Medical Insurance for Parents (Green Card Holders)

[rseth123]

Gurus:

I am planning to sponsor green card for my parents and the big questions is their health insurance. My father is 66 and my mother is 62. Both have pre-existing conditions. We live in California and I looked at the Medi-Cal site which says that 65+ with no income eligible for Medi-Cal.

Couple of questions :-
1. If not medi-cal then what are my options. I am not thinking on the lines of one of them working at the big stores for health coverage.

Can I buy it from somewhere which covers pre-exisiting conditions? I looked at visitorcoverage and for pre-exisiting there is very limited coverage and regular insurance doesn't offer if you are over 65.

I am sure someone on this thread must have done extensive research for options.

 

[helloducky]

try blue cross/blue shield? here in arizona some plans start at 59 dollars a month..also cynergy health and humana health offer could be an option.

 

[TheRealCanadian]

Can I buy it from somewhere which covers pre-exisiting conditions? I looked at visitorcoverage and for pre-exisiting there is very limited coverage and regular insurance doesn't offer if you are over 65.

Makes sense. If you have pre-existing conditions, it's no longer insurance. You can't buy fire insurance once your house is already smoking.

 

[texangator]

I am in the same boat. I am planning to sponsor my mother for GC and health insurance is one of the main deterrants. Based on what I have read so far, you can get a Bridge Plan or keep them on travelers insurance until they have lived here for 5 years, after which you can move them to medicare. The pre-existing conditions are not covered and the coverage is also limited with low caps. I don't think blue cross etc. would offer anything either. My mom is 69 and I live in Texas. Let us know anyone has any suggestions on how to take care of parent's insurance needs in this situation. I too would not have my mom work in any of the store chains.

Gurus:

I am planning to sponsor green card for my parents and the big questions is their health insurance. My father is 66 and my mother is 62. Both have pre-existing conditions. We live in California and I looked at the Medi-Cal site which says that 65+ with no income eligible for Medi-Cal.

Couple of questions :-
1. If not medi-cal then what are my options. I am not thinking on the lines of one of them working at the big stores for health coverage.

Can I buy it from somewhere which covers pre-exisiting conditions? I looked at visitorcoverage and for pre-exisiting there is very limited coverage and regular insurance doesn't offer if you are over 65.

I am sure someone on this thread must have done extensive research for options.

 

[Cathy_S73]

I am in the same boat. I am planning to sponsor my mother for GC and health insurance is one of the main deterrants. Based on what I have read so far, you can get a Bridge Plan or keep them on travelers insurance until they have lived here for 5 years, after which you can move them to medicare. The pre-existing conditions are not covered and the coverage is also limited with low caps. I don't think blue cross etc. would offer anything either. My mom is 69 and I live in Texas. Let us know anyone has any suggestions on how to take care of parent's insurance needs in this situation. I too would not have my mom work in any of the store chains.

I am also planning to sponsor my parents, they are now 61 and may reach 65 or over by the time that they get here. What if they get insurance and don't have pre-existing conditions and then when they have the checkup or sometime later they find out they have something, like hypertension, is this still considered pre-existing condition or not really since it was not existing before? I would also not have my parents work in any of the store chains because they will care for my kids.