SanDiegogirl

Me, my wife, both in our early 40's, and our two kids, early teenage, are thinking of moving to the US to live there.
There isn't going to be a problem with getting our Green Cards, the only issue we are having problems figuring out, researching, is the american healthcare system
I am most likely going to be the only one working (worst case scenario), earning around $100 000/year on self employed basis


You've had a heck of a lot of very informative answers to a lot of questions, but right at the beginning of this thread someone asked you on what visa you are going to be coming to the US.
You never answered.
So could you now answer the question? As all this information/figures and theoretical situations are pretty moot if you don't qualify for a visa.

John123456

Yes, I am aware of the legislation, in theory.
Does that mean, in practice, nobody is being turned away, as long as he/she pays his/her monthly premiums without fail and and pays his/her yearly deductibles and out of pockets, no matter how long the illness lasts, how long the treatments required are going to take, and how much it will all costs?

John123456

Nutmegger
All these what-ifs sound as if the person coming to the US was already aware of their medical situation. So I will pose a question for you: why would anyone in their right mind leave the NHS to come to the US knowing they were ill?

And so much would depend on what visa the person was on. There are instances where the rule is stop working at the job, go home.

As I said earlier, me and my family are all healthy, enjoy exercising, keeping fit and spending time outdoors.
Unfortunately , these, you can expect anything to happen to you at anytime of your life, take Covid as an example.
A research paper I read not long time ago, said, over 40% of us will get cancer at some stage of our lives.
These are pretty high odds.
I would be smart to plan for it, and research the subject of healthcare, if you are planning to be moving to a country such the US.

John123456

I would prefer not to be adding type of visa into the mix.
Before posting, I spent many hours over the last month or two, reading various threads on this forum, and I could see how quickly these threads turn into slamming matches, and go quickly off topic, especialy when it comes to healthcare topics, and I would want to avoid it here.
A lot of people have been asking some very reasonable questions, unfortunately they have very quickly been forced to abandon their therads as answers they were being given were not answering questions they were asking.
To simplify it even further, lets just say I got a green card, valid for 10 years, with full work permit, and I am going to be landing in the US next week.
Hopefully, this thread will not only help me, but will help other people in the future too.

Thank you

John123456

Thank you for providing these links.
I was hoping someone could answer all these questions , based on their experience, on family, friends, colleagues, experiences, what they have learned over the years while living in the US.

robin1234

Remember that the great majority of US residents become eligible for Medicare at age 65. Now, Medicare is not NHS; there are choices of plan to be made, premiums and copays to be paid. But basically, it’s a very good “foolproof” safety net and covers most costs, especially the catastrophic & chronic costs. I think the majority of that 40% of folks who get cancer occur after age 65, and the same applies to other chronic and fatal and expensive health conditions.

civilservant

I would agree that it is much better than many private insurance plans, and do not disagree with the premise of your statement, but do not discount the not-insignificant costs that it does not cover, such as inpatient co-pays.

Many people pay hundreds of $ a month in retirement over and above Medicare to cover this hole with a supplemental policy from one of these very same insurance companies (Cigna, Aetna, UHC etc)

robin1234

Agreed. And, like the rest of American health care, I believe the very complexity (and novelty) of the choices to be made at age 65 is a real problem, especially for long-term employees who may have had an excellent “no choice” plan served up to them & family for decades.

I retired in 2013, and did my Medicare due diligence in the preceding two years. I gave informal advice on transitioning to Medicare to half a dozen co-workers who basically didn’t have a clue. And several of these were folks with PhDs …

civilservant

As someone who works with Medicare every day, my advice is simple.

NEVER invite insurance companies into your guaranteed benefits. Avoid Medicare Advantage plans like the plague.

robin1234

Yeah but even with that off the table, there are still plenty of choices!

civilservant

John123456

Yes, I am aware of the Medicare at the age of 65, and I would also be interested to ask some questions about that as well, when we finish this crrent subject of how to deal with health care/isnurance before you reach that age.
Yes , you could right that majority of that over 40% of population getting cancer, fall into over 65 age bracket, but it does not mean that people much younger get various types of cancer too, so it's good to kow how to deal with such situation, and be prepared for it before it happens rather than after it happening.

Thank you for replying

John123456

Hello

Would you be willing to explain what do you mean by that, please, for someone who ahs never dealt with the US health care system?
Guaranteed benefits?
Avoid Medicare Advantage plans?

scrubbedexpat099

Well I know someone who passed away from Cancer a few years back, he was certainly old enough to be in on Medicare but I was told he would have been bankrupted if he had not had as as addition TriCare that picked up a lot of the costs that Medicare did not.

TexanScot

You don't need an EAD - a "work permit" - if you have a Green Card.

I don't see how you could wind up with both if you were applying to move to the United States from abroad.