Need help with Very Unusual Medicare Situation

[Nikita]

I've never encountered anything like this before, here is the situation:
Client is a Canadian citizen who does not qualify for Part A but somehow qualifies for Part B (which I don't understand.) Anyway, because he does not have hospitalization coverage, he wants to keep his Obamacare plan. My understanding is that you can't have both Medicare and Obamacare. Has anyone ever encountered this type of situation and what kind of recommendations can you offer him? Thanks!

 

[axeman462]

I have come across it before. Because he dont qualify for both parts of Medicare, he can stay on Obamacare

 

[somarco]

If he is planning on staying a while he might consider Medicare, with or without premium payment requirement. In most parts of the country Obamacare is going to be a lot worse in 2018 than it is now.

If you are not a U.S. citizen you might be able to get Medicare. It depends on the circumstances.

You will qualify for Medicare even if you are not a US citizen if you qualify to receive or receive Social Security, Railroad retirement or disability benefits. In this case, you will qualify for Part A without needing to pay a premium. You will need to pay a premium for Part B.

If you do not qualify for Social Security, railroad retirement benefits or disability benefits, you can qualify to buy Part A (and Part B) if you are a current US resident and either
A US citizen or
A permanent US resident having lived in the US for 5 continuous years before you apply for Medicare

https://www.medicareinteractive.org.../can-i-get-medicare-if-i-am-not-a-u-s-citizen

 

[traceyemoon]

Healthcare.gov:

"If you have only Medicare Part B

If you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance), you’re considered covered under the health care law and don’t need a Marketplace plan.

But having only Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) doesn’t meet this requirement.

TIP
If you have only Medicare Part B, you aren't considered to have qualifying health coverage. This means you may have to pay the fee that people who don't have coverage may have to pay."

So, yes, he would need to either keep his Obamacare (although I agree with somarco, it gonna be u-g-l-y), get Part A and pay for it or go without and pay the penalty.

 

[Labesky]

He can have whatever he wants as long as he is here illegally

 

[jdeasy]

He can have whatever he wants as long as he is here illegally

Yeah, if he's willing to pay for it.

It's not all that unusual to find a person that has B but not A. Doesn't happen every day but I've run across enough of them to not consider it rare.

None of them have been willing to pay for A.

A couple were on Medicaid so it didn't matter to them anyway.

somarco is correct in that they need to shop it. maybe paying for A would be less costly than paying for healthcare?

I believe the part A premium is around $300/mo. But I haven't checked it in a while. So Part A and B would cost around $425/mo. Then a part D around $40. Can a person buy a comparable individual plan for $465/mo?

 

[traceyemoon]

I have two clients paying for their Part A and it's a bit North of $400. On the other hand, compared to what they were paying on the Marketplace for a Silver plan, it's a bargain! Even with their Part B and Supplement and PDP, it's still less for better coverage.

But if you want to pay a wad of cash for a HD Obamacare plan, go for it.

 

[jdeasy]

I have two clients paying for their Part A and it's a bit North of $400. On the other hand, compared to what they were paying on the Marketplace for a Silver plan, it's a bargain! Even with their Part B and Supplement and PDP, it's still less for better coverage.

But if you want to pay a wad of cash for a HD Obamacare plan, go for it.

That made me go look it up. Depending on how many quarters a person would pay from $227 to $413/mo for Part A.

None paid would be the $413/mo.

 

[traceyemoon]

jdeasy, you are correct. from Med.gov:

Part A premiums
If you buy Part A, you'll pay up to $413 each month in 2017. If you paid Medicare taxes for less than 30 quarters, the standard Part A premium is $413. If you paid Medicare taxes for 30-39 quarters, the standard Part A premium is $227.

One has paid none and one had paid less than the 30 quarters.

I also have two that should be interesting coming up in October & February, respectively. Have a son who's sole job was taking care of his parents, now just his father and not working outside the home and a nephew taking care of his uncle, neither married and only one of them has ever worked outside the home, but part-time and many moons ago.