Medicaid - Assets and Resources - Only to USA or includes rest of the world.

Well, if anybody on the planet can come to US, leave their assets in their old country, and get Medicaid to pay their way, then what? Doesn't sound right to me. Hope it is not true.

Please note that ACA/ObamaCare had eliminated pre-existing conditions starting in 2014. That means you can’t be denied coverage, charged more, or denied treatment based on a pre-existing condition. Go to the ACA website and check around to see what is affordable for private insurance for your parents until the time comes that they can qualify for Medicaid.

In fact, my Dad just called me as the company he retired from has changed insurance venders, and he couldn't believe how much he and Mom have to pay for a premium that covers secondary supplement plus Rx.... I told Dad how much I am paying and what he is now paying sounds right as he has to remember he is paying for BOTH he and Mom.

smarwaha2006, almost all of the participants on this site are caregivers, as you are. We may be experts in some professional field, but typically we are not experts in legal matters. Often we can help each other by sharing our experiences. It appears that right now there are no participants who have dealt with non-citizen parents and applying for Medicaid. That is why we are suggesting contacting the agency, possibly consulting a lawyer (immigrant law and/or elder law), and researching on the internet.

Your specific details are new to most of us, but the basic situation is very familiar. Elder has too much assets/income to qualify for Medicaid (or other help) but not enough for the care they need. Argh! We know that frustration. Some states do a much better job than others of helping elders in need.

This is not related to your question, but I am curious. What if you and your parents were in India? How does that country support the care of elders?

Ok..Thanks JessieBelle.

There is much information by piecing together the information in the several links that come up. Much of it has to do with ways to secure assets offshore. None of the information I ran across referred directly to how to fill out the Medicaid application with the information. It is why I said that the assets that are not liquid may not be considered. You really need to ask someone with a higher level of expertise in senior immigrant law.

JessieBelle - I cannot find any information related to off-shore assets. Thank you in advance.

Change that to "offshore assets Medicaid application."

Hi JessieBelle - I know for sure that getting Medicaid or having movable or immovable assests in your old country won't make one ineligible to gain US citizenship.

I will google keywords to see what I get. Thank you, again.

smarwaha, we can't post links on the site. You can duplicate what I did by googling the keywords. I think I used Offshore resources medicaid application (or something very similar). This is a gray area that I know little about. Something I did wonder is if it might affect your parents' ability to gain citizenship in the future. I don't know how these things work.

Thank you everybody for the feedback and I truly appreciate it.

The reason we need to know the fact whether to mention rest of the world income or assets on Medicaid forms is that it will determine my parents eligibility whether they will be approved for Medicaid or not. If we write their pension and immovable asset from their old country they are not eligible and in such situation we prefer not to even apply for Medicaid and think of other options.

Unfortunately, it is a difficult situation where adding their pension and bank balance goes little over the threshhold to get eligible for Medicaid and at the same time is not enough to afford medical cost in the United States as most of the times it's very high. As I already mentioned in my original posting, private insurance costs are very high and most of them do not even cover pre-existing conditions or provide very limited coverage on pre-existing with very high premiums and deductibles.

jeannegibbs - I will call VA Medicaid office and check with them if I get any firm information. I called once many weeks ago and my personal believe is individual receiving the call didn't know an answer to this question as she was little hesitant to answer at first and preferred to say 'Yes' than 'No'.

As mentioned above, adding their pension and bank balance is not enough to afford medical cost in the United States as most of the times it's very high.

fregflyer - I will check with Kaiser health insurance, but believe us that we have contacted many insurance companies and as mentioned above "private insurance costs are very high and most of them do not even cover pre-existing conditions or provide very limited coverage on pre-existing with very high premiums and deductibles". I also checked with my employer benefits administrator and under their policies and agreement with their insurance company, parents are not eligible to be in their insurance plan even if I show them as dependants.

fregflyer and cmagnum - I believe as a permanent resident you are eligible to get Medicaid if you meet all other terms and conditions. I know many folks having GC have medicaid from their respective states. You don't have to be a US citizen for this. 'JessieBelle' also concur to this below, “If your parents are permanent residents of the US and the state they live in, they may qualify for Medicaid assistance.".

JessieBelle - They have not been in US for five years as a permanent resident, but good to know that once they complete five years window, they will be eligible for Medicare as I was under illusion that one has to contribute for least approx 10 years towards Social Security to get even eligible for Medicare.

"I have done a little reading and the offshore assets may not be considered by Medicaid legally"..Can you please share a source where you got this information from?

I want to thank you all again for contributing your research and knowledge on this forum and providing feedback on this question.

Conclusion - Unfortunately, question still stands as a question waiting to get a firm answer.

smarwaha, I have done a little reading and the offshore assets may not be considered by Medicaid legally. I understand your questions about how to figure out what to put. It becomes such a balance between legal and moral considerations. It may be that non-fluid assets held offshore do not have to be reported. Definitely don't take my word for this. I would ask an attorney who is well versed in law for senior immigrants.

smarwaha, have they been in the US for five years? If so, they can apply for Medicare. The premiums will be higher, I'm sure, than they will be for people who have paid into the system, but Medicare is still an option. If you check into it, please let us know how much it would cost. That way we will know if someone else has a similar question in the future.

Off-shore assets are always a huge question in any government. Your question is complex and is probably beyond the knowledge of most people in the group. If your parents are permanent residents of the US and the state they live in, they may qualify for Medicaid assistance. The Medicaid officials themselves will probably need to figure out how offshore assets will be considered. If they do not plan to return to India, would it be possible to sell the property they own and deposit the money in the US so they can use it? Would it also be possible, since they plan to stay permanently in the US, to transfer the money in their bank accounts here? This property and money does not do them much good in India, since it is difficult for them to access and use.

What the legalities of the offshore assets are, I do not know. I do not see a mention of how long they have been in the US. This is a huge consideration. The offshore assets are a question best fielded by a Medicaid official. They will let you know what is needed if your parents apply.

smarwaha2006, check with Kaiser health insurance. A good friend of mine who's in-laws were here from the old country visiting for a year, and who are in their late 80's and early 90's signed up with Kaiser. It wasn't cheap but it was the best they could find. It could have been that one of grown children has Kaiser and was able to add their *dependent* parents to their own policy, I am not sure.

My friend's mother-in-law recently became a U.S. citizen and eventually plans to move to the U.S. to be with her grown children. She plans to sign up for Medicaid which really infuriates my friend because her in-laws are considered well off in the old country, the father in-law gets a large pension from the government, they have a lot of assets. Neither in-law has contributed one dime to U.S. income taxes or to the State income taxes. Of course the father-in-law wouldn't be eligible for Medicaid because he doesn't have his U.S. citizenship and doesn't plan to get it. He will have to find private health insurance, such as Kaiser.

Hope everything works out for your parents. Please note that the Commonwealth of Virginia has not put any extra funding into Medicaid. Lot of people in the Commonwealth are going without health care. The new Governor is trying to change that, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I think that it means all assets, where ever they are. But it should be a simple matter to contact the agency that collects the filled-in forms and ask the question.

Is there a reason not to bring the Indian assets into the US for use in caring for your parents?

I wish you well.

pamstegman and lsmiami..You guys are idoits..Yes I am using this language as you have not understood the question well and cussed me especially my parents.

Where did I say I am going to take benefit of state medicaid by hiding any information? We are just looking for information and rather the fact about whether we need to write only US income and assets or rest of the world as well. Try to understand what's been asked rather cussing anyone without understanding their intentions.

You and your parents should be ashamed of yourselves. Medicaid is for the poor. People who have assets conveniently elsewhere are not poor. Use the Indian assets to pay your bills, hiding assets to live off the state s not cool.

Your plan reminds me of USA adult children who hide their parents assets and then dump them on Medicaid. Personally I hope you live in a state with filial responsibility laws, so the state comes back and sues you personally for dumping them. Look up HCR vs. Pittas. In that one, mom went back to Greece and the son had to pay a $93K bill. We call it "Justice".

What I'm saying is that a person with a green card alone is not eligible yet for medicaid because they are not a full citizen yet.

I must not be clear as to what exactly you are asking?

Yes Sir, They need to maintain GC status for five years to be eligible and they will be filing a US citizenship on the first day they get eligible.

My question is specific to the current situation where they need to maintain GC status for another approx 4.5 years.

I appreciate your response, but it would be really helpful if we keep our discussion specific to the original question that will further help us not to get off-tracked or off the topic. Thank you for understanding.

I don't have an answer but I do have a question. Have your parents moved through the process beyond having the green card to being naturalized as full US citizens?

There is a very fine line of distinction.

nolo/legal-encyclopedia/difference-between-us-green-card-us-citizenship.html