To everyone whose parents recently moved to the US as permanent residents: I am interested in the type of health care solutions (if any) that you were able to find. Are there any states who extend Medicare eligibilty to Permanent Residents? I know you can also buy into Medicare by paying the monthly premiums; has anyone done this? Any opinion would be appreciated.
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Health care for immigrant (GC) parents
- Thread starter gringo
- Start date
gringo said:To everyone whose parents recently moved to the US as permanent residents: I am interested in the type of health care solutions (if any) that you were able to find. Are there any states who extend Medicare eligibilty to Permanent Residents? I know you can also buy into Medicare by paying the monthly premiums; has anyone done this? Any opinion would be appreciated.
Grino,
My mom just arrived here in USA last week as a green card holder. I tried to buy insurance which is so expensive. I went to Social Security office, they told me that, she has to live here at least 5 years. I took her to the community health care clinic yesterday, only God knows how much amount they will charge me. But the clinic advisor was so nice, she suggested us to bring a letter from city hall that, your mom has no income. After that she might do something for us.
If you get any better solution please contact me personally unh01@yahoo.com and I will let you know what happen about the medical bill. Then you can go to the local community health center.
Do you know how long it takes to get GC plastic card from Airport? Do we need to apply for Social Security Card separately or it will come with GC?
Good luck to everybody
Dip
dip92 said:Grino,
My mom just arrived here in USA last week as a green card holder. I tried to buy insurance which is so expensive. I went to Social Security office, they told me that, she has to live here at least 5 years. I took her to the community health care clinic yesterday, only God knows how much amount they will charge me. But the clinic advisor was so nice, she suggested us to bring a letter from city hall that, your mom has no income. After that she might do something for us.
If you get any better solution please contact me personally unh01@yahoo.com and I will let you know what happen about the medical bill. Then you can go to the local community health center.
Do you know how long it takes to get GC plastic card from Airport? Do we need to apply for Social Security Card separately or it will come with GC?
Good luck to everybody
Dip
Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion -- I will try the county community health dept office and I'll let you know what they can do.
Re GC vs Social Security Card: I am not sure how long it takes to receive the plastic GC after immigrating through consular processing/airport. My parents did AOS, and it took one week after they were approved for the card to arrive. You have to apply separately for the SS card, at the SSA office. You do not have to wait for the GC to do that -- your mom is already a permanent resident and I assume she has an I-551 stamp in her passport. Just show that to the SSA office and this should be enough to apply for a SS card -- it takes about 7-10 days to receive it. CAVEAT: before you apply for a SS card, ask the SSA agent if they can see your mom's immigration status in the computer. Sometimes it takes 2 weeks for this to show up. If they can, go ahead and proceed w/ application as stated above. If they cannot, you should leave and try again a few days later. If you file the SS application before SSA can see your immigration status in the computer, it may take several weeks/months to get the card.
If you have any more news on the community health care experience, please let me know.
Thanks, and good luck!
Clinton administration legislated that new immigrants can't receive any federal funding (including buying medicare) for 5 years. A good option if you can afford is to buy health insurance. A friend of mine in MN bought BCBS insurance with a large deductible $5k. At least it won't bankrupt him.
In_durham said:Clinton administration legislated that new immigrants can't receive any federal funding (including buying medicare) for 5 years. A good option if you can afford is to buy health insurance. A friend of mine in MN bought BCBS insurance with a large deductible $5k. At least it won't bankrupt him.
Thanks. I'll look into some private plans. I understand the logic for preventing immigrants to benefit from tax-payer sponsored programs. I do not understand, however, why one has to wait five years to even be allowed to pay the premiums to medicare. After all, when you pay the premiums yourself, you are not using any taxpayer dollars. Do you think that some congressional pressure could get them to change the law?