Medicaid (Medi-Cal) for baby, will that be a problem?

[dawning 212]

Hi Everyone,

I (USC) have a I-130 pending at USCIS to allow my husband to come to the US from Venezuela. During the waiting and waiting that I am gathering is common to those filing spousal visas these days, our child was born here in the US, about 3 weeks ago. While I had been hoping to have a home birth, there were some complications and I had to go to a hospital. I had applied for pregnancy-related Medi-Cal (California state medicaid) at the beginning of the pregnancy, and was grateful to have that, as some overly cautious (in my opinion) doctors insisted on putting our son in the NICU for a couple of days. He is fine now, but it was certainly expensive and stressful.

The situation is this: different social workers are wanting to sign our son up for his own Medi-Cal coverage (as my coverage was pregnancy only, it will be ending now that I am not pregnant.) In fact, it may be necessary to cover the bills from his birth. And the social worker at Medi-Cal wants me to fill out a form about the "non-custodial parent" (my husband) detailing his information and promising to cooperate with efforts to collect support from him. I explained to her that I don't really see it as accurate to call him a non-custodial parent, that we are temporarily physically separated, due to my wanting to give birth here, but will be reunited as soon as possible, either when the US government grants a visa, or if it is taking too long, I will try to travel to Venezuela when the baby is bigger. But she still wants me to fill out that form, says it's standard when one parent is not in the home, even if it's a temporary situation. She also says that for Medi-Cal only they aren't really enforcing the support thing.

My question, then, is as follows: could filling out that form have a negative effect on my husband's visa application? Could having Medi-Cal for the baby be a problem? It might be worth avoiding it if it is. Any helpful thoughts or others' experiences would be much appreciated.

[TeaCup 65]

I don't have an answer for you but I see you haven't had a respose yet so I'm going to bump this! - Hopefully you get an answer soon! Good luck and congratulations!

[dawning 212]

I don't have an answer for you but I see you haven't had a respose yet so I'm going to bump this! - Hopefully you get an answer soon! Good luck and congratulations!

Thank you... hopefully someone wiyh knowledge on the topic will chime in--

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Any USC in the house can get every benefit there is. It is the immigrant that is limited

[barbara360 6]

I agree with above, it is the immigrant appyling for benefits that would be a concern BUT since it's for your baby who is a USC-that should not be an issue.

[dawning 212]

Any USC in the house can get every benefit there is. It is the immigrant that is limited

I agree with above, it is the immigrant appyling for benefits that would be a concern BUT since it's for your baby who is a USC-that should not be an issue.

Thanks for the answers- Actually I am not worried about the baby's eligibility, more about whether this form they want me to fill out will reflect negatively on my husband for immigration purposes--the form is called Support Questionnaire, and it kind of makes him sound like a deadbeat dad so to speak-- I have to agree to cooperate in any attempts to collect support. Of course, this is a state program, and the federal government is who will be looking at the immigration issues. Am I being overly cautious?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

That kind of document is for cases like my ex who had a 6 figure income and honestly went to court and told the judge that he would miss his tennis club membership fees if he "had" to pay any support for his 3 kids ( by wife #2 ) That wife took great pleasure in the fact the judge mentioned the fine public courts in the city and reset the support from 1500 to 4200 a month.

You have to honestly report ALL income but when done properly your husband does NOT count towards household size. So if he and you both make 15 K and for 2 you have to be under 20 K you don't get benefits ( you and child being 2 )

[barbara360 6]

You just tell them he does not live here and that's the truth and there is nothing from him to count as income. You will not be filing child support or anthing like that, he is not here! Just fill it out honestly and you will be fine.