missads

Hi, this sounds bogus. Maybe you talked to someone who doesn't understand the rules completely? Or, if you tried the application online, healthcare.gov sometimes sends you down the wrong path which screws up the subsidy estimate. In that case, just call and talk to someone at healthcare.gov on the phone, and explain your MIL's situation. Your MIL should get almost the same tax subsidy as last year, if not more. She remains ineligible for Medicaid for her first 5 years on GC (except in CA,) so there should be no change in subsidy/PTC beyond some minimal fluctuation in the insurance premium itself (certainly not zero subsidy.) Please message me if you need help. All the best!

I thought I was trying to help you and your family? I'm not sure how this turned into a federal case about how my parents should file their taxes. So why don't we keep the focus on your parents and their situation. Sounds like you might have the taxes part figured out already. In any case, like I said in my previous post, I can only share what I know about issues related to Obamacare enrollment. For expert advice on your parents' specific tax situation, please consult an accountant / CPA.

Repeat with me: "PTC or any Obamacare subsidy does NOT constitute a public charge under ANY circumstances". When you're done saying it once, repeat it again just to make sure you do get it =P Don't worry about public charge, the USCIS and/or healthcare.gov both specifically state it will not be considered a public charge. Check out the sister thread below, I have shared a link somewhere in it that specifically addresses the public charge issue.

If your parents have foreign pension, where do they pay taxes? If they pay taxes in their home country, I don't think it necessarily needs to be reported as income here. At most, they might need to report the pension as income + report the taxes paid in the foreign country, I don't remember which specific one. You should talk to a tax accountant about this. I can help with Obamacare, I am not an expert on taxes!

Great thread @ProbeGT Thanks for taking the time and effort to post it!

Great thread @ProbeGT well-written and very informative. This complements my original thread regarding health insurance for immigrants over 65 years old. Hopefully, between the two threads, we have covered the process of applying for health insurance for immigrants of all ages!

Read this (first page of the thread) https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/582733-success-getting-healthcare-coverage-for-immigrant-parents-over-65/?do=findComment&comment=7976272

Hi, given your parents situation, they should continue to be on Medi-Cal even after the 5 year mark. Unless they need to be in a long term care facility (nursing home) it doesn't make sense to buy into medicare. Medicare is "free" for people who have worked 40 quarters in the US and paid taxes - not an option for your parents at this point. Medi-Cal is awesome, it's completely free and includes dental care too (not sure if dental is covered by standard Medicare, you might need to pay extra on top of the buy-in fee for standard medicare.) If your parents are going to live with your/sister's family, just stay with Medi-Cal.

Hi, sorry for the late response. NY state has its own insurance marketplace, don't go through healthcare.gov Start here https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/ Hopefully you can sign up before the deadline (30 days since arrival, or during open enrollment at the end of each year) They are definitely eligible for subsidy/APCs. I believe NY doesn't apply the 5 year bar (waiting period) for Medicaid, but the level of care might not be as good / flexible as private insurance. Medicaid is free though, no copays no nothing. 0 dollars out of pocket, including insulin for diabetes as well as any other meds. And the enrollment deadline doesn't apply for Medicaid AFAIK. Please post if you need more help, I will try to respond more promptly.

Short answer: Yes, they will be covered by Medi-Cal (completely free, zero premiums, includes dental too). Apply now, don't delay! Long answer: spend some time reading this thread, especially the first few pages. You will save a lot of time when on the phone with Medi-Cal insurance providers if you know what to ask (there are several plans/providers to choose from, depending on where you live in CA.) No pain, no gain buddy...

At the risk of repeating other posts, I just wanted to share my experience of being able to find affordable health insurance for my parents. Here are some details: Parents - over 65, here on Green Card (permanent residents) Living in the US for less than 5 years (about 2 years) Eligible for tax subsidy through Obamacare (this does NOT constitute a public charge) Residents of State of Michigan, have social security numbers Eligible for Silver level insurance plans Filed their $0 federal/state taxes jointly, separate from mine (I do NOT claim them as dependents on my tax return - this is important) I had searched the healthcare.gov website last year for insurance for them and came up empty handed. We purchased "travelers insurance" online (***removed***) but got shafted. My parent had a major health incident and they didn't cover anything (all claims were denied as pre-existing condition) Stay away from these types of insurance. I tried healthcare.gov again this year and couldn't find anything again. Many seem to assume, wrongly, that everyone over 65 is eligible for Medicare by default. This isn't true for immigrants, they need to have lived in the US for at least 5 years before they can participate in Medicare. Anyway, the short story is healthcare.gov has still not caught on to this. If you want to purchase health insurance, you will need to work with a healthcare navigator. There are several public service organizations that have these navigators who will help you for free. They will help you do the application over the phone, and then it works just fine. I am in Michigan and went through Jewish Family Service. Have your parents green cards and SSN handy, that is all they need. There appears to be a widely held misconception that immigrant seniors over 65 are not covered by Obamacare. This is absolutely NOT true. You don't have to wait for 5 years for Medicare to kick in. Recent immigrants older than 65 can purchase health insurance via healthcare.gov, just like any other US citizen or legal permanent resident. Some state exchanges might not know it, the person you talk to on the phone might not know it, the healthcare.gov website certainly doesn't appear to understand this special situation, but trust me parents on green cards who have been in the US less than 5 years ARE eligible for subsidized health coverage. I was able to get health insurance for my parents who have no income, for around $100 a month per parent (after a $1000 tax subsidy, because their income is less than limit of ~$21K) Now that is REALLY affordable, and it is proper mainstream insurance (Blue Cross Michigan) None of that travelers' insurance BS. Just trying to get the word out, because the open enrollment deadline is January 31st. If your parents arrive after Jan 31st, you can still sign up at that time, because their arrival date qualifies as a special "life event". But if they are already in the US, please sign up by Jan 31st. Otherwise they will have to wait until November for the next enrollment period to begin.