Received Medicaid in the past, will it affect visa process?

[minimarja 3]

I was looking for info on Medicaid for my USC child and I came accross an old post where someone got denied visa cause they had previously received Medicaid.

I have lived in the U.S before on a student visa and received Medicaid benefits while I was pregnant/had my child (she is from a previous relationship). The medicaid card was in the unborn's name, and after I had her, I ceased to recieve benefits after 30 days I believe.

Will this affect our CR-1 visa process negatively? Could I be denied a visa since I (well, the unborn) had received Medicaid?

Please note that I didn't arrive to the U.S while pregnant to have an "anchor baby", I had lived there for years when I got pregnant and the other biological parent was a USC.

Thank you!

[TBoneTX 44,926]

*** Thread moved from CR-1 Process forum to General Immigration Discussion -- topic could apply to more than one visa process. ***

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

What you received is called "Emergency Medicaid". It was provided for your US child, not for you. There should be no issues with your visa due to your child having recieved this benefit.

Here's a long winded tretise on immigrants and Medicaid (if anyone is interested). I've snipped out a portion for readers here.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/06/2/gr060206.html

Recent immigrants not eligible for regular Medicaid coverage may obtain care in emergency situations, which according to the State Medicaid Manual developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), includes labor and delivery. Although the emergency exception allows women to obtain critical reproductive health care when urgently needed, it does not begin to meet these women's full reproductive health needs.

First, emergency coverage does not include prenatal care, even though prenatal care is widely acknowledged to improve birth outcomes for both mother and child. As the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) concluded in its 2000 report Trends in the Well-Being of America's Children and Youth, "Increasing the percentage of women who receive prenatal care, and who do so early in their pregnancies, can improve birth outcomes and lower health care costs by reducing the likelihood of complications during pregnancy and childbirth." In fact, one of the key goals of DHHS's Healthy People 2010: Objectives for Improving Health is to "increase the proportion of pregnant women who receive early and adequate prenatal care."

Second, postpartum care is not covered, despite the fact that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics consider it an integral part of pregnancy-related care. According to the two medical organizations, failure to obtain adequate postpartum care can jeopardize a woman's health as well as the outcomes of subsequent pregnancies. (This exclusion of postpartum care raises issues similar to those raised by new federal rules that define a fetus as a child for purpose of coverage under the SCHIP program—see "New SCHIP Prenatal Care Rule Advances Fetal Rights At Low-Income Women's Expense," TGR, December 2002, page 3).

Third, recent immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid-covered family planning services and supplies—one of the few benefits that federal law explicitly requires all state Medicaid programs to cover. Improving access to family planning and reducing unintended pregnancy are also prominent goals of Healthy People 2010, and research shows that every public dollar invested in family planning saves three Medicaid dollars in pregnancy-related and newborn care.

[minimarja 3]

What you received is called "Emergency Medicaid". It was provided for your US child, not for you. There should be no issues with your visa due to your child having recieved this benefit.

Thank you for your reassurance Rebecca Jo!

I believe Medicaid has changed since I had my child (a few years back) since I did receive prenatal and post-partum care.

Now that I think about it, we also received WIC, does anyone know if that makes a difference with my current visa process?

edit. I just checked WIC website and it says:

"Getting nutrition assistance through the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) does not make an immigrant a "public charge"."That is, an immigrant to the United States will not be deported, denied entry to the country, or denied permanent status because he or she receives food stamps, WIC benefits, free and reduced price school lunches or other nutrition assistance from FNS.

So I'm assuming it doesn't

Edited July 14, 2013 by minimarja

[newacct 688]

I know that Medicaid (as well as WIC, food stamps, etc.) may not be considered for Public Charge purposes when adjusting status or seeking admission.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=829b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=829b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

I am not sure about the CR-1 process, but I assume that it would be the same.

[minimarja 3]

Thank you newacct!