Will they think my mom will be a public charge?

[Lil bear 4,103]

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

wow, that’s way more than I thought.  We ourselves saw the huge difference between self funding and employer funded plans. Obviously the mom will not have an employer funded plans. 

No wonder a big chunk of personal bankruptcies in the US are related to medical issues/costs. Scary stuff.
 

Yep. Freaks us out ! Tell me again why we thought this was a “good” move !!! We were fortunate to have 36 SS quarters already when we left the US last time .. now have over 40... and eligible for Medicare even though we’ve not been here for 5 years yet this time .. but we’ve paid in and are fully vested in SS so we are very glad.  Still miss our Australian medical system and social support network and safety nets .. but we can’t have those AND out kids and grandkids at the same time . 

[Oliversmom 250]

I don't know how severe your mom's COPD is but I notice you said severe so that may mean she is on oxygen.  But if it is not too bad and she can work she can get employer health insurance.  I am 58 years old with asthma and COPD and I just got a new good paying full-time job so if she is able to work and has marketable skills that may help overcome the public charge concern.   I wish her well.  COPD sucks but if it hasn't advanced too far you can live a pretty normal life with it with some restrictions.  I can't run.  If I do I have trouble breathing.  I can't move real fast or do hard exercise.  But I can go for walks and do light exercise.  And I can do my job.  

[Boiler 45,052]

5 minutes ago, Oliversmom said:

I don't know how severe your mom's COPD is but I notice you said severe so that may mean she is on oxygen.  But if it is not too bad and she can work she can get employer health insurance.  I am 58 years old with asthma and COPD and I just got a new good paying full-time job so if she is able to work and has marketable skills that may help overcome the public charge concern.   I wish her well.  COPD sucks but if it hasn't advanced too far you can live a pretty normal life with it with some restrictions.  I can't run.  If I do I have trouble breathing.  I can't move real fast or do hard exercise.  But I can go for walks and do light exercise.  And I can do my job.  

OP said she had never worked.

[tsabbas 47]

19 hours ago, Doris2CA said:

Filed 1-130 Last Aug 2019 for mom who is 63 years old. Never worked, no assets with severe asthma/COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Me and my husband will be the sponsors for AOS with $140k annual income and we are a family of 3. I am very concerned with some posts I read about getting a denial because the consular officer thinks the intending immigrant might be a public charge... maybe bec of age, health, work history etc. given my mom’s background, these are all negative factors but we have no intentions for her to be a public charge and will take full financial responsibility. Is there a way we can make them see that? Thanks in advance. 

We are in a similar situation but applied for both both parents. Income is close to yours and I thought we would be okay but with the decision being left to the discretion of the consular officer, it's a little scary! What one person thinks might be a public charge concern, another may not - even with the same circumstances. I think there's should be more clearly defined guidelines to follow.

 

But, even with that being said, we went on to healthcare.gov to price plans to show for the interview. We found three comparable plans with premiums around $1100 - $1300 per month for both of them (and one is a tobacco user) with deductibles ranging from $5500 to $11,000. There is an option you can choose to estimate annual total health care costs, including the premiums, by entering expected doctor visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations. I overestimated what they would require and it showed total yearly costs of around $19,000. It does seem high but is manageable for us so I printed all of the information and will send it to them for their interview. It sounds like that might be a good option for you too as it will be less for one person. I'm not sure where you got your other quote from but it's worth a try!

 

[Doris2CA 0]

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

My father has COPD. Chronic illnesses are far from cheap in the US, luckily he has been a USC for many years so he has medicaid (plus top up). 

 

Well, to address public charge concerns, you can show that you have investigated the health insurance options for her, how much that plan will cost (as she is almost certainly not going to be able to be a dependent on your workplace plan expect anything from $600-1000 pm from what others have posted here for that age range), an understanding of what copays and other out of pocket expenses might be needed to cover it, not just for ER but for monthly medication, and proof that you can easily take care of all that. Given what you said I presume she will be living with you. 
fyi a few years old but maybe useful https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/the-cost-of-copd-and-the-affordable-care-act/  , obviously the bits about government assistance/using tax subsidies won’t work for you but there is info about costs etc

Yes, she will be living with us. You mean when she gets to her interview I will need her to bring maybe health insurance quote or what else to prove that we will be fully responsible with her financially? Aside from of course the affidavit of support. 

[Doris2CA 0]

7 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

So what is your plan to cover her health care, since she won't be eligible for medicare or anything here?

 

I would be concerned, too.  The US is not a great place to retire to if you are sick and have no money.

My husband works in Kaiser and he will be able to enroll her under his work insurance so hopefully it will be a significant discount but even if we cant do that, I will just have to get her off the marketplace and pay for it. We are a family of 3 - my husband, me and a 4 year old. No debt except mortgage. Our 140k income is from my husband working full time and I work only 20 hrs a week to have time for family. I can work full time if I want too and earn 40k more if I need too just to cover for my mom’s health expenses if need be.

[Doris2CA 0]

6 hours ago, Boiler said:

Well it is going to be a big chunk of your annual income, I assume you can afford it and can document your calculations.

 

A shout out to your husband, many would not want to do this.

What do u mean by document calculations? During the interview we need to show some calculation of like our monthly budget or something to prove that we can afford it?

[designguy 1,179]

2 minutes ago, Doris2CA said:

works in Kaiser and he will be able to enroll her under his work insurance

Kaiser offers benefits to in-laws?

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, Doris2CA said:

My husband works in Kaiser and he will be able to enroll her under his work insurance

Did you confirm this? It's very rare (but not unheard of) to be able to add a parent to one's employer-sponsored plan. Any employer can offer it, but usually they do not want to cover such high costs for a non-required dependent.

If it is possible, show evidence/confirmation of this + costs to do so.

[Doris2CA 0]

4 hours ago, Oliversmom said:

I don't know how severe your mom's COPD is but I notice you said severe so that may mean she is on oxygen.  But if it is not too bad and she can work she can get employer health insurance.  I am 58 years old with asthma and COPD and I just got a new good paying full-time job so if she is able to work and has marketable skills that may help overcome the public charge concern.   I wish her well.  COPD sucks but if it hasn't advanced too far you can live a pretty normal life with it with some restrictions.  I can't run.  If I do I have trouble breathing.  I can't move real fast or do hard exercise.  But I can go for walks and do light exercise.  And I can do my job.  

My mom isnt on oxygen. She does her normal chores but she cant run or travel a lot because when she gets tired thats the time her COPD would exacerbate. She never worked not bec of his health but because she was a stay at home mom for all of us 3 kids. I wont force her to work here if she doesnt want to.. we want her to come live with us because Ive been away from her for a long time and she wants to be able to take care of her one and only grandchild (my son). She said it will give her more motivation to live longer. Shes a widow for almost 20 years now and my brothers are all grown up. 

[Doris2CA 0]

3 hours ago, tsabbas said:

We are in a similar situation but applied for both both parents. Income is close to yours and I thought we would be okay but with the decision being left to the discretion of the consular officer, it's a little scary! What one person thinks might be a public charge concern, another may not - even with the same circumstances. I think there's should be more clearly defined guidelines to follow.

 

But, even with that being said, we went on to healthcare.gov to price plans to show for the interview. We found three comparable plans with premiums around $1100 - $1300 per month for both of them (and one is a tobacco user) with deductibles ranging from $5500 to $11,000. There is an option you can choose to estimate annual total health care costs, including the premiums, by entering expected doctor visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations. I overestimated what they would require and it showed total yearly costs of around $19,000. It does seem high but is manageable for us so I printed all of the information and will send it to them for their interview. It sounds like that might be a good option for you too as it will be less for one person. I'm not sure where you got your other quote from but it's worth a try!

 

Thank you, this has given me some encouragement because most of the replies here made me feel more scared and worried. I didnt get any quote yet but I will do what u said and research more on this. Are these necessary to bring to the interview or we need to show it to them if indeed the consular officer denied my mom? Honestly, my mom is a widow for almost 20 years now and I feel like she’s sad and misses me. Im her only daughter and my son is her only grandchild. She saw my son only twice and she said it will give her more meaning in life and motivation to live longer if she will be able to at least take care of my son. 

[Doris2CA 0]

13 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Did you confirm this? It's very rare (but not unheard of) to be able to add a parent to one's employer-sponsored plan. Any employer can offer it, but usually they do not want to cover such high costs for a non-required dependent.

If it is possible, show evidence/confirmation of this + costs to do so.

On Monday he will be able to get more info and confirmation. Part of their benefits is they can include their parents and parents-in-law under their medical plan on a discounted premium. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Just now, Doris2CA said:

On Monday he will be able to get more info and confirmation. Part of their benefits is they can include their parents and parents-in-law under their medical plan on a discounted premium. 

Then be sure to send proof of this to your mom to take with to her interview.

[Doris2CA 0]

23 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Then be sure to send proof of this to your mom to take with to her interview.

So we checked my husband’s benefits and the parent must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B to be eligible to the flat premium rate of $290/month. Since my mom is just 63, she wont be able to. I checked healtcare.gov and coveredca.com and overestimated my mom’s needs for health insurance so it gave us plans lowest is $650 to $1100 per month. My question is, if my mom is able to immigrate and I will pay for an average $800/month for her healthcare plan and when she reaches 65, will she be able to apply for medicare just so we can avail of the parent medical coverage benefit that my husband has from kaiser? Thanks.

[designguy 1,179]

3 minutes ago, Doris2CA said:

So we checked my husband’s benefits and the parent must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B to be eligible to the flat premium rate of $290/month. Since my mom is just 63, she wont be able to. I checked healtcare.gov and coveredca.com and overestimated my mom’s needs for health insurance so it gave us plans lowest is $650 to $1100 per month. My question is, if my mom is able to immigrate and I will pay for an average $800/month for her healthcare plan and when she reaches 65, will she be able to apply for medicare just so we can avail of the parent medical coverage benefit that my husband has from kaiser? Thanks.

Medicare is only available after being a resident for 5 years