Health insurance Options for Parents over 65 - URGENT !!!!

G

gg777

Registered Users (C)
Folks,

I am new to this forum and have heard highly about this forum. I recently sponsored my father for Green Card as parent of a USC and he is over 65 years of age. His GC is still under process but I have an important question about how to get health insurance coverage for my father since he is over 65 and NOT eligible for medicaid. I called several insurance companies and they do not cover people over 65 because it is assumed they have medicare. If we take insurance from India then will it be valid in US and what are the issues?

How about medicaid? Does emergency medicaid cover new GC holders as well or does the sponsor have to pay during the 5 year waiting period?

Please help ASAP.

Thanks in advance.
 
There is no government sponsored health care available for your father. You will be expected to pay for any medical expenses that he incurrs. At his age, it is also impossible to buy insurance.
 
Health Insurance for parents

GG,

I am also interested in knowing answer for this question.I believe insurance companies do not provide for people hitting 65 years of age when I enquired few months ago.However, I believe you can buy medicare (pl note not medicaid) from local depts once parent is a permanent resident. I am not sure if it is from state govt dept of the state one living in. I was doing my own research and spoke with one of the depts in FL (not sure which one- could be federal too). I believe medicaid is some kind of state assistance for people with low income. I temporarily stopped my research because I haven't begun green card processing for my mother yet.


Having said that, I might need some information from you with respect to filing green card for a parent since there is an issue with my mother's Indian passport.As stated in one of my posts, she has incorrect spouse name in her Indian passport. She has her own name in the place of spouse name which is on the inside back cover of the passport. When you applied for parents' green card, did you submit all pages of parents' passport along with I-485 ? Or only first few pages where any prior visa stamps existed? If submitting few pages is enough I do not have to go through the process of getting spouse name corrected.Can you pl let me know.

thanks,
 
Minnesota Care Plan

nkm-oct23 said:
There is no government sponsored health care available for your father. You will be expected to pay for any medical expenses that he incurrs. At his age, it is also impossible to buy insurance.
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Minnesota seems to have a health insurance plan for people over 65 years of age called Minnesota Care which anybody who is not eligible for medicare can buy. The premium is 115% of the commercial plans which I guess will be expensive but i am willing to give it a shot.

What I am wondering is that since this is also a government sponsored (MN gov) plan will there be 5 year wait period for new PRs to buy this also or not? Also, I'm not sure if under the income limits do they count the income of sponsor also or not? What if my father lives separate from me and show no income then will he be eligible?
 
gcfamily said:
GG,

Having said that, I might need some information from you with respect to filing green card for a parent since there is an issue with my mother's Indian passport.As stated in one of my posts, she has incorrect spouse name in her Indian passport. She has her own name in the place of spouse name which is on the inside back cover of the passport. When you applied for parents' green card, did you submit all pages of parents' passport along with I-485 ? Or only first few pages where any prior visa stamps existed? If submitting few pages is enough I do not have to go through the process of getting spouse name corrected.Can you pl let me know.

thanks,
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I think you should get it corrected on the passport. I believe it should be a simple change. I would suggest you call the consulate/embassy and ask them the process. I sent copies of all the pages in the PP where something was written.
 
Unfortunately it is not easy. It looks like one has to obtain marriage certificate or affidavit with both wife and husband signing and then apply for passport. I want to avoid this process for family reasons if spouse name doesn't matter .
 
gg777 said:
Minnesota seems to have a health insurance plan for people over 65 years of age called Minnesota Care which anybody who is not eligible for medicare can buy. The premium is 115% of the commercial plans which I guess will be expensive but i am willing to give it a shot.

What I am wondering is that since this is also a government sponsored (MN gov) plan will there be 5 year wait period for new PRs to buy this also or not? Also, I'm not sure if under the income limits do they count the income of sponsor also or not? What if my father lives separate from me and show no income then will he be eligible?
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MN Care is only available if the applicant (your parent) has assets below a certain limit. almost no one would qualify in my opiniong since the asset limits are very low ($10,000). Almost anyone after retirement in India would have assets (bank balances, investments, preperty) larger than this amound. $10,000 is Rs 4.5 lakh.

On the other hand Blue Cross of MN does have a multiple plans for Green Card holders that seem reasonable. Once one gets a Green Card (there are plans for people over 65 aplenty) one can apply for these. Additionally, after 5 years of being PR one can "buy into" Medicare (it will never be free for Green card holders - one has to become a citizen for that. So that is another avenue to try - become a citizen after you become eligigible since getting PR.

Here are some links to Blue Cross of MN plans (a good starting point is the Simply Blue plan). They also have an interactive tool on their web site to help you select the best plan for you. Now, none of this is cheap but at least it is bloody available. I got so sick and tired of checking for availability of plans for my elderly mother (she is 71). At least this is an option. Check it out:

Simply Blue: good general purpose plan

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_sb_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

Insta Care: good plan to fill in the gap (until eligiblity for Medicare)

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_ic_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

Personal Blue: also good general plan

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_pb_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

AP
 
tabaliya said:
MN Care is only available if the applicant (your parent) has assets below a certain limit. almost no one would qualify in my opiniong since the asset limits are very low ($10,000). Almost anyone after retirement in India would have assets (bank balances, investments, preperty) larger than this amound. $10,000 is Rs 4.5 lakh.

On the other hand Blue Cross of MN does have a multiple plans for Green Card holders that seem reasonable. Once one gets a Green Card (there are plans for people over 65 aplenty) one can apply for these. Additionally, after 5 years of being PR one can "buy into" Medicare (it will never be free for Green card holders - one has to become a citizen for that. So that is another avenue to try - become a citizen after you become eligigible since getting PR.
Here are some links to Blue Cross of MN plans (a good starting point is the Simply Blue plan). They also have an interactive tool on their web site to help you select the best plan for you. Now, none of this is cheap but at least it is bloody available. I got so sick and tired of checking for availability of plans for my elderly mother (she is 71). At least this is an option. Check it out:

Simply Blue: good general purpose plan

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_sb_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

Insta Care: good plan to fill in the gap (until eligiblity for Medicare)

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_ic_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

Personal Blue: also good general plan

http://www.bluecrossmn.com/bc/wcs/g...ublic/mbc1_ps_indfam_pb_tab1.hcsp?source=hppt

AP
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This is not true. Even US citzens with qualifying employment PAY monthly for Medicare. If one is receiving benefits, it is withheld from the payment being made to the SS recepient. After 5 years as a LPR, a person can buy into Medicare at a much higher premium than that earned by 40 quateres of qualifying work. Even if one becomes a citizen, the payment to have Medicare coverage remains the higher amount. Medicare is EARNED via work and payment into the SS system - not given to someone simply because their residence - even if they become a citizen - in the US.
 
Can sommeone give figures of premiums for Medicare

Can someone pl give the actual premium figures of Medicare for a permanent resident parent. Just wodering if it is affordable for me or anyone else in a normal employment.I am planning to process green card for my mother who is 65 years old.
 
Concerned4us said:
This is not true. Even US citzens with qualifying employment PAY monthly for Medicare. If one is receiving benefits, it is withheld from the payment being made to the SS recepient. After 5 years as a LPR, a person can buy into Medicare at a much higher premium than that earned by 40 quateres of qualifying work. Even if one becomes a citizen, the payment to have Medicare coverage remains the higher amount. Medicare is EARNED via work and payment into the SS system - not given to someone simply because their residence - even if they become a citizen - in the US.
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Yes, you are right.

There are avenues for parents health insurance, however, as I have pointed out - they just aren't free nor cheap. Blue Cross of MN provides several options.

AP
 
The MN plan requires you to be a MN resident which means there is an automatic wait time for 6 months. Besides can this be used in another state besides MN? or does it only cover emergency outside MN?
 
How long does it take to get a GC for an elderly parent (80 years old), and what are the tax implications if life saving are to be transfered in from overseas? Any advise on purchasing health care for him...I am a US citizen.
 
Concerned4us said:
The time to GC is 5 years. The only adjustment for age is some of the naturalization requirements that are waived due to age.
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He's asking about a GC, not to become a citizen. For an immediate relative, it is several months. His age may make affordable health care impossible.
 
Once one becomes a citizen (or has 5 years as LPR) there are options not available to short time LPRs. I interpreted his question to be looking to determine if his father could qualify for an earlier buy in to Medicare by virtue of becoming a citizen.

The father would qualify for emergency Medicaid only. In the event that he used Medicaid, the sponsor is assumed to be responsible for repaying the government. In my community very few doctors accept Medicaid patients; only slightly more take new Medicare patients. The ones that take Medicaid in my community are not likely to be in an area that I would want to travel to due to safety concerns. Medicaid clinics rely on para-professionals to provide much of the care. Established physician-patient relationships are being terminated due to the low payment rates for these programs. It is a constant struggle for even young native born US citizens to get medical care in the event of a crisis if they do not have health insurance; uninsured individuals who get an aggressive disease do indeed have to worry about getting treatment in a timely manner - and they would eventually qualify for Medicaid on the basis of their citizenship.

Even once someone qualifies for Medicaid, one only needs to do something like compare a nursing home with Medicaid patients to one with private pay patients to understand the issues in Medicaid payment rates. Providers can only afford the absolute esssentials.

As for transferring assets from abroad, you need to more concerned about the issues in his home country rather than the US.
 
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Depends on the employer and their plan. I have however never worked for nor heard about an employer that offered coverage to parents. My experience says employee, spouse and minor children only.

hirapanna said:
Is it possible to add parents as dependents under the group insurance from my workplace?
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