Health Insurance after marriage but before AOS

[samjez1824 0]

Hi there,

My wife and I got married on March 5th, so next up is the AOS process. We are based in Los Angeles, CA

I am on my parent's health insurance til I turn 26 in June, and am a freelancer that can get discounted healthcare for myself and wife through Cast and Crew Open Health once I turn 26.

Any recommendations on a plan to get for my wife until then? And is she eligible for plans in the Covered California/Obamacare marketplace?

Do you know if she can get a good short term plan and then be eligible to switch to mine in June?

Thanks!

-Sam

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to Moving to the US and Your New Life in America Forum~

~Similar topics are discussed at this forum~

[Boiler 46,119]

Once she has her NOA, OCare.

[gradtaai 8]

You might try a google search. Some need to be applyed for within 6 months of entering the country. Here is one

http://www.nriol.net/immigrant-health-insurance/

[yuna628 9,716]

Hi there,

My wife and I got married on March 5th, so next up is the AOS process. We are based in Los Angeles, CA

I am on my parent's health insurance til I turn 26 in June, and am a freelancer that can get discounted healthcare for myself and wife through Cast and Crew Open Health once I turn 26.

Any recommendations on a plan to get for my wife until then? And is she eligible for plans in the Covered California/Obamacare marketplace?

Do you know if she can get a good short term plan and then be eligible to switch to mine in June?

Thanks!

-Sam

Hi there,

Congrats on your marriage. Yes your wife is eligible for CC/Ocare/marketplace. Her eligibility for these things though, would start when she applies for AOS and receives her NOA1.

Other options: She is more than eligible to purchase a private plan. That is what I did for my husband, immigration documents were not required. You can generally terminate such coverage when you want, but you'd have to refer to the rules of the insurance for more info.

About Ocare: since you have a state exchange/marketplace you're going to have to go through that first instead of the federal exchange. While you'll have to refer to CC's rules on immigrants, federally she is able to be enrolled under 'special enrollment' status and her qualification would be through recently married and recently immigrated. You can see the federal rules and her eligibility documents via the link in my signature. For an insurance to be federally compliant, they must conform to these rules, however there has been cases of phone employees being pretty terrible at understanding their own laws. So be prepared.

As you know by law, all persons in the US must obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, BUT there are many persons who continue to think and are often tricked into buying short term or very specific short term 'immigrant' insurance plans. These insurances ARE NOT federally compliant, deemed substandard, and by law the penalty will still apply. There is also the issue of if these insurances actually offer proper coverage and is accepted when you really need it.

Edited March 26, 2016 by yuna628

[samjez1824 0]

Do you know if she can sign up for Obamacare health insurance and then be able to switch out to mine in June? Or would she be locked in until their next cycle?

[mallafri76 1,012]

I've been looking into this since I'm moving over soon and as far as I understand, signing up through the marketplace etc for ObamaCare is for the full year. I do know that short term insurance don't meet ObamaCare requirements, so if your wife signs up for a short term insurance, she'll have to pay the penalty if the period is longer than two months. The fee to pay is then $58 a month ($695 a year) or 2.5% of your annual household income. So if you got married March 5th and she'll get on your insurance say June 5th, that's three months worth of fee you'll have to pay next tax return, so $174. Calculate what's gonna be best for you financially, your wife signing up for her own insurance through ObamaCare for the full year or she gets short-term insurance, pays the fee for not meeting ObamaCare and then you guys have the discounted insurance through your work from June onwards.

Here's a link to ObamaCare facts and short term insurance:

http://obamacarefacts.com/insurance-exchange/short-term-health-insurance/

[Boiler 46,119]

Ocare does not have to be for the full year.

[yuna628 9,716]

Do you know if she can sign up for Obamacare health insurance and then be able to switch out to mine in June? Or would she be locked in until their next cycle?

I hope these links answer your questions.

https://www.healthcare.gov/reporting-changes/cancel-plan/

https://www.healthcare.gov/apply-and-enroll/change-after-enrolling/

Simple answer is: you shouldn't have any problem switching from Ocare to another plan.

[Roy&Chanel 109]

For marketplace, You can sign up for it now, its called major life change event.

But do take note that there is a time range, I missed out more than 180 days after marriage, they didn't allow me to use that as a reason to buy insurance.

Luckily for me, my husband's insurance expired and we could use it as a reason to purchase.