Health Insurance question
 

Hey guys, Do any of you have insurance? What is one suppose to do if he/she has to visit the hospital for a check up or any further procedure? Can we get any sort of private insurance? I'd appreciate some responses.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

I think you can get some private insurance, but I'm not sure how. If you don't have one tho, most hospitals would let you set up for a payment plan, so you can pay for a fixed amount monthly until your bill is all paid off. There's no current law that requires hospital to check on immigration status, so you shouldn't worry about that.

Good luck.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

Yeah but how to pay for the procedure?? Without health insurance, this would be very difficult don't you think?

Re: Health Insurance question
 

Go to an insurance broker in your area and find out what a premium that provides coverage for the procedure you need costs. Then, if you can afford it, apply and purchase coverage asap; the new regulations regarding immigrant status come into effect Jan. 1st, 2014. In the meantime, you should still be able to apply regardless of status.

If your procedure is surgical and elective, most surgeons won't schedule you without proof of coverage and/or advance payment of the costs involved.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

What about dental insurance?

Re: Health Insurance question
 

Perhaps selling one of your organs in the black market?? I hear a healthy liver fetches a very good price.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

Yes, it would be (I know from personal experience that it is) although I'm saying that it isn't impossible to get care without one. Certain procedure (i.e. medical surgery), depending on your insurance policy, would still require you to pay portions of it out of your pocket, so it's no different to have it arranged with a payment plan than if the hospital bills you for the entire amount. The only thing is that it would take longer for you to pay it off without insurance because your charges are definitely larger.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

I currently have Anthem insurance. I only have dental cuz I got braces and need cleaning often. You can also get health.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

We can't even go to hospital without going through this embarrassment.



So, in 2014 we can't get health insurance without status? Please clarify this.

Re: Health Insurance question
 

Access to the health exchanges and to premium and cost-sharing subsidies for individuals will be restricted to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who arenot incarcerated. So if you want to purchase insurance coverage as an individual, you will be denied access to the participating insurance providers in the exchange. If you work for a small business owner (those with 100 employees or less), and you are undocumented, your employer won't be able to enroll you in the plan. So, if your employer is unaware of your status, your status willl be pretty much discovered when the insurance company notifies them that your SS number isn't valid or that you aren't in status.

If you are still undocumented in 2014, you will not be able to purchase individual health coverage in the state-based health exchanges (a requirement by law); nor will your employer be able to cover you if it participates in any of the exchange plans (available to employers of 100 or less employees). The law requires verification of income and citizenship status. For more details see:

Summary of New Health Reform Law
http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8061.cfm
Implementation Timeline for New Health Reform Law
http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8060.cfm

Something of note that affects both health-coverage access AND immigration enforcement:

DHS Paves the Way for Greater E-Verify Enforcement at the State Level
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is now permitting employers in the State of South Carolina to disclose information received from E-Verify to the South Carolina Department of Labor as required by the state’s 2008 immigration law. Earlier this year, the state had suspended all E-Verify investigations after several employers complained that they could not (under the terms of the E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding) disclose or share any information about their E-Verify transactions or operations. Feeling emboldened by the US Supreme Court’s decision in favor of the Arizona E-Verify law, Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina wrote a seething letter directly to Secretary Napolitano in late May, asking that DHS enter into an MOU with the state so that it can enforce its own E-Verify law. According to the Governor’s website, she recently received a letter from DHS stating that they have decided to authorize South Carolina E-Verify employers and their E-Verify Employer Agents to disclose E-Verify information directly to the South Carolina Labor, License, and Regulation (LLR) Department when requested for enforcement actions. Today, many E-Verify employers and E-Verify Employer Agents received an email to the same effect.

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2011,0630-fay.shtm

How much do any of you want to bet that some Republican wanker already thought of this "disclosure" method as a tool to be used by states against undocumented immigrants who try to purchase health insurance by informing the employer of the employee's immigration status?

I work in healthcare and I have had health insurance since I started working (many moons ago). I have never had a single penny of free health services in my entire life. I see a lot of immigrants (legal and illegal), especially women, who use taxpayer-funded health coverage (Medicaid), not as temporary medical aid, but as a way of life. I have to say the current system discourages responsibility from patients and accountability from doctors. It sucks that these new laws will reverberate against people who have done the responsible thing by insuring their own health.