I’ve been reading about the medical exam requirements for Form I-693 and the vaccinations that need to be done. I know that medical expenses in many cases have been excluded from the public charge assessment, and that this doesn’t affect the process. But when they write “льготная” in the context of insurance or medical care — what exactly do they mean? Medicaid, subsidized insurance, or something else? I want to figure it out before I schedule the medical exam.
By “benefit” in the context of “public charge” people usually mean means-tested programs like Medicaid and food stamps — yes, those can be taken into account. Subsidized insurance through the ACA marketplace is not included in that list.
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The instructions to Form I-485 say what counts as a public charge and what doesn’t; medical care isn’t included. Covered California and subsidized insurance through the Marketplace under the ACA are not means-tested programs — you can use them without worry. Roughly speaking, if it’s not Medicaid and not food stamps, it won’t affect public charge.
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Exactly — “means-tested” is a short, specific list; everything else falls outside public charge.
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Long story short, the key point here is that it’s means-tested. CHIP for children and emergency Medicaid aren’t included in the public charge list; they’re separate exceptions in the law.
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civil surgeon at the medical exam doesn’t care at all which insurance you used; his concern is only vaccinations and the TB test. The public charge issue comes up already on Form I-485 — there the means-tested programs are listed separately. A colleague with an NIW case had Covered California for a year and a half; the officer didn’t ask a single question about insurance.
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In my experience, for my petition the insurance officer didn’t ask anything at all — they just looked at Form I-693.
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In Russian, “льготная” sounds vague — but DHS has a closed list of five means‑tested programs: TANF, SSI, SNAP, Medicaid for long‑term institutional care, and Section 8 housing. Anything outside that list an officer is not allowed to consider under the rule. On Form I-485, question 61 is exactly about that list; Covered California and Marketplace subsidies aren’t even mentioned there.
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