Insurance options for parents

[mkschmidtjr]

Hello Everyone, quick question. I live in Virginia and I was wondering if there are health insurances that cover parents. My wife and I are employed full time but our insurances do not allow us to add parents. I have seen in some discussion groups insurances offering employees to add their parents if the parents are dependents of the employee. Oh and the last time I checked heathcare.gov the basic insurance wanted $1,200/month premiums w/$8k deductible; not doable.

Thanks in advance for anyone's input & recommendations.

[RodyS297776]

It all depends on the provider of the Medicare and what plan you come under. 

[mkschmidtjr]

@RodyS297776  @somarco @GailL1 FYI I called Medicare which looked up my mother-n-law social security contributions and said that since she has not contributed to social security she does not qualify for anything for medicare. Okay, I asked if I could still pay full price just like someone who has contributed less than 10 quarters. Nope was denied again.

This is silly, trying to the proper thing and constantly get doors shut!!! Our medical and insurance systems here in the US sucks and is completely broken!!!

[GailL1]

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@mkschmidtjr wrote:

@RodyS297776  @somarco @GailL1 FYI I called Medicare which looked up my mother-n-law social security contributions and said that since she has not contributed to social security she does not qualify for anything for medicare. Okay, I asked if I could still pay full price just like someone who has contributed less than 10 quarters. Nope was denied again.

This is silly, trying to the proper thing and constantly get doors shut!!! Our medical and insurance systems here in the US sucks and is completely broken!!!

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Go to this Medicare.gov page, Medicare.gov - Eligibility & Premium Calculator  

click on "Find Out If I Am Eligible" and fill out the (non-identifying) info on your mother.  It will then tell you if she is eligible / premiums and when she needs to enroll.

Print the answer and use it as a reference when you speak to the Medicare Rep again.  It is only a few questions specific to your mom like

• date of birth,
• has she ever worked and paid medicare taxes,
• does she live in the US or a territory,
• is she a U.S. citizen or legally living in the U.S. for the past 5 years,
• marital status.

Once completed, it will give you a very detailed answer on her eligibility, when she can enroll, her premiums.   On the answer page it will give you and option to show your answers to the questions and then print the whole page with your mom's info and the eligibility/premium answers.

This is the reason this page is there.

The U.S. Medicare system is a very complicated program, as well as Social Security, and even many of the employees of the system may not understand all of it.  

If you do this worksheet based on your Mom's info - it will be printed in black and white -  MY MOTTO:  If you are gonna have to go to war with some government agency, it is best to be armed with your info.  😉

[somarco]

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@mkschmidtjr 

Call back again. You won't get the same person. Here is a quote and link from the AARP site. Basically, the person you talked to was clueless.

You must be 65 or older and

• a United States citizen, or
• a permanent legal resident (green card holder) who has lived in the United States for at least five years before applying; or
• a green card holder who has been married to a fully insured U.S. citizen or green card holder for at least one year.

To be “fully insured” you must have earned at least 40 work credits through paying Medicare payroll taxes at work (equivalent to about 10 years of employment). This guarantees that you pay no monthly premiums for Part A hospital insurance. You can also qualify for premium-free Part A on the work record of your spouse, including (in some circumstances) a divorced or deceased spouse. If neither you nor your spouse has earned 40 work credits, you can nonetheless receive Part A benefits by paying monthly premiums for them.

You don’t need any work credits to qualify for Part B or Part D services — you just pay the required monthly premiums.

https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-qa-tool/qualifying-for-medicare/

She may need to prove her 5 yr residency.

If she has been a "ghost" for the last 20 years (no bank account, utility bills in her name, drivers license, etc,) she may have a problem.

[mkschmidtjr]

Thank you will do!!!

[GailL1]

How old are your parents?

What's their own employment status?

So they do not get a tax credit subsidy to reduce their premiums for an ACA plan?

[mkschmidtjr]

Hello @gail1 thank you for reaching out:

- only 1 parent 78

- no employment history here in US..yea I brought her over 20 years ago. Green card status is good and has SSN

- since she never held any job no need to fill out tax return; they may get a tax break or credit but that would come at the end of the year when filling...how would that help with monthly premiums and the deductible? ...hence the effort to add her to my insurance plan. She has been diagnosed with dementia.

[GailL1]

@mkschmidtjr 

Because of her age, she isn't gonna qualify for an ACA plan (Healthcare.gov) or any private insurance.

But it sounds like she can do a BUY IN to Medicare Part A and from that point she can buy into Part B.  She can either buy a Part D Rx plan or if she can get a Medicare Advantage plan some come with Part D attached.

I can't figure out why Social Security didn't mentioned this to her years ago.

AARP: How do I qualify for Medicare? 

SHE HAS TO PAY FOR MEDICARE PART A AND PART B

Medicare.gov - Medicare Cost At A Glance

Below is a  Medicare.gov worksheet that does not get into specifics but will tell you if she is eligible and what her premiums will be - just follow along & answer - the citizenship question does not come until the end.

Medicare.gov - Eligibility & Premium Calculator 

I am just gonna give you my Medicare "Search" page link so you can read anything else that might apply to her or do another search for something specific - I search for "Immigrant eligibility"

.https://www.medicare.gov/search/medicare?keys=Immigrant+eligibility 

A  GOOD LOCAL MEDICARE Insurance Broker that knows all the ins and outs of Medicare maybe beneficial to you here -make sure they are knowledgeable on this topic.

My pal, somarco might be able to give you more info about using this type of professional.  I am sure he will be available shortly.

It isn't cheap but better than what you quoted - a rough guess would be about $ 625 per month for everything Part A, Part B, Part D - I do not know if they will assess her a penalty for not signing up when 1st she could - I think not.

I do not know if there is any extra help for her if she is very low inome - maybe.

Let us know how it goes.

[somarco]

@GailL1 information is correct. Tried responding a few days ago. Forum would not allow me because I included links.

Part A premium is $458 - Part B $145

Might have to wait until the GEP and enroll (Jan thru March) with a July 1 effective date.

Might have LEP

[mkschmidtjr]

@somarco thank you for the information. Now I need to make some calls to see if we can purchase Part A and B much better than health exchange. Thanks everyone.