Underinsured w/ Baby on the way

[Elghazi2008 4]

I used to be on visajourney all the time when I was in the earlier stages of the immigration process, but it's been a while and I am feeling extremely lost now that I've been out of the immigration loop for so long. I am sure this is in the wrong forum, but I'm not sure which forum to put this in, so I apologize ahead of time to the admin who has to move this.

Background: My husband is currently a 2-year Green Card holder and we will be adjusting status later on this year (I think his card expires in November but I need to check to be sure). We are expecting a baby in September, but we may have a little one coming into our lives as soon as August. I was/am my husband's sponsor in the process of obtaining his 2-year green card. I am a full-time college student and I work full-time as a Paralegal but my employer refuses to offer insurance because he's cheap. My husband works a regular part-time job and he is now able to get insurance through work for our family effective in January. I am currently covered under my dad's insurance because I'm also a full-time student, but the insurance does not cover my husband, my pregnancy nor will it cover my baby when he/she comes.

The situation: I am trying to explore my options as far as assistance that I can look into for between now and January when my husband's insurance will kick in. Since I have no coverage from my dad's insurance for my pregnancy, all of the medical expenses for me and the baby are coming directly out of pocket and it is making things extremely difficult. I don't know if I'm even eligible to apply for medicaid/medicare for me and/or the baby because of my husband's immigration status being obtained with me as his sponsor. I assume that I could apply for assistance for the baby, but I'm not sure about applying for it for myself... Does anybody happen to be familiar with this? I thought I had read somewhere during AOS that neither the sponsor nor the dependent could apply for public assistance of any kind without jeopardizing the status of the noncitizen... Any solid suggestions would be wonderful.

Thanks,

[Inky 1,110]

USC can apply for whatever assistance they want because they are USC.

The Immigrant cannot get/use means tested benefits or the sponsor will be responsible to reimburse all that is taken from this.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

A child birth costs oftentimes $10K in a hospital and between $1,5K and $3K at home using a mid wife. I was born at home and so were not millions but billions of people, literally. In fact, the hospital birth is a fairly new invention so that as many doctors and nurses can charge for services that are not really necessary.

That said, raising a single child will cost about $250,000 these days, so compared to that the cost of giving birth is just a drop in the bucket. All of this needs to be taken into consideration when planing a family. However, as a US citizen, sponsoring a foreigner has no negative impact. If your husband would need public assistance, that would be a different story. But since Schwarzenegger gave birth in the movies, no such case has been reported, at least no to my knowledge.

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

***** Moving from AOS to Live in America as not a directly immigration related topic and OP's husband already did AOS and is preparing to ROC *****

Talk to your doctor/ hospital We were not insured for maternity care when we had our girl, and we got about 1/3 off the cost by paying in advance.

[Adil & Jeanne 296]

You are fulltime college student. Mu university offered insurance. And no, can not apply for any public assistance.

quote name='Elghazi2008' timestamp='1308250965' post='4726981']

I used to be on visajourney all the time when I was in the earlier stages of the immigration process, but it's been a while and I am feeling extremely lost now that I've been out of the immigration loop for so long. I am sure this is in the wrong forum, but I'm not sure which forum to put this in, so I apologize ahead of time to the admin who has to move this.

Background: My husband is currently a 2-year Green Card holder and we will be adjusting status later on this year (I think his card expires in November but I need to check to be sure). We are expecting a baby in September, but we may have a little one coming into our lives as soon as August. I was/am my husband's sponsor in the process of obtaining his 2-year green card. I am a full-time college student and I work full-time as a Paralegal but my employer refuses to offer insurance because he's cheap. My husband works a regular part-time job and he is now able to get insurance through work for our family effective in January. I am currently covered under my dad's insurance because I'm also a full-time student, but the insurance does not cover my husband, my pregnancy nor will it cover my baby when he/she comes.

The situation: I am trying to explore my options as far as assistance that I can look into for between now and January when my husband's insurance will kick in. Since I have no coverage from my dad's insurance for my pregnancy, all of the medical expenses for me and the baby are coming directly out of pocket and it is making things extremely difficult. I don't know if I'm even eligible to apply for medicaid/medicare for me and/or the baby because of my husband's immigration status being obtained with me as his sponsor. I assume that I could apply for assistance for the baby, but I'm not sure about applying for it for myself... Does anybody happen to be familiar with this? I thought I had read somewhere during AOS that neither the sponsor nor the dependent could apply for public assistance of any kind without jeopardizing the status of the noncitizen... Any solid suggestions would be wonderful.

Thanks,

[Used to be broken 143]

I am currently covered under my dad's insurance because I'm also a full-time student, but the insurance does not cover my husband, my pregnancy nor will it cover my baby when he/she comes.

The situation: I am trying to explore my options as far as assistance that I can look into for between now and January when my husband's insurance will kick in. Since I have no coverage from my dad's insurance for my pregnancy, all of the medical expenses for me and the baby are coming directly out of pocket and it is making things extremely difficult. I don't know if I'm even eligible to apply for medicaid/medicare for me and/or the baby because of my husband's immigration status being obtained with me as his sponsor. I assume that I could apply for assistance for the baby, but I'm not sure about applying for it for myself... Does anybody happen to be familiar with this? I thought I had read somewhere during AOS that neither the sponsor nor the dependent could apply for public assistance of any kind without jeopardizing the status of the noncitizen... Any solid suggestions would be wonderful.

Thanks,

You are going to have a hard time qualifying for any public assistance program when you are on your dads insurance, and presumably living at home?

Like Bob said, why run yourself into mega-debt ...have the baby at home. A mid-wife seems expensive too... but u might want some coaching if this is the first baby.

It is a scam to be charged so much to deliver at a hospital.

[ceadsearc 515]

You can apply for public assistance, like WIC or Medicaid. Your husband is not eligible for certain public assistance programs, but if you meet the income requirements, you (and your child), as citizens, can receive it. I believe (though I am not certain, so definitely check into it) that you may need to claim your husband's income as well, even though he is not eligible, as he is part of the household. If you find that you make too much money you may consider birthing in a birthing center (much cheaper, especially if you pay up front, think $3K vs $10K+), and just paying out of pocket for your child's insurance for a few months until your husband's kicks in. This is what we did, and it was not so bad, since insurance for a newborn isn't that costly per month.

[james&olya 1,121]

You are going to have a hard time qualifying for any public assistance program when you are on your dads insurance, and presumably living at home?

Like Bob said, why run yourself into mega-debt ...have the baby at home. A mid-wife seems expensive too... but u might want some coaching if this is the first baby.

It is a scam to be charged so much to deliver at a hospital.

Child-birth is natural and millions, yes billions do it at home. But don't forget that death in child-birth is also 'natural' for a very large number of women! In addition think of the children that die or suffer injury for lack of prompt assistance when problems occur. Home childbirth is a bit like russian roulette. Usually the chamber is empty. But when the chamber might be full do you want to pull that trigger pointing it at your own head or that of your wife or child?

Edited June 17, 2011 by james&olya

[TBoneTX 43,022]

Si, man. Just think if you're "counting" on a vaginal birth but you need a C-section, especially as an emergency.

Costs before insurance coverage for the hospital birth of Mini-Bone earlier this year, by planned and uncomplicated C-section, were approximately $15,500. That was for mother and (healthy) baby. Count on routine and unexpected medical costs for both thereafter.

Edited June 17, 2011 by TBoneTX

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Our local hospitals have NH Health Access for people with little or no insurance. It is income based, but it is not a means tested benefit. Basically its a sliding fee that patients pay to the doctors and hospitals. Look into seeing if your state has something similar. Look into Medicaid, the income limits for pregnant women and infants is a bit higher than for others.

[ADMIRE 3]

Why must everything be so freaking over-whelming here?! I wish you the best Poster, but i do think you might qualify for medicaid from all i've read about it.in Georgia, if ur income is a bit high for medicaid but still not so high, there's the program - PeachCare for that range of income too. See if your state has something similar. I wish you the very best and God's favour.

[Casprd 167]

You can also check with the school if you qualify as a full time student. Often there will be insurance plans there, but as other posters have said, pre-paying can save you some money and avoiding the whole hospital birth thing if possible can save you some money. IMO hospital births are a waste and potentially more dangerous as at the first sign, they seem to want to go the c-section route which introduces all kinds of other factors.

[Black Velvet 4]

I used to be on visajourney all the time when I was in the earlier stages of the immigration process, but it's been a while and I am feeling extremely lost now that I've been out of the immigration loop for so long. I am sure this is in the wrong forum, but I'm not sure which forum to put this in, so I apologize ahead of time to the admin who has to move this.

Background: My husband is currently a 2-year Green Card holder and we will be adjusting status later on this year (I think his card expires in November but I need to check to be sure). We are expecting a baby in September, but we may have a little one coming into our lives as soon as August. I was/am my husband's sponsor in the process of obtaining his 2-year green card. I am a full-time college student and I work full-time as a Paralegal but my employer refuses to offer insurance because he's cheap. My husband works a regular part-time job and he is now able to get insurance through work for our family effective in January. I am currently covered under my dad's insurance because I'm also a full-time student, but the insurance does not cover my husband, my pregnancy nor will it cover my baby when he/she comes.

The situation: I am trying to explore my options as far as assistance that I can look into for between now and January when my husband's insurance will kick in. Since I have no coverage from my dad's insurance for my pregnancy, all of the medical expenses for me and the baby are coming directly out of pocket and it is making things extremely difficult. I don't know if I'm even eligible to apply for medicaid/medicare for me and/or the baby because of my husband's immigration status being obtained with me as his sponsor. I assume that I could apply for assistance for the baby, but I'm not sure about applying for it for myself... Does anybody happen to be familiar with this? I thought I had read somewhere during AOS that neither the sponsor nor the dependent could apply for public assistance of any kind without jeopardizing the status of the noncitizen... Any solid suggestions would be wonderful.

Thanks,

Having a healthy baby is a priority. If you are still a NY resident, try to get PCAP (Prenatal Care Assistance Program). Here is the link.

https://www.emedny.org/ProviderManuals/Prenatal/PDFS/Prenatal-Policy_Section.pdf

Good luck to you!

[Elghazi2008 4]

You are going to have a hard time qualifying for any public assistance program when you are on your dads insurance, and presumably living at home?

Like Bob said, why run yourself into mega-debt ...have the baby at home. A mid-wife seems expensive too... but u might want some coaching if this is the first baby.

It is a scam to be charged so much to deliver at a hospital.

No, my husband and I live on our own. The only reason I am on my dad's insurance is because apparently there is a NYS law that says that if you have a child who is a college student, married or not, who is underinsured/uninsured, then you have to list them on your insurance. The insurance does not cover anything in the way of pregnancy or for dependents of me. It only covers me for injuries/other minor medical issues.

This is our first baby but due to my medical history and some potential issues, I don't feel comfortable trying to deliver at home... I've thought about it, but it's just not possible, especially where we are living.

*I had to go see a specialist to check my fluid level... One ultrasound was $2,600+... Unfortunately, that specialist doesn't work with ANY insurances, regardless....*

Our local hospitals have NH Health Access for people with little or no insurance. It is income based, but it is not a means tested benefit. Basically its a sliding fee that patients pay to the doctors and hospitals. Look into seeing if your state has something similar. Look into Medicaid, the income limits for pregnant women and infants is a bit higher than for others.

Yes, something like that is available in our state, but very few hospitals in my area participate...

[Elghazi2008 4]

A child birth costs oftentimes $10K in a hospital and between $1,5K and $3K at home using a mid wife. I was born at home and so were not millions but billions of people, literally. In fact, the hospital birth is a fairly new invention so that as many doctors and nurses can charge for services that are not really necessary.

That said, raising a single child will cost about $250,000 these days, so compared to that the cost of giving birth is just a drop in the bucket. All of this needs to be taken into consideration when planing a family. However, as a US citizen, sponsoring a foreigner has no negative impact. If your husband would need public assistance, that would be a different story. But since Schwarzenegger gave birth in the movies, no such case has been reported, at least no to my knowledge.

My husband and I had hoped that before we ended up with a baby, we'd be a little more settled... I was on b/c for regulatory issues and my doctors had told me that I would probably need assistance getting pregnant... Believe me, planning didn't take in part in this :-) BUT, we are excited and getting as ready as we can...