My brother and his wife with 9 year old child is legally immigrating to this country permanently on October 3rd, 2015. Can they temporarily apply for obamacare or any other affordable options that I can pay for until my brother and sister in law get a job? Is there any obamacare programs available for this situation? I am totally clueless and worried not knowing what to do if they get sick. My husband and I will help them settle here and that alone is going to cost us but at the same time we want to have peace of mind by knowing what to do in case they need to see a doctor or dentist. Pls help! Thank you.


A legal immigrant can buy a private plan or get cost assistance through ObamaCare (if they file taxes), but can't get Medicaid before 5 years in most cases. Thus having no taxable income can be an issue for acquiring healthcare.

If you have legal family members who will file with you then you can share a family plan with them, if they won't file taxes with you then they have to get their own plan. You should always check with HealthCare.Gov to find out your options as the details on what immigration statuses qualify can get a little complex.

Learn more about ObamaCare and immigration.

Rate and Comment on the Answer


1 2 3 4 5


Nimish Shah on

This is really very open answer and does not provide any concrete information. The immigration status mentioned in the question here is very clear; people have just received green card, have no income and have not filed there return as they just arrived in country and has no income. So why can’t straight forward detailed information be provided online rather then leaving people like this (I have similar scenario) at the discretion of the someone who answers the phone and how they interpret it. on

Thank you for the feedback. We are an unofficial website run by private citizens who own a small business. We do our best to arrogate and curate information about the ACA, but we don’t have the resources the official site or insurers do.

The ACA works like this, once you are a citizen then you can get a marketplace plan with assistance. You also have options as a tax paying lawfully present immigrant. You also have private options including travelers insurance. This is best explained by

Becky Boley on

My question is regarding coverage for my fiance. I am a US citizen, but my fiance will be coming from England on a fiance visa to the US in order for us to get married. He will be unable to work when he arrives until he gets his authorization to work permit. Would he be eligible for private coverage? Also, we probably won’t be able to afford it, so will he be eligible for government subsidy for healthcare based on my income until he can get a job that offers health care benefits???

Thank you.

Joe on

My wife is a legal immigrant. Got her green card in 2010. We live in Missouri and both aren’t working so making less than 100% of the FPL. My wife is still eligible for the full subsidy and is able to procure health insurance.