Health insurance

[EatBulaga 252]

14 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Yea the simple solution 

 

New immigrant insurance falls into the better than nothing category 

Yes, I guess I can reduce the travel insurance dates to from arrival to marriage (Special Enrollment period).

[EatBulaga 252]

Here is another thread with some K1 travelers insurance options.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/782533-k1-medical-insurance-when-unable-to-join-spouses-employer-plan/

 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,079]

34 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

Yes, I guess I can reduce the travel insurance dates to from arrival to marriage (Special Enrollment period).

Also, check your company's policies; some companies will let you add a spouse retroactive to the date of the marriage for health insurance and some other benefits.

 

/which is to say that generally the best solution for health insurance for a K-1 beneficiary -- though not one that works for everyone (some people don't have insurance or don't have insurance they can add a spouse to and for some people adding a spouse is no cheaper than buying standalone insurance) -- is to legally marry ASAP and then add your new spouse to the your insurance. Also another reason why you should be ready to legally marry ASAP after your beneficiary enters the US on a K-1; you might not actually end up doing that, but there are a lot of reasons why it's a good idea.

[EatBulaga 252]

2 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Also, check your company's policies; some companies will let you add a spouse retroactive to the date of the marriage for health insurance and some other benefits.

 

/which is to say that generally the best solution for health insurance for a K-1 beneficiary -- though not one that works for everyone (some people don't have insurance or don't have insurance they can add a spouse to and for some people adding a spouse is no cheaper than buying standalone insurance) -- is to legally marry ASAP and then add your new spouse to the your insurance. Also another reason why you should be ready to legally marry ASAP after your beneficiary enters the US on a K-1; you might not actually end up doing that, but there are a lot of reasons why it's a good idea.

Yes, I understand all the marry as soon as possible reasons.

A retroactive health insurance may be of little help if the K1 beneficiary has a big medical emergency before the marriage and the K1 petitioner is required to pay out-of-pocket.

I guess back-filing insurance claims can recover some expenses for the worst case.

But I think shopping around for short-term travel insurance might be the best option because I'm not sure if the Healthcare.gov ACA marketplace "premium tax credit" constitutes as "public charge" or "government assistance" for the AOS or I-1864?

 

I'm more interested in hearing from those who had successful AOS while on the ACA health insurance with the "premium tax credit"?

Edited June 1, 2022 by EatBulaga

[EatBulaga 252]

30 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

I'm more interested in hearing from those who had successful AOS while on the ACA health insurance with the "premium tax credit"?

I think this post answers my question 😆

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/751280-aca-insurance-for-new-immigrants-under-age-65-success/

But the short answer is "no". ACA health insurance is not a public charge.

Edited June 1, 2022 by EatBulaga

[Cocos123 5]

On 5/30/2022 at 10:56 PM, Mike E said:

The alien spouse will have to get health insurance through healthcare.gov. 

Hello, Mike E, 

My wife and my 2 years old child came to USA on tourist visa and they applied for green card. I, myself have no insurance. So my both relatives would be eligible to get insurance at healthcare.gov? Is this insurance covered by the State? Thanks! 

[Mike E 11,723]

5 hours ago, Cocos123 said:

Hello, Mike E, 

My wife and my 2 years old child came to USA on tourist visa and they applied for green card. I, myself have no insurance. So my both relatives would be eligible to get insurance at healthcare.gov? Is this insurance covered by the State? Thanks! 

Healthcare.gov is ACA aka Obamacare and is paid for out of pocket.  However the lower the income the higher the subsidy. 
 

ACA is available to all three of you. 

[Cocos123 5]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:45 AM, Mike E said:

Healthcare.gov is ACA aka Obamacare and is paid for out of pocket.  However the lower the income the higher the subsidy. 
 

ACA is available to all three of you. 

Thank You very much Mike E! One more question, what do you think if we try to apply for State assistance concerning medical insurance? If we get approved medical assistance for our child would it affect our Green card application? May it be denied because of the approved assistance? 

[Mike E 11,723]

2 hours ago, Cocos123 said:

Thank You very much Mike E! One more question, what do you think if we try to apply for State assistance concerning medical insurance? If we get approved medical assistance for our child would it affect our Green card application? May it be denied because of the approved assistance? 

Are you a US citizen?

[Cocos123 5]

38 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Are you a US citizen?

Yes, I am. My wife and my child are not US citizens, they applied for green card. 

[Mike E 11,723]

1 hour ago, Cocos123 said:

Yes, I am. My wife and my child are not US citizens, they applied for green card. 

I’ve no idea.  Since your child will automatically become a U.S. citizen once the green card is approved, possibly public charge doesn’t render your child inadmissible. I suggest an attorney 

[Cocos123 5]

42 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I’ve no idea.  Since your child will automatically become a U.S. citizen once the green card is approved, possibly public charge doesn’t render your child inadmissible. I suggest an attorney 

Than you, Mike!! What form should I send to CIS in order my child becomes US citizen once he receives green card? 

[Mike E 11,723]

2 hours ago, Cocos123 said:

Than you, Mike!! What form should I send to CIS in order my child becomes US citizen once he receives green card? 

1. Apply for his passport and passport card.  This might take multiple attempts but you are  allowed multiple attempts.  
 

2. receive passport and passport card. 
 

3. preserve all evidence used to get passport and passport card 

 

4. using evidence from step 3, file N-600 to get your child a certificate of citizenship.  You get just one opportunity to file N-600 so it should be filed when you have all the evidence at your finger tips, and you are available to deal with RFEs, biometrics, and the interview. Plan for a 1-2 year process.  

Edited June 7, 2022 by Mike E

[Cocos123 5]

17 hours ago, Mike E said:

I’ve no idea.  Since your child will automatically become a U.S. citizen once the green card is approved, possibly public charge doesn’t render your child inadmissible. I suggest an attorney 

I found on the internet that a year ago applicants for Green card had additionaly submit a form I-944 - Declaration of Self Sufficiency. It is said that CIS didn't consider Non-emergency Medicaid benefits for children under 21. So, if nothing has changed, maybe the same rule should still apply, even this form had been cancelled. I found the same info on CIS page also, if this information is not outdated.

[slavaskii 885]

So now that the visa's in-hand, I've had some additional time to review various medical plans and the exchange. Interesting that old threads reference difficulty procuring an SSN (and how it's not legally required for insurance). The Embassy's only document given to us was a huge paper on how to obtain an SSN once you enter. I went to the SSA's website and the process appears incredibly straightforward. Either things have gotten better on that front or I'm in for a surprise, lol.

 

Anyway, many states (and DC) seem to allow for 'qualifying life events' to trigger coverage. One of them is gaining lawful presence in the US. Question: is this entering for the first time or is it marriage? DC allows supporting evidence in the form of a visa or I-94, which makes me think entering alone must be sufficient. I would call, but we don't even have an I-94 yet so I'd probably end up purchasing visitor's insurance for at least the first week.

 

Previous threads on VJ have seemingly confirmed gaining healthcare through the Exchange doesn't trigger public charge, but this now has me a bit weary. 

 

For someone who is planning on getting married the following month, and does not have employment that would cover the healthcare of the K1 spouse, is the best option to purchase enough visitor's insurance until either (a) entering the US triggers the qualifying condition for the ACA or (b) marriage triggers the condition? And in the meantime, apply for a SSN immediately? Thanks for everyone's help here, I also don't mean to 'hijack' the original thread but I feel like we're all trying to get at the same thing so perhaps this will solve OP's underlying problem.

Edited June 10, 2022 by slavaskii