Health Insurance for Elderly/Sponsored Parent

[Brant 0]

Greetings.  Hoping to get some tips and/or advice on an immigration/health insurance predicament.  My wife and I are looking to sponsor her mother’s immigration from the Philippines to come live with us.  She is approaching 86 y.o., her lease agreement is running out on her apartment, doesn’t have any family over there in a position to take care of her, and reaching an age where she’s no longer a good candidate for living alone.

 

The thing that concerns us is her health care options once she arrives.  I called Kaiser to see if she can be included in our family coverage and they said we’d have to go through Covered Ca.  I went to Covered Ca. and they said there was nothing she qualified for (because of her age an pending immigration status) and that we’d have to talk with Social Services.  Social Services doesn’t return phone calls.

 

Taking the risk of NOT insuring her, with her potentially needing some complicated procedure, could very well wipe out the little we have saved for our own retirement.  I’ve looked at some expensive “Bridge” policies but they’re pretty brutal in regard to pre-existing conditions and excluding anyone with diabetes.  We are really in the dark with this and hoping someone might have gone through this themselves or might have some insights into these circumstances.

 

Thanks!!

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

well,  Social Services is the one thing you do not want / they are talking medicaid and that is government benefits

you will have to be able to afford a policy for her

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

You have to buy insurance for her. The exchange is still a good place to go shopping for health insurance.

[sol_sol 31]

What is exchange by the way ?

[Villanelle 4,122]

5 minutes ago, sol_sol said:

What is exchange by the way ?

https://www.healthcare.gov/

[Brant 0]

Ours exchange is through "Covered California."  They had told me that because of her age and pending immigration status insuring her through the exchange was not an option.

 

[Boiler 45,904]

6 minutes ago, Brant said:

Ours exchange is through "Covered California."  They had told me that because of her age and pending immigration status insuring her through the exchange was not an option.

 

Well you are looking at the 2021 Insurance year but if you are just looking to see the current rates and coverage options you should be able to do so through the web site.

Edited October 26, 2019 by Boiler

[Ontarkie 14,371]

~~Moved to Moving Here and Your New Life, from Bringing Family of USC - the topic is health insurance.~~

[Unlockable 7,315]

9 minutes ago, Brant said:

Ours exchange is through "Covered California."  They had told me that because of her age and pending immigration status insuring her through the exchange was not an option.

 

You may have to dig deeper. Or wait until she is in the states for you to add her to the Covered California. There is also private insurance that is available to everyone.

 

Now here comes the bad part. It is not going to be cheap. You are talking about a woman that is approaching 90 that has never paid into any US healthcare system. So most public benefits are not available. This is the reason why there are laws preventing new immigrants from obtaining public benefits. This is something that often gets overlooked by new immigrants that want to bring over their elderly parents. They don't understand the US healthcare system and only want them here.

 

There are options, it is just that you have to do some more extensive research and keep in mind that there will be higher cost associated with her. 

[Boiler 45,904]

I looked at where I am for someone of that age and gender, now there is only one Insurer for my zip and their plans ranged between $990 and $1458. Now quite what the total would be depends, my State site allows you to put in some additional info to calculate total cost and it came out at about $25,000pa. I assumed a moderate health situation, the older we get the more challenging it gets.

 

Obviously this is the current situation, the future is anybody's guess.

Edited October 26, 2019 by Boiler

[yuna628 9,697]

6 hours ago, Brant said:

Greetings.  Hoping to get some tips and/or advice on an immigration/health insurance predicament.  My wife and I are looking to sponsor her mother’s immigration from the Philippines to come live with us.  She is approaching 86 y.o., her lease agreement is running out on her apartment, doesn’t have any family over there in a position to take care of her, and reaching an age where she’s no longer a good candidate for living alone.

 

The thing that concerns us is her health care options once she arrives.  I called Kaiser to see if she can be included in our family coverage and they said we’d have to go through Covered Ca.  I went to Covered Ca. and they said there was nothing she qualified for (because of her age an pending immigration status) and that we’d have to talk with Social Services.  Social Services doesn’t return phone calls.

 

Taking the risk of NOT insuring her, with her potentially needing some complicated procedure, could very well wipe out the little we have saved for our own retirement.  I’ve looked at some expensive “Bridge” policies but they’re pretty brutal in regard to pre-existing conditions and excluding anyone with diabetes.  We are really in the dark with this and hoping someone might have gone through this themselves or might have some insights into these circumstances.

 

Thanks!!

CC agent is incorrect and you would have to escalate with supervisors when and if the time comes. Social Services is also not going to help you. If you successfully bring her to the US, she can be covered under CC. Yes she is over the age of 65, but she would also be a new immigrant and wouldn't be able to claim Medicare or CA's version of MediCal as she wouldn't have been here for 5 years. The ACA's rules are clear on this, and that is what the exchange is designed for. You are correct that short term 'bridge' policies are effectively useless for elderly and anyone with a pre-existing condition. Do not expect this to be cheap though and also be advised of what's going on with the new public charge changes. 

 

Have a read up here. https://www.medicareresources.org/faqs/can-recent-immigrants-to-the-united-states-get-health-coverage-if-theyre-over-65/

Edited October 27, 2019 by yuna628

[Brant 0]

Thanks everyone for your inputs!  Esp. thanks Yuna628.  I have to run out the door but your link looks like the perfect fit for our circumstances.  Looking forward to a more thorough read tomorrow am.  I know if it's possible, it will be expensive.  Having to pay out-of-pocket for something like open heart surgery would completely wipe us out though.  Our Wall Street modeled healthcare system is really the pits.

 

[SalishSea 18,071]

2 hours ago, Brant said:

Thanks everyone for your inputs!  Esp. thanks Yuna628.  I have to run out the door but your link looks like the perfect fit for our circumstances.  Looking forward to a more thorough read tomorrow am.  I know if it's possible, it will be expensive.  Having to pay out-of-pocket for something like open heart surgery would completely wipe us out though.  Our Wall Street modeled healthcare system is really the pits.

 

It is an unfortunate reality of trying to bring over elderly parents who have not paid into Medicare.  $25k/year just for premiums is spendy.

[HRQX 4,145]

9 hours ago, Brant said:

The thing that concerns us is her health care options once she arrives.

Note that she can receive California Medi-Cal since they won't use federal Medicaid funds in her case: https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal/eligibility/Pages/Medi-CalFAQs2014b.aspx "A lawful permanent resident (green card holder) is eligible for Medi-Cal regardless of their date of entry if they meet all other eligibility requirements. Under current Medi-Cal policy, eligible green card holders get full scope Medi-Cal in California even if they have been in the United States for less than 5 years."

Edited October 27, 2019 by HRQX

[geowrian 22,338]

The above is correct - CA is one of the very few states that funds those benefits via the state for immigrants during the 5 year ban. So Medi-Cal is available if necessary, although I cannot speak to the requirements if she will qualify or not.