal but I have earned full entitlements in my own country, not yours unfortunately!

It will also depend on the GBP/USD exchange rate at the time of course.

Kind regards
Jill

Michael

By next year after the Affordable Care Act" is implemented, we should have a better idea of what health care costs. California has put in a lot of effort setting up it's health care exchanges to sell private insurance and the following calculator can give a rough estimate of costs for 2014.

http://www.coveredca.com/calculating_the_cost.html

However until the private insurance companies sell insurance, we won't know the cost or understand the full details of the program. If income is low (below 125% of the poverty level), the family gets free Medicaid which is free health care paid for by the government instead of through private insurance companies. The disadvantage of Medicaid is that the government has reimbursements to health care providers that is lower than Medicare which is lower than most private insurers. Therefore all providers may not accept Medicaid patients.

Initially calculators did not indicate coverage for anyone over the age of 64 so we went sure there was coverage above that age but the one above from the state of California does. However the calculator shows the same price for someone above 64 as someone who is 64 and that doesn't seem correct.

All states are required to implement the "Affordable Care Act" but are allowed to opt out of the expansion of Medicaid. That means that states that opt out of the Medicaid expansion will keep lower income families from getting free health care. Since the federal government will be paying 100% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion for 3 years and slowly reduce that to 70%, it would seem to be a no brainer for the state to opt into Medicaid expansion since the states will save a large amount of money since usually the poor go to the ER and county hospitals when sick and the state and local governments pick up the bill when they default (about a 90% default rate).

However this is an ideological battle between the right and the left and when ideology is in the picture and there is extreme pressure from the far right, nothing makes any sense. Therefore currently Texas which spends over $10 billion per in health care costs and 13 other states have opted out of the Medicaid expansion. Will the states relent as residents find out that they are paying more taxes than they should is anyone's guess.

ian-mstm

You would be getting an "immigrant visa" prior to moving to the US. You'd get a green card once you enter the US with your immigrant visa. Only the daughter who lives in the US can sponsor you... the other one can't.

Ian