Success getting healthcare coverage for immigrant parents over 65

[SG-2020 0]

On 1/1/2022 at 4:24 AM, Leily said:

Hi everyone. Happy New Year to you all. I thought to share my experience with my mom currently residing in California. She migrated to the US in 2015 with  green card sponsored by my sister living in the US. She has 0 income in the US and is in the lower incone range. From the first months she aplied for medi-cal and received that. She has already applied for citizenship and is waiting for interview. 

I am seeking your experience in this and with the moving forward health insurance options available to her. With 0 incone and no work experience in the US, would she be eligible for medicare after 5 years living or does she have to wait for citizenship? In what circumstances can she be eligible for free medicare, if any?

Thank you.

 

Happy New Year ! 

Thanks for sharing information on Medi-Cal .

Under Medi-Cal did you pay any Premium for her health care during her Green Card period ? Was she declared as dependent ( or Independent ) on your US Citizen sister ?  Did your mother file any income tax return with zero income ? Which city of California she is staying ? Thanks in advance .

 

[missads 59]

10 hours ago, SG-2020 said:

 

Thanks for information that Medi-Cal is completely free for 65+ Parents and no Premium is required to be paid .

Under Medi-Cal , can the Parents with zero income living in US for less than one year be declared INDEPENDENT on US Citizen son and file Zero tax return with zero income ?

What will be the impact on the US Citizen son if they are declared DEPENDENT on him with zero income ? Thanks in advance .

 

Read this (first page of the thread)

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582733-success-getting-healthcare-coverage-for-immigrant-parents-over-65/?do=findComment&comment=7976272

Edited January 3, 2022 by missads

[ProbeGT 46]

On 1/3/2022 at 10:38 AM, missads said:

Read this (first page of the thread)

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582733-success-getting-healthcare-coverage-for-immigrant-parents-over-65/?do=findComment&comment=7976272

Great thread!

 

Also, please see this thread regarding those who are under 65.  For all who are reading this, I do suggest reading @missads thread as well.  It was the inspiration for my post

 

 

[missads 59]

59 minutes ago, ProbeGT said:

Great thread!

 

Also, please see this thread regarding those who are under 65.  For all who are reading this, I do suggest reading @missads thread as well.  It was the inspiration for my post

 

 

Great thread @ProbeGT Thanks for taking the time and effort to post it!

[neo_ny 22]

@ProbeGT @missads  thanks again for the wealth of information you guys shared!  I was able to sign my mom up with tax credits in NJ and can confirm that indeed you needed to be denied by medicaid (due to being a new immigrant) before being eligible for the PTC.  Atleast in NJ thats the process that needed to be followed and as already been pointed out the actual process can/will vary between states.  I'm still unclear what would happen after 5 years when one technically becomes eligible for Medicaid...

 

Has anyone gone through this process in VA and willing to share their steps/experience to get it done?  Thanks!

 

p.s: cross posting in both threads to reach more folks, apologize for the duplicate post!

[sojourner99 0]

Sorry to necro this thread but as we were able to get the full tax credit last year from the ACA healthcare.gov for my mother in-laws health insurance since she was a recent immigrants in 2022 and didnt qualify for medicaid.

 

As of this year though it says her tax subsidy will be zero.  I know some tax credits expired but is it really down that much? That's brutal from almost full coverage to zero help.   Has anyone else renewed this year?  Were you able to get any tax subsidies?

[newgcparents 2]

Just finished a binge reading this thread. First off thank you to @missads for enlightening and helping so many folks!!. I live in California and my parents just got here a few days back on their GC. They applied for their GC from India and we are currently waiting for SSN, GC etc. I will be talking to assisters and local county health services to get my application in correctly. Will post with details here for the benefit of others.

Meanwhile is anyone is in CA has gone through the process recently or is going through it, would love to connect. Please DM me.

Edited November 30, 2022 by newgcparents

[missads 59]

On 11/6/2022 at 5:18 PM, sojourner99 said:

Sorry to necro this thread but as we were able to get the full tax credit last year from the ACA healthcare.gov for my mother in-laws health insurance since she was a recent immigrants in 2022 and didnt qualify for medicaid.

 

As of this year though it says her tax subsidy will be zero.  I know some tax credits expired but is it really down that much? That's brutal from almost full coverage to zero help.   Has anyone else renewed this year?  Were you able to get any tax subsidies?

Hi, this sounds bogus. Maybe you talked to someone who doesn't understand the rules completely? Or, if you tried the application online, healthcare.gov sometimes sends you down the wrong path which screws up the subsidy estimate. In that case, just call and talk to someone at healthcare.gov on the phone, and explain your MIL's situation.

 

Your MIL should get almost the same tax subsidy as last year, if not more. She remains ineligible for Medicaid for her first 5 years on GC (except in CA,) so there should be no change in subsidy/PTC beyond some minimal fluctuation in the insurance premium itself (certainly not zero subsidy.) Please message me if you need help. All the best!

[sojourner99 0]

1 hour ago, missads said:

Hi, this sounds bogus. Maybe you talked to someone who doesn't understand the rules completely? Or, if you tried the application online, healthcare.gov sometimes sends you down the wrong path which screws up the subsidy estimate. In that case, just call and talk to someone at healthcare.gov on the phone, and explain your MIL's situation.

 

Your MIL should get almost the same tax subsidy as last year, if not more. She remains ineligible for Medicaid for her first 5 years on GC (except in CA,) so there should be no change in subsidy/PTC beyond some minimal fluctuation in the insurance premium itself (certainly not zero subsidy.) Please message me if you need help. All the best!

Yup you were correct, it looks like something weird happened and on their second year here you have to change some of your answers from how you answered on the first year on the questionnaire, or else poof your subisidy goes to zero. I updated the questions as appropriate and she now got the full subsidy.

[MCMM 0]

Hello, My parents have had Marketplace insurance since 2018 with tax credits. Thank you @missads and all for guiding me back then. we are in Texas and they were filing their taxes independently (not as dependents). My father passed away in July this year and my mom (she's 80 yrs old) now lives with my sister. Also, the five year mark of her having a greencard is mid January 2023.

 

I really don't know much about this, but reading the threads I realize Texas doesn't have Medicaid expansion. She has no income but now I guess I will be claiming her as a dependent since she doesn't live alone (am I correct that she cannot file independently if she lives with someone other than her spouse?).

 

I thought I had a deadline of today for Medicaid but just saw that the 5 years only will lapse in January so technically she does not qualify yet. She never worked here nor contributed to social security, etc. I believe that means she cannot get Medicare, or that if she could, it would be too expensive, not subsidized in any way, i.e. at full price. Am I right?

 

Reading online it may be that she doesn't qualify for either Obamacare or Medicaid? I think @Missads mentioned still being able to receive tax credits after 5 years? I'm confused, and would appreciate any clarity you may provide. I'm overwhelmed taking my mom the Parkinson's therapy 4 times a week plus all the changes and sadness this year. Thank you so much!