Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Texas - a very conservative state - may be part of your problem. Others have found coverage for elderly immigrant parents - paying like $600/month, or more. New York State as I recall, a much more liberal state, was one of them.
The ACA absolutely allows insurers to sell to those over 65 - they cannot discriminate on age or preexisting condition. I know we have threads w/specific information, and more recent discussions than sequon, but I can't find them at the moment. The topic may have been discussed within other lengthy threads on the ACA.
Suggest you locate a good health insurance broker in the area of the Texas you are planning to iive in - and go from there.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 06-05-2014 at 11:35 PM..
This is probably most useful thread on health care for the elderly that I have seen. sequon - As I understand, you got ACA healthcare for your mother (congratulations) through healthcare.gov while you and family (wife + kids) remain on your employer insurance. A very naive question - did you just have to go to the healthcare.gov site and register your mother and go through the application? Is it as easy as that? I am hoping to get my parents here too, and I was hoping to get tips on this. Thanks for any direction at this stage.
You asked this in #4 and I answered in #5. I will not repeat it here.
Don't call what I found through several sources and from many people (while risking myself being an idiot for asking for the same thing over again) for several years "just guess."
If you find this hard to believe, here's the link to my HR's website--
Your parents and other relatives are not eligible family members, even if they live with and are dependent upon you.
And yes, I annoyed several people by asking if there's any exceptional circumstances to cover my mother.
Golfgal, you are usually correct in most cases in this forum, but not for this one. In fact, I wish you were correct here---then all would have been good and this thread wouldn't even have begun.
Summary here, just to clarify--
* family of 6 (me, wife, 3 kids and mother)--this is how my tax is filed
* me, wife, 3 kids covered under work plan
* mother ineligible under work plan, so she's enrolled through the exchange
* $640/mo is the premium for mother only
* household income (AGI) below 400% of federal poverty line, so I was expecting a subsidy
* but no subsidy coming along, I'm fine with that but just wonder why
If I understand correctly here, Adrian22, are you saying that I can't get subsidy from the gov because I am already getting subsidized for my coverage through work? But what I was saying was, that argument doesn't apply because my mother's coverage is not subsidized by work (actually completely ineligible), so probably I should get subsidy from the gov for that part. If my argument is not right, then so be it, I will just stop... but it would seem unfair----perhaps less for me, but more for those folks whose work plan provides the subsidized premium only for the employee but not for the family (wife & kids), which I know are a lot of cases....
Sorry, I asked this question in a separate post, but this is more in context. So did you have to go to healthcare.gov, register you mother and then go through an application ? sorry, I havent used the website and I am and family (wife + 2 kids) are covered by employer. If I bring my parents, would each have to be registered individually? Thanks
Hi, our mother is 89 and alone over seas. The only hurdle in bringing her to the USA is health insurance. She has no income and little assets. I was wondering if the gentleman in the same situation solved this problem with his mother and Obama care. Please advise.
Hi Sequon, it is great to hear that you were able to get health insurance coverage through the ACA! Even though your grandmother was a recent older immigrant who was over the age of 65, and though she was not eligible for healthcare through medicare (ineligible because it requires that you have been in the country for 5 years), it is great that you were able to find and get coverage through Obamacare and healthcare.gov for health insurance. Based on what I've read, two questions hoping you can help the rest of us out:
- How did you register for the ACA coverage? Was it as simple as going to the website or did you have to do additional things since she is over 65?
- Which state did you do this in? It seems others who are trying this are not having much luck (in TX for example as another poster mentioned)
My mother is 77 years old and she is a recent immigrant (entered the US with green card in 2012), so she is not eligible for Medicare. She does not have any income nor any sizable asset, but does have a son who is willing to support her.
Getting her a health insurance coverage has been the biggest headache for me. She has been, you know, "the uninsurable" in the existing system. I have done quite a lot of research and learned that any insurance programs for seniors are only supplementary to Medicare or other employer-based plans. You would wonder if she may qualify for Medicaid for low income, but no, because under the immigration law, I am the sponsor, meaning that I am responsible for her and I must solely support her and keep her out of "public charge"--i.e., food stamp, Medicaid, etc. So, basically, she is (I am, also) out of luck.
I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but new immigrants who are over 65, like my mother, are virtually impossible to get covered by health insurance in the current system. I know that some small/overseas insurance companies specializing in travel insurance might provide something as a derivative of travel insurance policies, but they are usually not appealing because the premiums are prohibitive (e.g., $1500-2000 /mo) with not so great coverage. After talking to several people online/offline under similar circumstances, I got to learn that some just go ahead and apply for Medicaid. Usually the state health agencies approve it with no problem, but it is a violation of contract between the USCIS and the sponsor, so the sponsor is subject to litigation. I want to abide with the contract, so I choose not to do that. Consequently, unfortunately, she has been without health coverage ever since she entered this country, which makes us feel vulnerable and very anxious. My family (wife and 3 children) and I are covered with decent coverage by my employer, but here "family" does not include a parent (I guess no one doesn't know this here on this forum, then instead I should say that, in the country where I came from, "family" also includes parents. )
Anyway, that was then, and now I am hopeful that things will change as of 01/01/2014. Options for affordable plans should be available on Oct 1 and we should find health coverage for her.
Now, there are so many unclear things on details of ACA. I don't know if anyone on this forum (or anyone in this country at this point) know for sure about all details at this point, but I would like to get to know other people in this forum who are in similar situation and anxiously waiting for ACA to kick in.
Helpful comments would be welcome, if I missed anything,,,
You seem like a well educated sensible immigrant. But I find myself asking WHY should this country provide for your elderly relative who never contributed ANYTHING to this country's starved entitlement system? You must understand that our parents and grandparents contributed to these sorry systems during their entire working lives (40 plus years). Why does an elderly person from another country need to rely on a system that is meant to support OUR countrymen, those who paid for it during their working lives? Doesn't your own country provide for your elderly parent?
Texas - a very conservative state - may be part of your problem. Others have found coverage for elderly immigrant parents - paying like $600/month, or more. New York State as I recall, a much more liberal state, was one of them.
The ACA absolutely allows insurers to sell to those over 65 - they cannot discriminate on age or preexisting condition. I know we have threads w/specific information, and more recent discussions than sequon, but I can't find them at the moment. The topic may have been discussed within other lengthy threads on the ACA.
Suggest you locate a good health insurance broker in the area of the Texas you are planning to iive in - and go from there.
Texas is a WONDERFUL state that obviously cares more to provide for its OWN working citizens rather than those who choose not to work or contribute into our healthcare delivery system.
Hi sequon- I am in same boat. So have you purchased via ACA?? Isn't that like $1000/mo plus exorbitant copays etc?? Is it really affordable?
Joke right? Some people are paying $100 months. ALL types of insurance have copays.
If you want to know the truth, just go to the official website.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Health insurance for an elderly immigrant mother
) 
