Emergency Medicaid for pregnant women

[STEPHnRIA 2]

I am now 6 1/2 months pregnant so we went to a hospital (women's center) to pre- register. I have no insurance so we were going to talk to them about discount and payment plans for self pay patients. The financial person gave us an estimate of $25,000 for c-section. Since we are on self pay, they gave us a discounted price of $14,000+++ and required us to pay half before giving birth. So its $7,000 ++ up front. My husband asked if there's another way to do this as there's no way we can raise that amount in 2 months and the lady said no and that she is sorry. This is a public hospital by the way. My husband was stunned so I mustered enough courage to ask about medicaid. She said I am not eligible since Im not a US citizen. Then I mentioned emergency medicaid. She asked me of my status and I said Im under the process of getting my permanent residence status. Then she said again that I am NOT eligible because Im legal. Emergency medicaid is only for the illegal aliens here in the US. I argued with her that it doesnt seem to sound right. She just answered me with... "Ive been doing this thing for a long time, trust me, I know you are not eligible.

We went to the Department of Children and Families website here in Florida. It said that emergency medicaid is available to those who are eligible for medicaid except for the US citizenship requirement. So we know we are eligible. We have been calling different numbers but all they do is keep on transferring us to different numbers. They can't tell us anything. We went to the place and they just said to apply online. We went online but there's no application there for emerency medicaid. We don't know how to go about this. It's so frustrating. Are we supposed to apply for emergency medicaid after the emergency happened? And how do we do this? Hope anyone can shed light on this. Thanks again.

Edited August 28, 2009 by STEPHnRIA

[Old Dominion 26]

Every state has a different Medicaid program for anyone about to give birth and to look after the child's health. Here in Virginia, one goes to their local office of the state social services dept. Eligibility is up to them....maybe your joint income level is too high to make you eligible. They will observe that you have already had 4-5 months to save up for the delivery.

You may need to use a different hospital, not a specialized women's center. Or, at the time of delivery, you can go to an emergency room and get the medical attention you will need, even if you can't pay for it.

Good luck!

Edited August 28, 2009 by Old Dominion

[DEDixon 39]

"April 16, 2009 - Received EAD in the mail" <-- from your timeline

EAD in April and you don't have a GC.... wow! Too bad you can't go back to the RP to have your baby.

I think this should be moved to a better forum... might get more answers. Or, you should post it in a different forum for better answers.

Anyway, I found this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=medicaid

There are others out there. You only have to search and read... boring, but might help.

Good luck.

[happywifeymom 4]

I am now 6 1/2 months pregnant so we went to a hospital (women's center) to pre- register. I have no insurance so we were going to talk to them about discount and payment plans for self pay patients. The financial person gave us an estimate of $25,000 for c-section. Since we are on self pay, they gave us a discounted price of $14,000+++ and required us to pay half before giving birth. So its $7,000 ++ up front. My husband asked if there's another way to do this as there's no way we can raise that amount in 2 months and the lady said no and that she is sorry. This is a public hospital by the way. My husband was stunned so I mustered enough courage to ask about medicaid. She said I am not eligible since Im not a US citizen. Then I mentioned emergency medicaid. She asked me of my status and I said Im under the process of getting my permanent residence status. Then she said again that I am NOT eligible because Im legal. Emergency medicaid is only for the illegal aliens here in the US. I argued with her that it doesnt seem to sound right. She just answered me with... "Ive been doing this thing for a long time, trust me, I know you are not eligible.

We went to the Department of Children and Families website here in Florida. It said that emergency medicaid is available to those who are eligible for medicaid except for the US citizenship requirement. So we know we are eligible. We have been calling different numbers but all they do is keep on transferring us to different numbers. They can't tell us anything. We went to the place and they just said to apply online. We went online but there's no application there for emerency medicaid. We don't know how to go about this. It's so frustrating. Are we supposed to apply for emergency medicaid after the emergency happened? And how do we do this? Hope anyone can shed light on this. Thanks again.

Hey Rhia, I was on the same situation like you before.. i was not eligible to apply for medicaid coz they said my husband makes more money so in short i was not able to qualify of any medicaid aside from their very first reason that i am not a US citizen.. that is why i did not had the choice but to go home and gave birth in Pinas which we were able to get the money we spent in our tax refund. But since you don't have your gc yet i think it is not safe for you to give birth in Pinas. We have availed the package in our county's health dept. where we only paid $1000 for the whole pre natal visits but i gave birth in the Phils.. am glad we don't have hospital bills to pay now.

I do hope someone here can give you a link where to get help.

Edited August 28, 2009 by happywifeymom

[STEPHnRIA 2]

"April 16, 2009 - Received EAD in the mail" <-- from your timeline

EAD in April and you don't have a GC.... wow! Too bad you can't go back to the RP to have your baby.

I think this should be moved to a better forum... might get more answers. Or, you should post it in a different forum for better answers.

Anyway, I found this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=medicaid

There are others out there. You only have to search and read... boring, but might help.

Good luck.

Yes, that was the plan. Me to go back to Philippines where I can give birth in one of the top hospitals and one of the best doctor for $2,000. Where my family can help after I give birth. My husband and I have free airline mileage so that will save us a lot of money.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I don't have my gc. Well, I got an RFE for form I-693 or medical. I was one of those unlucky people who had to do another medical again. I think they lost our medical. So yeah, we paid another $300 for medical so that they can go back to processing our papers again.

[happywifeymom 4]

"April 16, 2009 - Received EAD in the mail" <-- from your timeline

EAD in April and you don't have a GC.... wow! Too bad you can't go back to the RP to have your baby.

I think this should be moved to a better forum... might get more answers. Or, you should post it in a different forum for better answers.

Anyway, I found this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=medicaid

There are others out there. You only have to search and read... boring, but might help.

Good luck.

Yes, that was the plan. Me to go back to Philippines where I can give birth in one of the top hospitals and one of the best doctor for $2,000. Where my family can help after I give birth. My husband and I have free airline mileage so that will save us a lot of money.

Anyway, you might be wondering why I don't have my gc. Well, I got an RFE for form I-693 or medical. I was one of those unlucky people who had to do another medical again. I think they lost our medical. So yeah, we paid another $300 for medical so that they can go back to processing our papers again.

I understand that i had my medical here again when i adjusted my status even when my medical at SLEC was only 3 months old.I got my GC in 2 months..Good luck and take care of yourself and ur lil angel.

[What Happened? 4]

You can simply pay for your prenatal visits and when it is time to have the baby go directly to the emergency room. The emergency room cannot turn you away it doesn't matter that you have no insurance and your status will not matter either. This way you get the care you need.

You will however, get the bill in the mail later. But you won't have to pay anything upfront and the hospital will work out a payment plan with you later.

[STEPHnRIA 2]

Every state has a different Medicaid program for anyone about to give birth and to look after the child's health. Here in Virginia, one goes to their local office of the state social services dept. Eligibility is up to them....maybe your joint income level is too high to make you eligible. They will observe that you have already had 4-5 months to save up for the delivery.

You may need to use a different hospital, not a specialized women's center. Or, at the time of delivery, you can go to an emergency room and get the medical attention you will need, even if you can't pay for it.

Good luck!

Nope, our joint income is not high. I work less hours now since getting pregnant. My husband is in college right now. We get by with my savings from Philippines and getting my "share" in our family business back in Philippines.

Anyway, the lady said I am not eligible for medicaid for the simple reson that I am not US citizen. What I was trying to tell her was about EMERGENCY MEDICAID which is available for non US citizen. I know that they can't turn me away if I go to the emergency room. But I know also that they will bill me a very ridiculous amount like $40,000 that will make us financially ruined.

[STEPHnRIA 2]

"April 16, 2009 - Received EAD in the mail" <-- from your timeline

EAD in April and you don't have a GC.... wow! Too bad you can't go back to the RP to have your baby.

I think this should be moved to a better forum... might get more answers. Or, you should post it in a different forum for better answers.

Anyway, I found this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=medicaid

There are others out there. You only have to search and read... boring, but might help.

Good luck.

Thanks! I found some and I think Im going to send them a PM. Thanks again.

[What Happened? 4]

Every state has a different Medicaid program for anyone about to give birth and to look after the child's health. Here in Virginia, one goes to their local office of the state social services dept. Eligibility is up to them....maybe your joint income level is too high to make you eligible. They will observe that you have already had 4-5 months to save up for the delivery.

You may need to use a different hospital, not a specialized women's center. Or, at the time of delivery, you can go to an emergency room and get the medical attention you will need, even if you can't pay for it.

Good luck!

Nope, our joint income is not high. I work less hours now since getting pregnant. My husband is in college right now. We get by with my savings from Philippines and getting my "share" in our family business back in Philippines.

Anyway, the lady said I am not eligible for medicaid for the simple reson that I am not US citizen. What I was trying to tell her was about EMERGENCY MEDICAID which is available for non US citizen. I know that they can't turn me away if I go to the emergency room. But I know also that they will bill me a very ridiculous amount like $40,000 that will make us financially ruined.

Unfortunately the reason she is saying you are not eligible is because you are not here illegally. Which means that someone signed an affidavit of support so that you don't become a public charge. That is why you don't qualify for the program. Illegals qualify for emergency aid and citiens and residents qualify for regular aid. That affidavit of support was to be signed so that the state and federal government don't have to pay for these types of expenses. Unfortunately your stuck between a rock and a hard place. I hope you can find a better way because you are right it is very expensive.

[Kinito_2k3 5]

You can simply pay for your prenatal visits and when it is time to have the baby go directly to the emergency room. The emergency room cannot turn you away it doesn't matter that you have no insurance and your status will not matter either. This way you get the care you need.

You will however, get the bill in the mail later. But you won't have to pay anything upfront and the hospital will work out a payment plan with you later.

Wait I have a question here - when you adjusted status you submitted an affidavit of support stating that you should not seek for government help or your support could be prosecuted - how are you eligible to Medicaid? I am confused? Is there anything I don't understand?

[happywifeymom 4]

You can simply pay for your prenatal visits and when it is time to have the baby go directly to the emergency room. The emergency room cannot turn you away it doesn't matter that you have no insurance and your status will not matter either. This way you get the care you need.

You will however, get the bill in the mail later. But you won't have to pay anything upfront and the hospital will work out a payment plan with you later.

Wait I have a question here - when you adjusted status you submitted an affidavit of support stating that you should not seek for government help or your support could be prosecuted - how are you eligible to Medicaid? I am confused? Is there anything I don't understand?

You should not seek any government aid..that is what the Affidavit of support signed by the petitioner is for. The petitioner signs the affidavit assuring that his/her benefeciary would not be a public burden.I think that is the reason we did not qualify for the medicaid too .

[DEDixon 39]

Maybe Catholic hospital has a good plan or some non-profit has a program. I think I'd check out the Catholic hospital, if they can't help, maybe they can refer you to a non-profit.

It really sux when you want to be a responsible citizen. And you are right, emergency room will bill you and it will be a ridiculous amount.

[Kinito_2k3 5]

You can simply pay for your prenatal visits and when it is time to have the baby go directly to the emergency room. The emergency room cannot turn you away it doesn't matter that you have no insurance and your status will not matter either. This way you get the care you need.

You will however, get the bill in the mail later. But you won't have to pay anything upfront and the hospital will work out a payment plan with you later.

Wait I have a question here - when you adjusted status you submitted an affidavit of support stating that you should not seek for government help or your support could be prosecuted - how are you eligible to Medicaid? I am confused? Is there anything I don't understand?

You should not seek any government aid..that is what the Affidavit of support signed by the petitioner is for. The petitioner signs the affidavit assuring that his/her benefeciary would not be a public burden.I think that is the reason we did not qualify for the medicaid too .

Yes that was basically my point but you said it much better is it worth taking the risk then? What are the consequences? Anyone has experience with that?

[DEDixon 39]

You can simply pay for your prenatal visits and when it is time to have the baby go directly to the emergency room. The emergency room cannot turn you away it doesn't matter that you have no insurance and your status will not matter either. This way you get the care you need.

You will however, get the bill in the mail later. But you won't have to pay anything upfront and the hospital will work out a payment plan with you later.

Wait I have a question here - when you adjusted status you submitted an affidavit of support stating that you should not seek for government help or your support could be prosecuted - how are you eligible to Medicaid? I am confused? Is there anything I don't understand?

You should not seek any government aid..that is what the Affidavit of support signed by the petitioner is for. The petitioner signs the affidavit assuring that his/her benefeciary would not be a public burden.I think that is the reason we did not qualify for the medicaid too .

Nope, you didn't qualify for medicaid, because simply you are not a citizen. It doesn't matter about I-864. The I-864 gives the gov't the option to bill the petitioner, but not very many people know if they ever follow through on that option.