Rant about being an LPR and healthcare pass-the-buck-itis

[VeeNDee 44]

So, I went to fill my prescription today and the pharmacy told me my healthcare coverage was terminated. FUNNY because I had just paid for February coverage this morning and have been covered all through last year. I'm paying for coverage I'm not getting? Yeah that isn't right. So I started the game of phone-pass-the-buck-tag.

First I called my insurance who told me that they were informed by the state health plan finder that I was not eligible for coverage but my husband and daughter were. Oh really, hmmmm I wonder what the difference could be... I told them I WAS indeed eligible and had been covered all through last year, we had paid and were up to date and there shouldn't be an issue. They escalated the situation and gave me a Reference # and an estimate of 7 business days for a response.

I then called the state health plan finder, who told me that I was eligible but they were waiting for me to submit my greencard. OH REALLY. Well, guess what, we submitted it at least 3 times in the past. In fact, my husband spent almost an hour on the phone in December making sure our insurance was good to go for January and sending in the greencard information again even though we had in the past. We were told everything was fine, we had all the information and we were covered. So I told the lady, "Um... we sent it in. Look for it in your files." She put me on hold...and surprise surprise 10 minutes later came back and started blaming the insurance company. I asked her if she had found the greencard and she said yes and that the issue had been resolved but the real issue was that my health insurance provider had told me my insurance was terminated. Oh really, pot, kettle, black, anyone? So now they escalated my situation and gave me a Ticket # and told me it would take several business days but since it's a long weekend it wouldn't be until later next week that I heard more.

Well isn't that fan-freaking-tastic. Come on, get your act in gear people. I'm LEGAL AND AM STILL LEGAL!!!! Now I'm going to have claims denied while this all gets sorted out. Just fantastic. Funny, they never checked to see if my husband or daughter were really US citizens but I get this narrow eye and losing of the documents multiple times. Awesome. This problem had better not happen again. ARRRRGH.

There went approximately 3 hours of my day on the phone.

/end rant. For now.

[E-N 48]

so my question is, you have to have a green card to get insurance coverage? reason I am asking is I thought for per se in my case K1 beneficiary must have coverage immediately or Petitioner(me) can be fined? If that is the case, as slow as Tx service center is where his paperwork will go he will be without coverage for a year! Can this be true?

[VeeNDee 44]

so my question is, you have to have a green card to get insurance coverage? reason I am asking is I thought for per se in my case K1 beneficiary must have coverage immediately or Petitioner(me) can be fined? If that is the case, as slow as Tx service center is where his paperwork will go he will be without coverage for a year! Can this be true?

I am not sure how it works in the state you are heading to. When I moved down on K1, I had special short term insurance for a month until we got married and then I was added onto my husband's work plan. At that time I did not yet have a greencard but was waiting for AOS and I had coverage. We switched our health insurance to the state health plan finder since for us it was better coverage for $500 less a month but they seem to have issues losing copies of my greencard, sigh

[E-N 48]

ok. I know it a hassle sometimes...and trust me, these lazy people don't want to educate themselves about their own country and rules! I think workplaces should educate their people about immigration and things to expect.

[E-N 48]

I was told to bring our marriage license to my HR and they should add him

[VeeNDee 44]

I was told to bring our marriage license to my HR and they should add him

Yup that sounds right. That's what we did after we were married - in fact we filled out the paperwork ahead of time so that it would go into effect the day we were married and then just confirmed it with a copy of the marriage certificate afterwards. They backtracked coverage to the date of our marriage.

[E-N 48]

oh wow that is awesome. I guess about one month prior to our wedding I will request the paperwork as well. there is so much that needs to be done after the marriage it is such a blur...

when did you go to apply for your SS, was it directly after the wedding or some days? This is a stupid question, so, although we are getting married in Florida but will live in North Carolina, we can still apply for SS in North Carolina right?

[VeeNDee 44]

oh wow that is awesome. I guess about one month prior to our wedding I will request the paperwork as well. there is so much that needs to be done after the marriage it is such a blur...

when did you go to apply for your SS, was it directly after the wedding or some days? This is a stupid question, so, although we are getting married in Florida but will live in North Carolina, we can still apply for SS in North Carolina right?

I waited about 2 weeks before crossing then applied for SS. I got married 2 weeks later and went back afterwards and requested a name change on my SS card. I suppose I could have just waited to apply until after we were married but I wanted to get it done earlier. I am not sure on the second part of your question but I think since SS is federal that you could apply for it anywhere. Don't quote me! Someone correct me if I'm wrong???

[VeeNDee 44]

Oh I forgot to add, at the same time I requested the SS name change I also showed proof I had authorization to work, so if I recall correctly that was after receiving my employment authorization card or possibly after my greencard. The original SS card you get will say that you're ineligible to work on it but it at least lets you use banks and such easier.

[E-N 48]

so are you saying his ss card even after he gets his work permit will not be valid for work he has to wait for his actual greencard?

[LORIEandPHIL 123]

so are you saying his ss card even after he gets his work permit will not be valid for work he has to wait for his actual greencard?

His ss card will have "valid for work only with DHS authorization" The work permit is his proof of DHS authorisation. So it is valid for work.

[E-N 48]

ok that sounds great!

[NikLR 13,227]

I love US health care.

NOT.

[yuna628 9,671]

I sympathize with you OP. Insurance companies screw things up badly all the time. In October my insurance company sent out a premium that was far below anything I've ever paid. Called immediately and demanded to know what was going on. All they could tell me was it was a bill credit. I told them this had to be a mistake on their end and if I paid this low amount they would end up terminating me for non-payment. They insisted and assured me everything was just fine. Thankfully I wasn't terminated, and in November I had another bill with the same reduced rate and bill credit. I tried to argue again and they insisted. By December I received a bill that was quadruple the cost of any premium! Called up and was told oh well, we had a billing error, so we are now backdating all charges that we never collected (of course without telling their customers they screwed doing this). To top it off I received this bill late, and only had a few days left to pay it by! A friend of mine had his insurance terminated that he had for years, simply because they cashed the money but never posted it as paid. They refused to reinstate him and he was forced to go into the marketplace. It also took a year of arguing with Aetna over surgery costs for them to realize my sister had met her deductible... I guess they really didn't want to have to pay all that lovely money.

so my question is, you have to have a green card to get insurance coverage? reason I am asking is I thought for per se in my case K1 beneficiary must have coverage immediately or Petitioner(me) can be fined? If that is the case, as slow as Tx service center is where his paperwork will go he will be without coverage for a year! Can this be true?

You do not need a green card to get insurance coverage when you arrive and marry. You or fiancé can be added to their own insurance, you can purchase it without entering the marketplace, or you can enter the marketplace. The government has several federal provisions that covers new immigrants. https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/immigration-status/

These include LPR's but also include adjustment to LPRs, and those with the temporary EAD. You also are eligible to enroll past the main period, as you have two qualifying life events - marriage and being a new immigrant. NC does not have a state exchange that I know of, so you'd have to go to the federal, if you opt for that.

This is the list of documentation you can use to prove your status.

https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/documentation/

The 'fine' only happens when you file taxes.

Also there may be times when you encounter... for lack of a better term, an 'idiot' on the phone when trying to enroll that are largely ignorant of the immigrant policy. This usually happens when talking to state exchange operators, so hopefully the federal would be more clued in. Don't let them bully or frighten you.

Edited January 17, 2015 by yuna628

[E-N 48]

thanks Yuna628! I will be adding him on to my coverage with the hospital and we carry BCBS. I hope it is not a hassel. I will make sure I look up BCBS as well in the case I have to school some about healthcare coverage and immigration lol

thanks so much for this clarification