Obamacare for Immigrants: Immigrants Must Comply

Immigrants with legal status, including green card holders, are required to have health insurance coverage just like U.S. citizens.

For illegal immigrants, nothing changes. Obamacare has nothing new to offer illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants will be able to find health care at hospitals because federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency room care to everyone, regardless of the ability to pay or immigration status. But the care is limited, costly and often too late to prevent minor health problems from becoming major ones.

Are there penalties for immigrants who don’t participate in the new system? Yes, immigrants are subject to fines from the Internal Revenue Service, just like U.S. citizens.

There are roughly 10 million immigrants who are in the US legally with green cards or visas, and the new law requires most of them to have health care insurance. If you don’t have coverage in 2014, you’ll have to pay a penalty of $95 per adult, $47.50 per child, or 1% of your income (whichever is higher). If you enroll by March 31, 2014, you won’t have to pay the penalty fee.

You’re considered already covered if you have Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, any job-based plan, any plan you bought yourself, COBRA,retiree coverage, TRICARE, VA health coverage, or some other kinds of health coverage.

Legal permanent residents, the green card-holders, who don't have health coverage provided by their employers, are expected to buy insurance through one of the state-based exchanges, known as the Marketplace. The Marketplace open enrollment for 2014 ends on March 31, 2014. Open enrollment for 2015 is from November 15, 2014 to January 15, 2015.

If you live in California, Covered California is the Health Insurance Marketplace to serve you. You can visit the Covered Californiawebsite to apply for coverage, compare plans, and enroll.

Where can you find more information about the Affordable Health Care Act?

The best way is to visit the government's website https://www.healthcare.gov/ or https://www.healthcare.gov/families. At this time, information is available only in English and Spanish.

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Q.1. Can legal immigrants qualify for Medicaid or receive government subsidies to purchase health insurance on the state-based exchanges?
A.1. Yes. The Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, allows many classes of legal immigrants to participate in the system.

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Q.2. Are Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrants eligible to apply for the health care program?
A.2. No, DACA immigrants are not eligible. Those immigrants waiting for passage of the DREAM Act will have to wait for health care, too.

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Q.3. Is there a five-year residency requirement for immigrants to obtain Medicaid?
A.3. Yes, Most immigrants who have low incomes and are eligible for the Medicaid provision must have lived in the country for five years to apply.


ROBERT MULLINS INTERNATIONAL www.rmiodp.com
Immigration Support Services-Tham Van Di Tru

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