Asthma and healthcare

[NicolaBolton87 161]

Can someone give me some info on healthcare once married to the US citizen? In particular asthmatics? I’m concerned that there will be issues getting registered with a doctor and I’ve read a few posts online about not being able to register until conditional residency has been removed.

 

Can anyone give me some answers on this?

[Umka36 781]

Does your US spouse have employer based health insurance? If so, get added to their health insurance or do you plan to get your own health insurance?

[little immigrant 800]

I'm chronically ill and I brought 3 months worth of medication with me. Also within a few weeks I had my own job and enrolled in health insurance right away. That was at a time when pre-existing conditions were usually denied. 

 

Since when do you have to "register" with a doctor? Never heard of this. And not being able to be seen by a doctor because you're a conditional permanent resident is absolutely false. 

 

And yes if your spouse has a job have him put you on his health insurance right away. 

[shumway1756 304]

In my situation (I'm the USC), I have employer based health insurance. I asked them about adding my wife, and they will allow me to do it immediately when she arrives (and they give me 6 months to provide them with her SSN or they drop her after that). Every company is different I'm sure, but that's my experience so far. Mind you I'm already married, my wife will enter immediately as a conditional resident.

 

You don't "register" for a doctor. You probably meant registering for health insurance, right? Different things.

[Boiler 43,690]

39 minutes ago, NicolaBolton87 said:

Can someone give me some info on healthcare once married to the US citizen? In particular asthmatics? I’m concerned that there will be issues getting registered with a doctor and I’ve read a few posts online about not being able to register until conditional residency has been removed.

 

Can anyone give me some answers on this?

Doctors do not care about your status, they do care about being paid.

 

You will need a Doctor in your network, your Insurer should be able to help.

[Wuozopo 4,285]

3 hours ago, NicolaBolton87 said:

Can someone give me some info on healthcare once married to the US citizen? In particular asthmatics? I’m concerned that there will be issues getting registered with a doctor and I’ve read a few posts online about not being able to register until conditional residency has been removed.

 

Can anyone give me some answers on this?

You don't register with a doctor like in the UK. But you do find doctors who accept your particular brand of health insurance. Choose doctors and specialists who are "in network" meaning they have agreed to take your health insurance.  Going "out of network" (doctors not approved by your insurance plan) will mean your insurance will not pay as much of the bill. Even with insurance, you will still pay for part of your doctor and medicine bills. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Wuozopo

[yuna628 9,541]

21 hours ago, NicolaBolton87 said:

Can someone give me some info on healthcare once married to the US citizen? In particular asthmatics? I’m concerned that there will be issues getting registered with a doctor and I’ve read a few posts online about not being able to register until conditional residency has been removed.

 

Can anyone give me some answers on this?

If you have a condition like asthma and you need to manage it with medication it's especially important to get health insurance sorted immediately.

 

Your immigration status does not affect seeing a doctor. If you got the $'s and the time, they will see anyone. So here's what I would advise:

 

1) If you need asthma medication bring as much medication with you into the states as you can to hold you over through the gap period of obtaining insurance.

 

2)Get your SSN as soon as possible, follow the VJ guide. You don't need to be married to do this. You don't need it for insurance but it will make things easier to deal with.

 

3) Get married and when you're ready, file AOS. With your marriage certificate if your new spouse has insurance they should be able to add you to their plan. If they do not have a plan, my suggestion would be to obtain insurance as soon as possible, either privately paying, or signing up to the state or federal exchange. Open enrollment isn't ongoing currently, but for persons newly married they qualify under special enrollment. The state or federal exchange may ask for proof of status, which can make things more complicated rather than via the other methods. The AOS NOA1 will be the first document you could use as proof, after that it would be the EAD, and finally a GC in that order.

 

4) Temporary insurances or travel insurance marketed to new immigrants will not help you as they do not cover you for pre-existing conditions. You need actual health insurance.

 

5)You can expect insurance via any of the above options to cost, so expect some sticker shock. Once you have insurance you can go see pretty much whatever doctor you'd like to so long as they participate with your insurance. There is no formal registration process. Your status does not matter. You'll need to fill out some insurance and medical history forms but that's about it.

 

6) You can also pay out of pocket to see a doctor privately. Certainly there will be an even higher cost for that + cost of medication.. this is why insurance is important. You will not be turned away at an emergency room, and there are plenty of minute clinics that also will see patients for urgent care with or without insurance. Your best option though will be to get coverage asap via the new spouse or purchase it.

 

When my husband arrived and we married I added him to my personal insurance so that we had a joint plan together. Later, when he obtained his own job, we moved onto his employer's insurance. Originally my insurance did not ask for an SSN (it's not a requirement by law, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise) or anything about his status. They only asked confirmation of marriage.

 

 

[NicolaBolton87 161]

30 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

If you have a condition like asthma and you need to manage it with medication it's especially important to get health insurance sorted immediately.

 

Your immigration status does not affect seeing a doctor. If you got the $'s and the time, they will see anyone. So here's what I would advise:

 

1) If you need asthma medication bring as much medication with you into the states as you can to hold you over through the gap period of obtaining insurance.

 

2)Get your SSN as soon as possible, follow the VJ guide. You don't need to be married to do this. You don't need it for insurance but it will make things easier to deal with.

 

3) Get married and when you're ready, file AOS. With your marriage certificate if your new spouse has insurance they should be able to add you to their plan. If they do not have a plan, my suggestion would be to obtain insurance as soon as possible, either privately paying, or signing up to the state or federal exchange. Open enrollment isn't ongoing currently, but for persons newly married they qualify under special enrollment. The state or federal exchange may ask for proof of status, which can make things more complicated rather than via the other methods. The AOS NOA1 will be the first document you could use as proof, after that it would be the EAD, and finally a GC in that order.

 

4) Temporary insurances or travel insurance marketed to new immigrants will not help you as they do not cover you for pre-existing conditions. You need actual health insurance.

 

5)You can expect insurance via any of the above options to cost, so expect some sticker shock. Once you have insurance you can go see pretty much whatever doctor you'd like to so long as they participate with your insurance. There is no formal registration process. Your status does not matter. You'll need to fill out some insurance and medical history forms but that's about it.

 

6) You can also pay out of pocket to see a doctor privately. Certainly there will be an even higher cost for that + cost of medication.. this is why insurance is important. You will not be turned away at an emergency room, and there are plenty of minute clinics that also will see patients for urgent care with or without insurance. Your best option though will be to get coverage asap via the new spouse or purchase it.

 

When my husband arrived and we married I added him to my personal insurance so that we had a joint plan together. Later, when he obtained his own job, we moved onto his employer's insurance. Originally my insurance did not ask for an SSN (it's not a requirement by law, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise) or anything about his status. They only asked confirmation of marriage.

 

 

This is SO helpful! Thank you.

[javadown2 308]

23 hours ago, NicolaBolton87 said:

Can someone give me some info on healthcare once married to the US citizen? In particular asthmatics? I’m concerned that there will be issues getting registered with a doctor and I’ve read a few posts online about not being able to register until conditional residency has been removed.

 

Can anyone give me some answers on this?

No, there will absolutely be no issue getting "registered", by this you mean to find a primary care provider? Like others have said, if your husband can add you to his insurance you need to do it within a 30 day window. I put my wife on mine within days of us getting married. I'm not sure where you read that and  it's just not true.