Sponsoring my disabled mum from Australia

[bamcrute 0]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone knows what the pro's/con's about immigrating australians who are on disability? My mum had a stroke back in 2006 and is taking coumadin (blood thinner).

Its much better if she stays with us here in the states, but I am so concerned about the health insurance here and how absolutely appalling it is. Would she be eligible to get on the disability system here in the states? ( I doubt it, given that she is from australia).

But yea, any ideas or advice?

Thanks!

[aaron2020 11,651]

She will not qualify for Social Security or Medicare since she never paid into them. Since she does not qualify for Social Secrity, she does not qualify for SS Disability. She will not qualify for Medicaid for 5 years.

The cost of her medical care will fall on her and her sponsors.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

She will not qualify for Social Security or Medicare since she never paid into them. Since she does not qualify for Social Secrity, she does not qualify for SS Disability. She will not qualify for Medicaid for 5 years.

The cost of her medical care will fall on her and her sponsors.

This apparently varies according to the state. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 left it up to each state whether an immigrant was eligible for certain means tested public benefits in the first five years of permanent resident status. There are 13 states, plus the District of Columbia, that will allow seniors and disabled persons to collect Medicaid during their first five years of permanent residency. However, because of sponsor deeming, a sponsor's income will be included with the immigrant's income in determining whether they are eligible, and a sponsor can still be held liable for reimbursing the government for the benefits.

bamcrute, US immigration laws are designed to protect the taxpayers of the United States from having to support family based immigrants. The United States has no problem with you helping your mother immigrate to the US, but they have a big problem with you asking the taxpayers to support her and/or pay for her medical care.

If you can afford routine medical care for her out-of-pocket, like doctor office visits and prescription medications, then you might look into major medical insurance. That type of insurance has a high deductible, which means you pay all medical costs until your annual out-of-pocket expenses are equal to the deductible. After that, the insurance kicks in and pays all or most of the costs for the remainder of the year. The upside is that the monthly premiums are much lower than comprehensive medical insurance. Major medical won't pay if she only has routine doctor's office visits and prescriptions, but you'd be covered in case of a catastrophic medical emergency. Many policies allow you to choose the deductible. A higher deductible means lower monthly premiums.

[Deb+Steve 13]

Australia has agreements with certain countries for recipients of aged pensions, disability pensions etc. If your mother is eligible for any of those, she should contact Centrelink to find out the options and how it works. If you are successful in obtaining a visa for her, then she can still receive her pensions if she meets the criteria and lives in an agreement country (the US is one). See link for more info ...

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/international/pension_agreements.htm

Hope that helps.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone knows what the pro's/con's about immigrating australians who are on disability? My mum had a stroke back in 2006 and is taking coumadin (blood thinner).

Its much better if she stays with us here in the states, but I am so concerned about the health insurance here and how absolutely appalling it is. Would she be eligible to get on the disability system here in the states? ( I doubt it, given that she is from australia).

But yea, any ideas or advice?

Thanks!

As others have posted, she won't qualify for medicaid for 5 years. I would look first at private health insurance. The previous stroke would be considered a preexisting condition. Some health insurers have time limits on how long ago something happened to be considered a pre existing condition, and others will never cover someone again after the event happens. You really have to look around.

The next option would be to look at your states "high risk pool". This insurance will cover someone with preexisting conditions. The one we have in Colorado, for example is $600 a month with a $2500 deductable for age 60-65. They also require that you have been denied coverage based on a prexisting condition and been without insurance for 6 months. Having to wait 6 months without insurance is the obvious downside to this option.

A 3rd option is visitors/inbound immigrants insurance, which is similar to major medical insurance that Jim posted about above. This typically does not cover routine office visits and immunizations and such, but does cover other illnesses and emergencies. They often have some pretty major restrictions such as no coverage for cancer and no elective surgeries. They also exclude preexisting conditions but there are some plans that will cover "acute onset" of preexisting conditions.

The last option, I guess, would be to wait until closer to 2014 and see how things are with the new health care changes.

[Boiler 43,591]

Excellent summary.