Illis411

Its confusing because there are various laws (federal and state/local) that come into play.
The 864 does allow for fed, state, or local gov to use what they call 'sponsor deeming' or 'sponsor liability for mean tested benefits'. That basically means someone with an 864- when they apply for means tested benefits from any state, fed or local program- that program can consider their sponsors income as the applicants and or recoup the money from the sponsor. 
 
NY state uses its own state funds to cover the medicaid program costs for immigrants. So you are not using federal funds since they are state funds. NY also has legislation saying the state money they use for medicaid for immigrants is not subject to sponsor deeming or sponsor liability. 
 
So this part " your income and assets may be considered available to that person, in determining whether he or she is eligible for certain Federal means-tested public benefits and also for state or local means-tested public benefits, if the state or local government's rules provide for consideration of your income and assets as available to the person."  NY rules do not use sponsor deeming. So no consideration of sponsors income or assets to qualify.
 
"If a Federal, state, local, or a private agency provides any covered means-tested public benefit to the person who becomes a lawful permanent resident based on the Form I-864EZ that you signed, the agency may ask you to reimburse them for the amount of the benefits they provided. If you do not make the reimbursement, the agency may sue you for the amount that the agency believes you owe." NY also has a policy that they do not enforce sponsor liability for medicaid. 

It means that if a state (or locality) considers your income and assets in consideration of the benefit, the restrictions on federal funds can be applied. It does not mean state funds cannot be used. If the state has a surplus and wants to give everybody making under $40,000/year a $1,000 check, that's on them. The federal government has no claim to funds they didn't provide (if they paid $0, then they can't collect more than $0).
 
Benefits covered under Emergency medicaid are limited. I certainly will not claim to be an expert in this area, but my understanding is that the delivery and associated costs can be covered. For the other items beforehand  I'll defer to somebody more experienced but I would be mildly surprised if it covered all direct medical costs.
 
Not quite the same comparison. NY choosing to pay for the coverage without the assistance of the federal government is not the same as a state permitting a controlled substance.
Federal law still covers controlled substances nationwide...they do have a say. The federal government only has say over how their funds are used for immigrants, not how states want to spend their money. Apples and oranges.
 
One can be denied naturalization for involvement in violation of federal law with controlled substances (including personal usage). They even just very recently put out several notices about this subject and updated their policy manual.
https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-issues-policy-guidance-clarifying-how-federal-controlled-substances-law-applies-naturalization-determinations

Its OK to ask questions, its a confusing subject! Lets go over some basics again.... 
 
Medicaid is 'general all purpose insurance. Emergency Medicaid is a 'one time limited event insurance' It can cover a pregnancy or other emergency medical situation- like an accident. Medicaid and Emergency Medicaid are 2 different things.
 
In the text you posted above it clearly says Emergency Medicaid IS NOT considered a public charge. Regular Medicaid IS considered a public charge.
 
Every state gets federal funding for Medicaid. These federal funds can NOT be used for immigrants (less then 5yr LPR) by law. Anyone that uses those federal funds can be asked to repay them (or their sponsor). Some states- like NY use both federal funds and state funds in their medicaid program. As previously explained NY will use state funds ONLY to pay for medicaid for immigrants, until they become eligible to use the federal funds.
 
So since you are NOT using federal funded Medicaid- you are using NY state funded Medicaid- it does not violate the 864. The 864 prevents you from using federal funds/forces you to repay federal funds used.
 
Your spouse may qualify for both state funded Medicaid which would give her ins coverage- exactly like yours except the state would be funding it and yours as a USC is probably being funded by the feds. Or she may also qualify to use Emergency Medicaid which is federal funds that are excluded from public charge. 

The change to the public charge rules is a proposal. It may never happen, may happen with changes, or may be put into place as-is. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. Even then, it would just be a factor in the total consideration of the case. If one needed to use Medicaid, they probably already do not have a sufficient sponsor. If they are choosing to use Medicaid as the cheapest option for reasonable coverage, that's another story in perspective to the total picture.
 
No repayment of funds would be necessary for the states that permit Medicaid within the first 5 years. This is because the benefits they are receiving are funded through the state, not federal government, during that period. There's nothing to pay back as no federal funds were used, and the state explicitly granted permission to use those funds for those individuals.

Check with the State of NY.
 
In CA, immigrants can get Medicaid (Medi-Cal) because what they get is not funded with federal dollars.  NY may have a similar program.

Medicaid eligibility within the first 5 years of becoming an LPR varies by state. I believe NY permits it.
https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/publications/docs/gis/08ma009att.pdf
" Qualified Aliens who are Eligible for State Medicaid until becoming Eligible for Federal Medicaid after a Five Year Waiting Period: Qualified aliens listed below, who entered the U.S. before August 22, 1996, are eligible for federal Medicaid, if otherwise eligible. However, qualified aliens in these four categories who entered the U.S. on or after August 22, 1996, are subject to the federal five year ban. This means that they are not eligible for federally funded Medicaid until they have resided in the U.S. for five years in a qualified alien status. Until becoming eligible for federally funded Medicaid, these qualified aliens are eligible for State funded Medicaid coverage of all medically necessary care and services, if they meet the program’s other eligibility requirements. Districts must enter the appropriate State/federal charge codes to assure proper claiming of federal and State shares. For these individuals the date they physically entered the U.S. will determine whether or not Federal Financial Participation (FFP) is available. This date is called the “Date Entered Country” (DEC). During their first five years in the U.S the cost of their Medicaid coverage will be born solely by State and local shares (50% State/50% local). Once a qualified alien in this group has resided in the United States as a qualified alien for a period of five years, FFP will become available. This means the federal government will pay a share of their Medicaid costs. "