Health insurance during aos process

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Need urgent help and advices

[themartinez 1]

What's your doubt?

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Apologise for the missing post due to using my phone at the moment. I need some urgent advices on health insurance during aos process.

I have received my ead and ap and will be going for interview in march very soon.

My husband submitted insurance application since december to include my name into employer's insurance. However they kept dragging for months and told us it takes awhile to process. Today we tried asking again and they gave him excuse that they are unable to include his spouse (me) in the policy because he has not work for one full year! Which is totally absurb and ridiculous, he will be one full year employee on june 2016.

Now I need to ask you guys for advices. What are the choices can I opt for since obamacare is over and I really dont want any problems during interview. Should I get 180 days health insurance or would it be better if I get an indivudal now with my ead and ap and noa?

Thanks alot

[themartinez 1]

Apologise for the missing post due to using my phone at the moment. I need some urgent advices on health insurance during aos process.

I have received my ead and ap and will be going for interview in march very soon.

My husband submitted insurance application since december to include my name into employer's insurance. However they kept dragging for months and told us it takes awhile to process. Today we tried asking again and they gave him excuse that they are unable to include his spouse (me) in the policy because he has not work for one full year! Which is totally absurb and ridiculous, he will be one full year employee on june 2016.

Now I need to ask you guys for advices. What are the choices can I opt for since obamacare is over and I really dont want any problems during interview. Should I get 180 days health insurance or would it be better if I get an indivudal now with my ead and ap and noa?

Thanks alot

Don't worry. I was just trying to understand the situation.

I am not really sure on what to answer you, though. It was pretty easy for me because my husband doesn't have it through his job. But it is absurd since he'll have to pay for you either way, even if it is cheaper than normal insurance, right? I wonder if it would work calling the insurance company directly or not..

I guess it is just a matter of you analyzing your options and see what works best for you financially and insurance wise. If I were you I'd get something temporary and then join under your husband's policy.

But those are just... Things I am saying. I haven't faced the same problem. Sorry. Tried to help :/

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Yeap precisely, thanks for your help, we are so annoyed, mad, angry and frustrated right now. I have seen posts here and people having no prob adding spouse to their insurance bought with their employer! We are now heading to see an insurance agent recommended by a friend.

I am just wondering if I should get temp insurance and get a perm once I get a job with my employer or should I buy long term right away

Yeap precisely, thanks for your help, we are so annoyed, mad, angry and frustrated right now. I have seen posts here and people having no prob adding spouse to their insurance bought with their employer! We are now heading to see an insurance agent recommended by a friend.

I am just wondering if I should get temp insurance and get a perm once I get a job with my employer or should I buy long term right away

[yuna628 9,717]

Apologise for the missing post due to using my phone at the moment. I need some urgent advices on health insurance during aos process.

I have received my ead and ap and will be going for interview in march very soon.

My husband submitted insurance application since december to include my name into employer's insurance. However they kept dragging for months and told us it takes awhile to process. Today we tried asking again and they gave him excuse that they are unable to include his spouse (me) in the policy because he has not work for one full year! Which is totally absurb and ridiculous, he will be one full year employee on june 2016.

Now I need to ask you guys for advices. What are the choices can I opt for since obamacare is over and I really dont want any problems during interview. Should I get 180 days health insurance or would it be better if I get an indivudal now with my ead and ap and noa?

Thanks a lot

Unfortunately your husband's job is misbehaving here. I'm sure every HR policy is different, but there should be no problem adding you as a spouse to his health insurance. You do have some options though, if you'd like some coverage until when they finally say they can add you to his policy.

You can buy health insurance from the federal exchange (obamacare), if you have filed for adjustment of status, and you have an EAD these are all good proofs. See the link in my signature. Obamacare is not medicare or Medicaid (you will not be eligible for these), and the amount that it will cost will vary depending on your situation. If your state has their own exchange you must go through them first. Obamacare is not 'over'. You may apply for special enrollment due to your circumstances as follows:

newly married

lost insurance because you moved or lost a job

newly immigrated

even failure by your husband's job to allow you onto their plan may be grounds to seek out coverage.

Or you may decide to risk it, and wait until the spousal plan goes through, or wait until you may find employment that offers you a health insurance plan. In waiting however, a tax penalty may still apply depending on your situation.

Your other option is to do what I did for my husband and purchase a policy privately from any health insurance provider in your area. These policies you can generally cancel whenever you are able to move to a different insurance and are all federally compliant (many are the same insurances offered by Obamacare anyway).

However, a word of caution: be careful, some temporary insurances and short term insurances that are specifically marketed towards immigrants and travelers are NOT federally compliant. Because of this, the government considers these subpar insurances not productive to an individual's needs, and the tax penalty may still apply.

Any of the options will cost you, however none of them will affect your immigrant status or adjustment of status. Health insurance is a mandate in that it's an option only. A lot of people still believe it is cheaper to pay the tax penalty rather than a monthly premium (and this is true.. it's all in if the risk of not having insurance is worth it).

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Get Obamacare and forget the shady temp insurances, you run the risk of having to pay several hundred dollars in penalty if you remain uninsured.
You could have gotten Obamacare with your AOS NOA1.

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Im with the insurance agent now, hes a friend of my husband, we tried to apply for obamacare, but it says we are not eligible because we are married more than 60 days and other info we filled up does not allow us to get it. We are now in midst of applying getting conventry one for 450dollars a month! It is so expensive!

I intend to cancel it after I got a job and get my own thru my employer,will that be ok?

[Roy&Chanel 109]

We wanted to get that during noa1 aos but my husband submitted to include my name in his insurance with his company, and they delayed it and kept telling us it was still in process for months which causing us major probs now! So mad at the company right now, we are trying best way to save our funds and to get minimal

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Im with the insurance agent now, hes a friend of my husband, we tried to apply for obamacare, but it says we are not eligible because we are married more than 60 days and other info we filled up does not allow us to get it. We are now in midst of applying getting conventry one for 450dollars a month! It is so expensive!

I intend to cancel it after I got a job and get my own thru my employer,will that be ok?

Have you tried calling a service representative directly from the marketplace web site to help you navigate through the maze ?

You can still call and let them find an open door to let you in so to speak. You are eligible for a new life event such as 'no insurance through

employer' and 'recently married' so try calling if your friend the insurance agent can't get through, they can usually override the 'closed doors'.

It depends on your income if you would get a subsidy or not. Yes, when you have your own job and insurance you can cancel it at any time.

You can see the NOA1 ( I-797 eligibility ) here : https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/documentation/

[Roy&Chanel 109]

Have you tried calling a service representative directly from the marketplace web site to help you navigate through the maze ?

You can still call and let them find an open door to let you in so to speak. You are eligible for a new life event such as 'no insurance through

employer' and 'recently married' so try calling if your friend the insurance agent can't get through, they can usually override the 'closed doors'.

It depends on your income if you would get a subsidy or not. Yes, when you have your own job and insurance you can cancel it at any time.

You can see the NOA1 ( I-797 eligibility ) here : https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/documentation/

Yeap we just got back from the insurance company. The agent (he doesn't belong to any insurance company but acting as an agent to source the best quote) actually did call and search for us directly from marketplace. Yeap we talked to marketplace 24 hours hotline. The guy told us we are not eligible for special life event due to more than 60 days of marriage, we couldn't use no insurance through employer but we told them my husband is eligible for company insurance but we arent able to get it for me (spouse) luckily my husband's last year insurance is expiring and we manage to negotiate with them to get us to purchase. So for now we are getting it till I get my job. Premium is higher but at least it will get us what we need to provide the required documents that AOS interview asked for.

Thanks everyone for the advises! Really appreciate it, with the limited time of my upcoming interview and getting this problematic issue solved!

Edited March 6, 2016 by Roy&Chanel

[merc0230 28]

Get Obamacare and forget the shady temp insurances, you run the risk of having to pay several hundred dollars in penalty if you remain uninsured.

You could have gotten Obamacare with your AOS NOA1.

Sorry to thread jack, but quick question. Is this true even if AOS from a B2 Visa? My understanding is my sister in law cannot get coverage until she has a GC or at least an EAD.

Thanks!

[yuna628 9,717]

Yeap we just got back from the insurance company. The agent (he doesn't belong to any insurance company but acting as an agent to source the best quote) actually did call and search for us directly from marketplace. Yeap we talked to marketplace 24 hours hotline. The guy told us we are not eligible for special life event due to more than 60 days of marriage, we couldn't use no insurance through employer but we told them my husband is eligible for company insurance but we arent able to get it for me (spouse) luckily my husband's last year insurance is expiring and we manage to negotiate with them to get us to purchase. So for now we are getting it till I get my job. Premium is higher but at least it will get us what we need to provide the required documents that AOS interview asked for.

Thanks everyone for the advises! Really appreciate it, with the limited time of my upcoming interview and getting this problematic issue solved!

You DO qualify via the marketplace. The person is incorrect, because you are a new immigrant. Plenty of immigrants have successfully signed up.

However, at least you have found something you're somewhat happy with that may fit your needs for now.

merc0230

Posted Today, 08:28 AM

Sorry to thread jack, but quick question. Is this true even if AOS from a B2 Visa? My understanding is my sister in law cannot get coverage until she has a GC or at least an EAD.

Thanks!

Obtaining insurance is not mutually exclusive to your immigrant status directly. Anyone can purchase insurance privately for a price. B2 is a visitor visa, so typically since the person would be here temporarily, the penalty wouldn't really be applicable in taxes, so it would be up to the person to decide if their typical 6 month duration of stay was prudent to have some sort of temporary insurance, such as a visitor's travel insurance. While these insurances aren't federally compliant, they are what they are, for someone visiting...

However, since the individual is now having immigrant intent and adjusting status to reside in the US, the same rules apply. You can see any of the above things that apply to immigrant statuses and the evidences that can be supplied. https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/immigration-status/

I cannot stress the importance and the truth that immigrants are covered under Obamacare, and that if they desire, immigrants can also obtain insurance through private companies. Yes, you may call and get a runaround from employees who don't know the own law they represent. That's when you keep calling, ask for supervisors, and point out the law to them. You can also speak to licensed healthcare navigators in person. Did you know there's even a provision in the law as a qualifier to obtain insurance if an insurance rep or HR fails to register you due to their own ignorance?

Just remember, it's not going to be free, and it's certainly not going to be cheap in most cases.

[TBoneTX 46,126]

*** Thread is moved from the AOS/Family-Based main forum to the Moving to the US forum -- queries aren't about AOS. ***