Does the Affidavit of Support Affect an Immigrant’s Eligibility for Health Benefits?
A. Maybe. The Affidavit of Support may pose two problems when an immigrant applies for, or uses, Medicaid: (1) Sponsor deeming; and (2) Sponsor Liability. But, neither Sponsor Deeming nor Sponsor Liability are currently being used by the New York State Medicaid Program First, soon New York State may apply “sponsor deeming” to the immigrant when he or she applies for Medicaid. New York is supposed to look at the sponsor’s income and resources and “deem” it accessible to the immigrant who is applying for Medicaid. In other words, the Medicaid agency assumes the Sponsor’s income and resources are available to the immigrant when it evaluates whether the immigrant meets the income and resource test for Medicaid. New York has not yet started to apply Sponsor Deeming rules in its Medicaid program. Second, at some point, the State may try to make the immigrant’s sponsor “liable” for the immigrant’s Medicaid costs. Under Sponsor Liability , the State can ask the immigrant’s sponsor to pay back
Related Questions
- If a person is issued an immigrant visa before the effective date for the new affidavit of support but does not immigrate until later, do they need to get a new affidavit of support (I-864)?
- The person who filed the immigrant petition on my behalf is not working. Does he or she still need to submit an Affidavit of Support?
- How will the new calendar affect my eligibility for income support from Centrelink (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY)?
