Medical insurance

[E&I 2]

My fiance will be moving to the US soon on a K1 visa. It's my understanding that she cannot apply for traditional medical insurance without a social security number. After a little research, it seems there are several options of basic limited coverage. "Inbound Immigrant" seems to be the plan which is the most available to us. What are people's experience with this? Do you have any suggestions/warnings?

[Boiler 45,662]

SSN is the first thing you get and is not needed for Medical Insurance anyway.

 

The insurance you mention is limited, falls into the better than nothing category.

[yuna628 9,680]

1 hour ago, E&I said:

My fiance will be moving to the US soon on a K1 visa. It's my understanding that she cannot apply for traditional medical insurance without a social security number. After a little research, it seems there are several options of basic limited coverage. "Inbound Immigrant" seems to be the plan which is the most available to us. What are people's experience with this? Do you have any suggestions/warnings?

 Hi there:

Who told you that she cannot apply for medical insurance without an SSN? It's simply not true. You can purchase health insurance for her as soon as she lands via a private plan, you can add her to health insurance once you marry if you have it via work, or you can sign up for O'care after marriage and filing for AOS (with an EAD).

 

Now throughout this process, don't be swayed or deterred by people (in particular HR, insurance employees that don't know the law, or phone people) that tell you she cannot get insurance without an SSN. Nevertheless, if you'd like to get through it with as little bother and harassment from unknowledgeable employees as possible - you can obtain an SSN for her almost immediately after she arrives with her K1. Check her I-94 online and ensure it's correct, then in a few days head over to the SSA and apply (follow the SSA guide on this website). If you are refused, show them the printout, ask for a supervisor, or simply choose to go to a different office that will serve you. If all is fine, within a few weeks she'll have her SSN. If you wish to wait to obtain coverage after marriage, make sure not to wait too long either, as there will be a time limit for 'special enrollment'. If you decide to use Obamacare via the federal/state exchanges, instead of purchasing a private plan or adding her to a joint work plan, you're going to need to have filed for Adjustment of Status to prove that she has some sort of legal status - the earliest you'd be able to apply is with either an NOA1 or the EAD while waiting for a green card.

 

Temporary insurance, travel insurances, and short term insurances are considered subpar by the government - and that means the penalty will still apply. Everyone residing in the US must have health insurance or pay a penalty. Under the new administration this is likely to change, and some tweaks have already been made regarding how exactly that would likely not be enforced. However - please don't let someone telling you that she needs an SSN deter you from obtaining health insurance for her. She's within her rights to obtain an SSN nearly immediately, and despite that not having one doesn't prevent you from purchasing insurance.

[E&I 2]

On 2/17/2017 at 7:13 PM, yuna628 said:

 Hi there:

Who told you that she cannot apply for medical insurance without an SSN? It's simply not true. You can purchase health insurance for her as soon as she lands via a private plan, you can add her to health insurance once you marry if you have it via work, or you can sign up for O'care after marriage and filing for AOS (with an EAD).

 

Now throughout this process, don't be swayed or deterred by people (in particular HR, insurance employees that don't know the law, or phone people) that tell you she cannot get insurance without an SSN. Nevertheless, if you'd like to get through it with as little bother and harassment from unknowledgeable employees as possible - you can obtain an SSN for her almost immediately after she arrives with her K1. Check her I-94 online and ensure it's correct, then in a few days head over to the SSA and apply (follow the SSA guide on this website). If you are refused, show them the printout, ask for a supervisor, or simply choose to go to a different office that will serve you. If all is fine, within a few weeks she'll have her SSN. If you wish to wait to obtain coverage after marriage, make sure not to wait too long either, as there will be a time limit for 'special enrollment'. If you decide to use Obamacare via the federal/state exchanges, instead of purchasing a private plan or adding her to a joint work plan, you're going to need to have filed for Adjustment of Status to prove that she has some sort of legal status - the earliest you'd be able to apply is with either an NOA1 or the EAD while waiting for a green card.

 

Temporary insurance, travel insurances, and short term insurances are considered subpar by the government - and that means the penalty will still apply. Everyone residing in the US must have health insurance or pay a penalty. Under the new administration this is likely to change, and some tweaks have already been made regarding how exactly that would likely not be enforced. However - please don't let someone telling you that she needs an SSN deter you from obtaining health insurance for her. She's within her rights to obtain an SSN nearly immediately, and despite that not having one doesn't prevent you from purchasing insurance.

Thank you for the detailed advice!

 

My familiarity with Obamacare is very limited, I'm still under my father's insurance for another few years, so I haven't had to deal with any of this yet. Even after looking through the marketplace website, several things don't totally make sense to me. Open enrollment is over, so she would have to qualify for special enrollment, like you mentioned. It seems like recent marriage qualifies for this, but she wouldn't even be eligible until she was a lawful permanent resident, and recent permanent residency status is another qualifier for special enrollment. Are you saying that filing for the AOS and EAD is sufficient for qualifying, and actually holding a greencard isn't necessary?

 

I had no idea non-citizens were required to have insurance under ACA. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I'm confused about how she wouldn't be able to use the marketplace unless she has permanent residence, but is still subject to the fine before that. I'm I understanding you correctly?

 

Thank you so much for your help with this confusing headache, I really appreciate it!

[yuna628 9,680]

4 hours ago, E&I said:

Thank you for the detailed advice!

 

My familiarity with Obamacare is very limited, I'm still under my father's insurance for another few years, so I haven't had to deal with any of this yet. Even after looking through the marketplace website, several things don't totally make sense to me. Open enrollment is over, so she would have to qualify for special enrollment, like you mentioned. It seems like recent marriage qualifies for this, but she wouldn't even be eligible until she was a lawful permanent resident, and recent permanent residency status is another qualifier for special enrollment. Are you saying that filing for the AOS and EAD is sufficient for qualifying, and actually holding a greencard isn't necessary?

 

I had no idea non-citizens were required to have insurance under ACA. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! I'm confused about how she wouldn't be able to use the marketplace unless she has permanent residence, but is still subject to the fine before that. I'm I understanding you correctly?

 

Thank you so much for your help with this confusing headache, I really appreciate it!

Yes that's correct, if using Obamacare, you can indeed apply while waiting for your AOS to be complete with either the NOA1 or with the EAD. See the list here of qualifying documents: https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/documentation/  or https://www.healthcare.gov/help/immigration-document-types/ If your state has it's own exchange you must go through that first instead of the federal. But, many of the plans you'll see listed are actually also offered privately. So shop around and you may find better deals offered privately via any insurer in your state - google around the main brands you can think of, or compare using ehealthinsurance or another insurance search engine. As long as she has evidence of her legal status, her special qualifying events would be via marriage and moving to a new country. Since you personally are still on your dad's insurance, it sounds like adding her to a work plan won't be an option for you, until she has employment that may offer her a plan directly.

 

The law is supposed to work so that qualifying individuals that are legally present in the US, but have a variety of different types of documents and want health insurance aren't penalized unfairly. Buying privately often eliminates the need for having to fuss with presenting such documents and the hassle of having the government involved. I purchased privately for my husband not long after we married, and we only needed evidence of marriage, the SSN was an optional requirement, and they never asked for his status. An insurance company may ask for the SSN, but it is not an actual requirement, and you do not need to offer the information by law. The only person who can truly request your SSN is a government agency or the IRS directly. Getting an SSN as soon as possible though eliminates a lot of confused employees getting potential customers frustrated or turned away wrongly. Be aware that nothing is really ''affordable'', you can probably expect an individual plan to cost somewhere between 220-400 per month. I pay nearly 700 for our spousal plan. Prices will vary by the state.

 

Plans will also range from silver, gold and platinum. Cheaper plans will typically have lower premiums but higher deductibles, and more expensive plans have high premiums but very low deductibles. Cheaper plans can be harder to find these days in some states, as there is a great deal of market instability.

 

Keep in mind, a lot of people choose to go without health insurance and simply pay the penalty, which is considerably cheaper than paying a monthly premium. For many it's all about the risk vs the cost. Healthcare minute or urgent clinics are all over the country that will see people paying out of pocket for non-emergency situations - and if you are a healthy person that only gets sick once in a while even the cost of one visit may be cheaper than a month's premium. Medicare and Medicaid are off limits to her for five years, unless you live in one of a few states that offer state-run medi-programs that are expanded to cover immigrants.

[patriot10 11]

Hello Yuna628,

Would you know of some of the states that offer medi programs to recent immigrants? 

Anything else one should be aware of as an immigrant as regards to medical insurance? 

Medical insurance is giving me sleepless nights!!!

 

rgds,

 

[Boiler 45,662]

You can as a new immigrant buy Insurance in every State. Immigration is a qualifying event.

[yuna628 9,680]

46 minutes ago, patriot10 said:

Hello Yuna628,

Would you know of some of the states that offer medi programs to recent immigrants? 

Anything else one should be aware of as an immigrant as regards to medical insurance? 

Medical insurance is giving me sleepless nights!!!

 

rgds,

 

Not that I recall offhand, it's few and far between. NY might be one of them. But why are you looking for such a program instead of buying regular insurance which you are within your rights to obtain? As far as obtaining insurance goes, there's nothing really else to know that I haven't already covered above. The American spouse has a responsibility to support their foreign spouse, and IMO it's very important that health insurance is a part of that responsibility of care. There are avenues open and available to every immigrant that wants and needs insurance in every single state. It's just not free or cheap.

[patriot10 11]

Hello and thanks for your prompt reply.

 

My case is a bit different...we have been married for over a decade and my wife lived with me abroad. I was the one with the income and she was the homemaker. We have children who are now growing up and hence we have decided to move to the US with the view of our children's future (education etc). I will be giving up my work here and hence will be jobless to begin with. Wife was anyway a homemaker.

 

Hence , we land in US with no jobs to start with but will obviously seek them out and eventually land something or another.

So for a few months we will not have any income and hence medical is a big concern. Our POE is san francisco, so i am mainly concerned with rules in California regarding all of this. They have medical there and i have been led to believe that they allow new immigrants...but i am not sure.

I am willing to pay too as long as we are talking reasonable sums but as we all know, medical insurance is the undoing of life in the U.S.A. if one is caught on the wrong side of things.