Do senior parents count as part of the "household"?

[emjay129 0]

I am planning to sponsor my dad (77 years old) to come to the US. There's a lot of conflicting information about health insurance for seniors, so I thought of asking here.

 

I checked out https://www.coveredca.com/, but I'm not sure if he would be considered a part of our household or is he just a household one one person? From my understanding, the person you are sponsoring only counts as a "part of the household" if they are tax dependents. In this case, the plan is for my dad to file his taxes separately, albeit he may no longer be working because of his age.

 

Thanks for your help!

[NorthByNorthwest 357]

In the vast majority of cases elderly parents can not be covered under children's health plans. He is not entitled to Medicare until he has been a resident for 5 years, and at that time he must pay into the plan, as of 2024 that will be $505 / month for Medicare Part A and at least $175 / month for Medicare Part B.

 

If he has little or no income he would typically be eligible for Medicaid after 5 years as well, but California has less strict rules than most states. Depending on pension income from the UK he may qualify for Medi-Cal from day one.

 

[NorthByNorthwest 357]

18 minutes ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

If he has little or no income he would typically be eligible for Medicaid after 5 years as well, but California has less strict rules than most states. Depending on pension income from the UK he may qualify for Medi-Cal from day one.

 

Not sure where I got UK from, I meant to say "pension income from home country" plus any other income from assets etc. You can claim a parent as tax dependent even if they are not living with you. There also seems to be a new law in California that does let you include a dependent parent on your Covered California plan, so you may be in luck: https://www.coveredca.com/support/before-you-buy/dependent-parents-or-stepparents/#:~:text=Beginning in 2023%2C a new,the health plan's service area.

[emjay129 0]

25 minutes ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

In the vast majority of cases elderly parents can not be covered under children's health plans. He is not entitled to Medicare until he has been a resident for 5 years, and at that time he must pay into the plan, as of 2024 that will be $505 / month for Medicare Part A and at least $175 / month for Medicare Part B.

 

If he has little or no income he would typically be eligible for Medicaid after 5 years as well, but California has less strict rules than most states. Depending on pension income from the UK he may qualify for Medi-Cal from day one.

 

 

He is located in the Philippines, so I don't think his previous work history there counts.

 

I filled out the online calculator on Covered CA, but what I'm not sure about is whether or not he's part of our household or he's a one-person household. I don't plan for him to be declared as my "dependent" when filing taxes; he's filing taxes on his own, albeit no income.

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

1 hour ago, emjay129 said:

I am planning to sponsor my dad (77 years old) to come to the US. There's a lot of conflicting information about health insurance for seniors, so I thought of asking here.

 

I checked out https://www.coveredca.com/, but I'm not sure if he would be considered a part of our household or is he just a household one one person? From my understanding, the person you are sponsoring only counts as a "part of the household" if they are tax dependents. In this case, s

 

Thanks for your help!

On the I 864 u do have to claim him as part of your household

 

Think of it this way,   I 134 and I 864 have to claim fiancee  or spouse on the form as household size even though they are not in USA yet

when it comes to tax filing,  he doesn't have to pay taxes on foreign income so he would not file separately at all

so, why wouldn't u claim him and take the extra tax deduction

 

1 senior 5 year LPR just took out Part B only to cover Dr visits ,  outpatient care and equipment/she forego the big Part A premium

[TBoneTX 45,540]

An unrelated post was split from this thread and moved to the K-1 Process forum.