GC person surgery

[immbie]

Good afternoon. If an elderly person in the US on green card and go to see doctor for surgery, is it covered by anything? Meaning the person does not need to apply for insurance or anything, correct? The procedure should be free of charge due to the Green card status?

[S_R_E]

Good afternoon. If an elderly person in the US on green card and go to see doctor for surgery, is it covered by anything? Meaning the person does not need to apply for insurance or anything, correct? The procedure should be free of charge due to the Green card status?

If the person is eligible for medicare and / or medicaid they still need to apply for it.

In many cases even if you have insurance, you cannot just go to any Doctor you may need a referral and you may have a list of "in network" Doctors that you need to choose from.

Your question is incredibly ambiguous and lacks any real information to allow people to give you a proper answer.

How long have they had a green card? Are they married and do they have any kind of health insurance (through their spouse for example). Do they have work credits with social security for medicare eligibility. How old are they?

[immbie]

If the person is eligible for medicare and / or medicaid they still need to apply for it.

In many cases even if you have insurance, you cannot just go to any Doctor you may need a referral and you may have a list of "in network" Doctors that you need to choose from.

Your question is incredibly ambiguous and lacks any real information to allow people to give you a proper answer.

How long have they had a green card? Are they married and do they have any kind of health insurance (through their spouse for example). Do they have work credits with social security for medicare eligibility. How old are they?

Hello thank you for your reply. It was for my mother. She just arrived on green card. No health insurance or anything. How does she apply for the medicare/medicaid? Does she need to apply for the health insurance in order to undergo the surgery?

[S_R_E]

Hello thank you for your reply. It was for my mother. She just arrived on green card. No health insurance or anything. How does she apply for the medicare/medicaid? Does she need to apply for the health insurance in order to undergo the surgery?

You need to research and find out what the criteria is for medicaid / medicare to see if it is available to her. You may also need to explore private health insurance.

In almost all cases, you need some form of insurance and even then all costs related to the surgery may well not be covered.

[S_R_E]

As I indicated you need to some research - I will give you a couple of links to start you off.

http://www.ncsl.org/researchhttps://www.immihelp.com/us-immigration/immigrant-eligibility-for-health-care-programs-in-the-united-states.aspx

http://www.ncsl.org/researchhttps://www.immihelp.com/us-immigration/immigrant-eligibility-for-federal-programs.aspx

[Trinity71]

Hello thank you for your reply. It was for my mother. She just arrived on green card. No health insurance or anything. How does she apply for the medicare/medicaid? Does she need to apply for the health insurance in order to undergo the surgery?

She is not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Whoever signed the affidavit of support to sponsor her green card is responsible for all of her expenses including medical expenses. She has to have her green card for 5 years before she is eligible to purchase Medicare. She will not have earned work credits here in the U.S. so will have to pay full price for it, and it will be expensive. Medicaid offers assistance to U.S. tax payers who have paid into the program. If you don't put money in, you can't take money out. She can not apply for either.

In the meantime, you would verify if she eligible for a domestic plan in your state through the healthcare exchange. If your state offers a domestic plan to someone her age, she would have to enroll into one of those plans to obtain domestic coverage. If there is not a plan available, she could purchase a short term medical plan. However, the short term medical plans that she would be eligible for until she has had the green card the 5 years until eligible to purchase Medicare, will not cover pre-existing conditions, preventative care, or routine maintenance, only new illnesses and new injuries that manifest or occur after the effective date. So any surgery she needs for something already, would not be covered.

Many people bring their elderly parents here on green cards without knowing ahead of time, that in many cases, they will not have medical coverage for medical care that they need.

This is my opinion and not legal advice. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk.


Trinity71