Know Healthcare Options For Green Card Holders And Temporary Residents

Are you a Green Card Holder or Citizen of the United States and want to get benefits of healthcare coverage from the US Government? Here is how to know if you are eligible or not.

If you have a permanent residency and are close to retirement, you might question whether you are eligible for healthcare. Green Card Holders in the United States are eligible for Medicare. However, there are some limitations based on employment history and prior status.

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Medicare Healthcare Eligibility

Medicare eligibility standards for those with green cards differ in a few significant ways. For example, you should be at least 65 years old to be eligible, just like all other American citizens. There are prerequisites for residency and employment as well.

Requirements for Residents

You must be a legal permanent resident of the United States to be eligible for Medicare. Although there are various alternative healthcare insurance plans for newcomers, Medicare is only available to those who have lived in the US for five years straight.

Requirements for Workers

To be eligible for this federal benefit, you must have worked in the United States for the past 10 years (or 40 quarters). However, unlike the residency rules, these years do not have to be consecutive.

You qualify for Medicare Part A without paying a premium if you’ve worked 40 quarters in your lifetime and satisfied all other conditions.

Are there any exclusions to get healthcare benefits?

In some circumstances, even if you don’t satisfy these above requirements, you can still enrol if your spouse is eligible for healthcare benefits.

You have a better chance of being approved for Medicare if you don’t meet the working or residence requirements and if your spouse has been a citizen of the United States for at least a year or is a fully covered green card holder.

Price of Medicare with reference to your work history

You can sign up for Medicare Part A if you have worked in the US for 10 years or 40 quarters. You must have received more than $1470 for each quarter for it to qualify toward your 40 working quarters.

You may still purchase Medicare Part A coverage if you do not meet the working requirements.

Does the enrolment procedure vary?

The Medicare application process is the same for everyone, even green card holders. Your initial enrolment period starts 3 months before and concludes three months following your 65th birthday.

Submitting your application before the deadline is crucial to prevent being penalized for postponing insurance. In addition, you may automatically enroll in Medicare Parts A and B if you earned Social Security benefits for more than 4 months before turning 65.

What to do if you are not qualified for Medicare?

You can access various private insurance policies if you require medical insurance before completing residence or employment requirements. However, while they work towards fulfilling these criteria, many people utilize visitors’ or travellers’ coverage.

The general registration procedure is the same for all qualified American residents, even though the Medicare enrolment standards are slightly different for green card holders.

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