It’s no secret that health insurance in the United States is expensive and complicated. Whether you are going to the United States to study, work, travel, visit relatives, do business inspections, or immigrate to the United States, you should understand the U.S. medical insurance system to provide health protection for your life.
Through this article, you will learn what U.S. medical insurance is, the requirements for applying for medical insurance with different identities, and a detailed explanation of the medical insurance projects that can be applied for.
1. The medical insurance programs provided by the U.S. government
U.S. Medicare ( federal medical insurance) and Medicaid ( federal medical assistance ) are specially designed for the elderly, disabled people, low-income families and individuals .
1, Federal Medicaid (Medicaid)
Medicaid is a public medical program operated by the state where it is located. This project provides insurance for the elderly, disabled people, children, pregnant women, and some low-income families. Some refugee families who are new to the United States will receive Medicaid.
If you are an undocumented immigrant but your children are U.S. citizens, they may qualify for Medicaid.
Medicaid eligibility requirements vary from state to state. Learn more about Medicaid.
Important Note: In March 2021, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement no longer the use of Medicaid (except Medicaid for long-term hospitalization), public housing, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a public charge on immigration applications. Read more about the public charge rule .
, Federal Health Insurance (Medicare)
Federal Health Insurance is a public health program operated by the U.S. government. Available to all adults over the age of 65 and people with disabilities of all ages, the system helps them pay for prescription medications.
3. Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) pays medical expenses for low- and moderate-income families with children. CHIP is a great program that pays for your child's doctor's visits and medical care. It is important for refugee families to take their children to the doctor for annual checkups and vaccinations.
It is very important for immigrant and refugee families to have annual medical examinations and vaccinations for their children.
If you are an undocumented immigrant but your children are U.S. citizens, they may be eligible for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
2. Private medical insurance projects in the United States
Generally speaking, what international students, working people, and new immigrants purchase are private medical insurance projects. Private medical insurance is either provided by your employer or school, or you must purchase it yourself. (The following will give you a detailed introduction to how to apply for health insurance with different statuses)
tips: You can choose the plan that best suits you from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance market (health insurance Marketplace). The Affordable Care Act also known as "Obamacare" provides subsidies to those who cannot afford high insurance premiums. The amount of the subsidy depends on the individual's income. California, Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts have their own health insurance markets.
The health insurance industry also has jargon and a lot of terminology. Learning some basic terminology will help you understand the insurance plan you purchase:
- Premium (Premium): The monthly cost of your insurance plan.
- Deductible (Deductible): The amount you pay out of pocket before insurance pays out.
- Co-insurance (Co-Insurance): After the insurance is paid, you still need to pay the proportion of expenses.
- Co-pay : The fee you pay the doctor for each visit.
Health insurance costs vary widely, depending on the type of insurance you choose. Typically, insurance plans with higher premiums will cover more medical expenses.
3. How to apply for insurance?
In the United States, you can:
- Insure through a government (public health) insurance plan or
- obtain insurance through work with the help of an employer or
- purchase insurance on your own
tips: Being covered and insured are the same thing, both of which mean that you no longer have to pay high medical expenses.
4. Insurance requirements for different identities
Residents in the United States (US Person) are generally divided into five categories:
- Citizens
- With a green card
- Residents without a green card with a legal visa (resident alien, a foreigner who stays in the United States for more than half of the year)
- Non-resident alien (non-resident) Aliens, foreigners staying in the United States for a short period of time)
- and illegal immigrants
tips: Generally speaking, the health insurance for immigrants and refugees is the same as the health insurance for native-born U.S. citizens. Health insurance varies based on factors such as age, employment status, current health problems, affordable monthly premiums, and whether your employer buys it for you or you buy it yourself.
If you are a green card holder, some companies will ask for a copy of the green card, and some companies will ask you to fill in another form and ask if you often travel to foreign countries. If you are taking a short vacation to visit relatives, there will generally be no problem. Of course, if you say during the application process that you are going to some unsafe place, such as Libya , the insurance company may put your application on hold until you come back safely.
If does not have a green card, but people who are staying in the United States for a short period of time, or who are working and studying in the United States for a long time, have legal status and a social security number (SSN), they can generally buy life insurance, but the premiums are generally slightly more expensive than those for citizens and green card holders.
As for illegal immigrants, without legal status, it is generally difficult to buy life insurance.
General insurance materials have the following requirements:
First, the policy holder must hold a valid passport and visa, and legally enter the United States
Second, fill out the life insurance application form in the United States and undergo a physical examination in the United States. Check (mainly blood drawing, urine test, height and weight measurement, simple electrocardiogram, etc.)
Third, the insured must provide past medical records, which can be in Chinese, and the insurance company will find someone to translate them
Fourth, the insured amount must be more than 1 million, and only permanent insurance is accepted, term insurance is not accepted (term insurance) life)
* Please consult major insurance companies for specific information.
The following are students studying in the United States, working, traveling to visit relatives,
new immigrants, green card holders, etc.
Detailed explanation of applying for medical insurance:
1. How to apply for medical insurance as an international student or visiting scholar in the United States
If you are going to study in the United States (F-1 visa) or be a visiting scholar (J-1 visa), you must provide proof of medical insurance before you can be registered. The United States requires that all exchange scholars (J-1 visa holders) and their accompanying spouses and children must have medical insurance.
Many schools have reached agreements with insurance companies to provide student medical insurance (Student Health Insurance) to their students. You can purchase this type of insurance for yourself and your dependents at the school. You can also purchase medical insurance that meets the school's minimum standards from an insurance company outside the school.
American universities generally have student health services (University Health Services), which provide students with outpatient clinics, emergency , laboratory examinations, health consultation, psychological counseling, vaccinations and other basic medical services. Common common diseases and injuries can be solved here.The school also provides a variety of free health education and psychological counseling services.
Usually universities require students to pay a health fee when registering, so that they can use the basic medical services of the school clinic for free. Some school clinics require students to pay when using some medical items, but the general charges are much cheaper than ordinary clinics outside the school.
After you finish your studies and participate in work internship (OPTional Practical Training, OPT), some schools allow graduating students to continue to participate in the school's student medical insurance plan (for about one year). Some internship sites may provide you with medical insurance. If you cannot obtain insurance from your school or internship unit, you can purchase relevant medical insurance through a commercial insurance company.
2. If you are a new immigrant who has just received a green card
, you can apply for Atlas America US travel medical insurance as a transitional insurance before arriving in the United States. Under the Affordable Care Act, new immigrants can also participate in Obamacare insurance.
But new immigrants are usually not eligible to apply for the Medicaid insurance (Medicaid) provided by the US federal and state governments for those with incomes below the poverty line.
Each state in the United States has different medical policies for immigrants. And standards and eligibility determinations for state-sponsored health insurance often change because of changes in state budget funding. You can get the latest information about immigrant health insurance from your state government.
Note: New immigrants to the United States cannot apply for medical insurance if they have held a green card for less than 5 years.
According to U.S. law, new immigrants who do not have working experience in the United States or have not paid Medicare taxes for more than ten years cannot automatically qualify for Medicare medical insurance when they arrive in the United States. New immigrants must have held a green card for more than five years and are over 65 years old before they can pay insurance premiums to the government's Medicare project to purchase medical insurance plan A, which is hospital insurance.
Since most people who have lived in the United States for a long time will receive Medicare benefits at age 65, conventional residential health insurance companies such as Artna, Cigna, Blue Cross, Assurant Health, and Humana (and thousands of others) do not offer health insurance to anyone over the age of 65.
3. How to obtain medical insurance when working in the United States
After working in the United States, you can obtain medical insurance through the following channels:
Participate in the company's Group Health Insurance (Group Health Insurance) , Purchase your own Individual Medical Insurance (Individual Health Insurance), participate in the collective medical insurance provided by industry associations for members, etc.
Group Health Insurance is a non-salary benefit provided by the company to employees. If you are working in the United States on an H visa or L visa, you can obtain insurance through your employer in the same way as a legal immigrant (green card holder) or citizen of the United States. The collective insurance premiums you pay can also be used to reduce taxes. Most Americans consider whether a company provides health insurance as an important consideration in their job choices.
You must pay Social Security tax and Medicare Tax when working in the United States. Medicare is a social medical insurance project organized by the U.S. government, providing medical services to seniors over the age of 65. You must pay 1.45% of your earned income as Medicare tax. You must pay even if you cannot receive Medicare health insurance benefits in the future.
tips: When you have worked in the United States and paid Medicare taxes for ten years or more than forty quarters, you can obtain Medicare medical insurance qualifications when you reach the age of 65.
4. How to buy medical insurance when traveling to the United States to visit relatives or work for business?
Medical insurance companies in the United States are divided into two categories. Most insurance companies provide domestic health insurance (domestic health insurance) for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, and a small number of insurance companies provide visitor health insurance (visitor health insurance) for foreigners who come to the United States for a short-term visit.
Foreigners who come to the United States for short-term travel and residence with non-immigrant visa can usually only participate in the visitor medical insurance plan. For example, traveling to the United States to visit relatives, business inspections, short-term study abroad, work, etc. all fall into this situation. Depending on your trip, you can apply for a medical insurance plan ranging from a few days to a few years.
Visitor medical insurance usually covers the expenses for serious illness emergency, hospitalization, examination, prescription drugs, etc. It also includes the transportation expenses for transferring the patient, and the expenses for transporting the body of the policy holder back to the country in the event of the death of the policy holder.
Visitor medical insurance on the market is generally divided into two types:
- Fixed coverage insurance plan (Fixed Coverage)
- Comprehensive coverage plan (Comprehensive Coverage)
Fixed coverage insurance plan (Fixed Coverage) means that for each medical service, the insurance company only bears a fixed amount, such as $50 for a doctor's visit, $500 for an emergency room visit, $3,000 for a surgery, etc. The remaining medical expenses, no matter how much, will be paid by the insured person himself.
Comprehensive Insurance Plan (Comprehensive Coverage) is a risk shared by the insurance company and the individual in accordance with the proportion stipulated in the insurance contract. Patients are required to pay a copay and a pro-rata share of the medical costs, with the insurance company reimbursing the rest.
Finally
The U.S. medical market is developed, and the medical level is among the best in the world. However, without suitable medical insurance, the high medical costs will prohibit you from seeing a doctor in the United States. Therefore, the first thing you do when you land in the United States is to buy an insurance that suits you. From now on, you can live happily and peacefully in the United States.
