Wwhat do most new immigrants do about health insurance?

Hi everyone,

I won the DV24 lottery, and I'm moving to the USA (Florida) with my wife and baby by the end of the year. I have a question that I haven't found a clear answer to: what do most new immigrants do about health insurance?

From what I understand, we don't qualify for Medicaid because we need to live in the USA for five years before applying. However, I read somewhere that our baby might be covered for free, but I'm not sure if I understood that correctly.

Here in Europe, we pay very little for health insurance, and when we need to see a doctor, we usually go to a private one and pay $50-$100 per visit, which isn't very often.

From my research, it seems that in the USA, we would need to pay around $1,000 monthly for minimum coverage health insurance, plus extra out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits. That would amount to a minimum of $60,000 over five years, even if we never visit a doctor.

This doesn't seem reasonable to me. We are healthy, non-smoking, and don't drink, but I wouldn't want to be in a situation where an emergency happens, and we can't go to the hospital or end up with an insane bill. My main concern is the baby.

Additionally, we will be spending between 3 to 4 months in Europe each year, so it doesn't make sense to pay for monthly health insurance when we won't be in the USA. While in Europe, we will handle all our medical needs, including dental visits, to avoid high costs in the USA.

See also  Healthcare.gov/Texas Benefits - Kids' benefits are on hold for months b/c we might be eligible for CHIP. Applied for TX CHIP, but our CHIP application hasn't moved in over 3 months. Now what do I do?

Any tips or advice? What did you guys do?

submitted by /u/Which-Sir-186
[comments]