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Medicare/Mediclaim for mom after GC
- Thread starter sidd_hyd
- Start date
ccordova624
Registered Users (C)
Unfortunately NO.
Since you are sponsoring your mother you are financially resposnsible for all her medical insurance.
Medicare is a federal benefit and for your mother to be elegible for this she needs to be a US citizen.
Since you are sponsoring your mother you are financially resposnsible for all her medical insurance.
Medicare is a federal benefit and for your mother to be elegible for this she needs to be a US citizen.
TheRealCanadian
Volunteer Moderator
Medicare is a federal benefit and for your mother to be elegible for this she needs to be a US citizen.
No, she needs to have contributed into Medicare for at least 40 quarters.
I've heard that after 5 years residency, you can buy in to Medicare part A and part B even if you don't have the necessary 40 quarters of contributions. Its likely to be expensive, but there are few other insurance options.
Prior to the 5yr mark, you have to take private insurance, if you can find a carrier that will cover you. The big problem is that most carriers are not interested in people over 65yrs of age. Any coverage that is available is likely to be very expensive. There are a couple of providers with special immigrant policies, and if you do some more research here, you will find references to their websites.
Prior to the 5yr mark, you have to take private insurance, if you can find a carrier that will cover you. The big problem is that most carriers are not interested in people over 65yrs of age. Any coverage that is available is likely to be very expensive. There are a couple of providers with special immigrant policies, and if you do some more research here, you will find references to their websites.
austriacus
Registered Users (C)
Some countries have bilateral social security totalization agreements with the US (they can be found here). However, these agreements do not apply to medical coverage in either country. So someone might qualify for social security, for instance, without ever having worked in the US, but will not qualify for Medicare unless they have enough contribution quarters under the US system alone.
PraetorianXI
Banned
I just checked the Medicare site; after 5 years as an LPR, you can definitely enroll even though you may not have paid in sufficient contributions. The catch is that it will (currently) cost you $410/month for Part A, and $93/month for Part B.
ouch...
austriacus
Registered Users (C)
That does sound like an overall bad deal. Let's do a little calculation here. Medicare is 1.45% of your paycheck and you can be eligible after 10 years of work (I know employer matches another 1.45% but let's look at your out of pocket expenses only).
Let's say someone makes 40 grand for the sake of argument (in real dollars i.e. inflation adjusted), you'll pay $5800 real dollars in total lifetime Medicare taxes, which is about a year's worth of the out of pocket coverage above. But, of course most people work more than 10 years and still have to pay taxes. So someone who makes 40 grand in real dollars for 30 years will have pre-paid 3 years worth of this coverage, and after 3 years will be better off having paid into the system.
But sad as it sounds, if you look at comparable private insurance it's likely to be even higher. My company "adopted" a senior citizen family for Christmas and all they asked for was food - they can't afford their food because of high medical bills.
Let's say someone makes 40 grand for the sake of argument (in real dollars i.e. inflation adjusted), you'll pay $5800 real dollars in total lifetime Medicare taxes, which is about a year's worth of the out of pocket coverage above. But, of course most people work more than 10 years and still have to pay taxes. So someone who makes 40 grand in real dollars for 30 years will have pre-paid 3 years worth of this coverage, and after 3 years will be better off having paid into the system.
But sad as it sounds, if you look at comparable private insurance it's likely to be even higher. My company "adopted" a senior citizen family for Christmas and all they asked for was food - they can't afford their food because of high medical bills.
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Yes Medicare is expensive, but not as costly as comparable private insurance - assuming you can find someone to cover you over the age of 65. My Mom (who is 71) had quotes from Blue Cross for $450/mo for an 80/20 plan with $1000 deductible, and then $730ish/mo for the same 80/20 plan with $100 deductible. We couldn't find anybody offering a 100% plan.
Eventually we settled for one of the Inbound Immigrant plans at a little over $100/mo. There are way fewer local facilities accepting her policy, and the upper limit is $50,000 lifetime coverage, but it does cover repatriation in the event of some major medical problem so we should be able to get her back to the UK in an emergency.
Eventually we settled for one of the Inbound Immigrant plans at a little over $100/mo. There are way fewer local facilities accepting her policy, and the upper limit is $50,000 lifetime coverage, but it does cover repatriation in the event of some major medical problem so we should be able to get her back to the UK in an emergency.
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tikutarzan
Registered Users (C)
You should read http://www.insubuy.com/guide/new-immigrants-medical-insurance-plans.jsp
It describes a lot of different options that people may think of whose elderly parents come to US on greencard.
It describes a lot of different options that people may think of whose elderly parents come to US on greencard.
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