Medical Insurance for seniors out of country

[billslowsky]

Thanks for sharing this. I was looking for strictly medical/evac insurance. Even though I'm not a senior our insurance is very "Network" focused and I don't think anything in the South Pacific qualifies!

 

You should call your insurance company, just like your credit card company, and let them know when you are going to be away. My major medical is through BCBS and is heavily networked (whose isn't any more?).

 

On the id card, there's a little suitcase, almost a footnote, that signifies we have BlueCard coverage which is international.

 

Used to have Aetna coverage - also network heavy - but also provided international coverage. Another place to look is the Statement of Benefits and Coverage that you can usually find with a web search if you know the specific plan you hold (if it's self-insured by a large employer you might not find it - but many of those also have international coverage).

 

I would suggest as i said earlier, call and let them know when you are traveling. You'll know more and potentially save some red tape should something unforeseen happen.

[billslowsky]

As to any coverage you might have from a Medicare Supplemental Policy, the coverage varies as there are a few options permitted by Medicare.

Hank

 

If you have an actual Medicare Supplement policy the only benefit is the 80% coverage with a $50,000 maximum.

 

"Medigap coverage outside the U.S.

If you have Medigap Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M or N, your plan:

• Covers foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first 60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn't otherwise cover the care.
  
• Pays 80% of the billed charges for certain medically necessaryemergency care outside the U.S. after you meet a $250 deductible for the year.
  

Foreign travel emergency coverage with Medigap policies has a lifetime limit of $50,000."

This is directly from the Medicare web site. There are not options available other than going without. (30+ years experience working on the product)

[mamaofami]

Thanks, everyone. We will call our supplemental policy on Tuesday to see what there policy covers. Also have a major Med policy to check. Will not travel without evacuation and sufficient medical coverage. Some of the evacuation policies, IIRC leave it up to the foreign hospital to decide if you need to be evacuated. Will be very careful and get back to you.

[Sea42]

You should call your insurance company, just like your credit card company, and let them know when you are going to be away. My major medical is through BCBS and is heavily networked (whose isn't any more?).

 

On the id card, there's a little suitcase, almost a footnote, that signifies we have BlueCard coverage which is international.

 

Used to have Aetna coverage - also network heavy - but also provided international coverage. Another place to look is the Statement of Benefits and Coverage that you can usually find with a web search if you know the specific plan you hold (if it's self-insured by a large employer you might not find it - but many of those also have international coverage).

 

I would suggest as i said earlier, call and let them know when you are traveling. You'll know more and potentially save some red tape should something unforeseen happen.

Thanks, that's great information!

[pcur]

If you live in an area where Senior Advantage coverage is available, they usually cover outside the US. We have Kaiser Senior Advantage Basic in CA, and they cover anywhere in the world, including medical transport.

[JekyllGA]

I read somewhere that younger seniors should buy medical insurance for their trips and save the 50k of coverage in their supplemental medicare plans for when they are older, and extra medical insurance may be limited or expensive because of their age. Hope this makes sense.

[HELENPSL]

I always price the policy thru Squaremouth.com. Medical coverage and evacuation is most important. Last cruise in Asia a woman fell, broke her hip, was in the hospital for 2 weeks and then evacuated back to the states. We always take a minimum of $250,000 in coverage. Well worth it fo the peace of mind.

 

 

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[MaisonRose]

Our friends have used this & we plan to try it too. If you have multiple trips, you have the option of getting a policy for a year. You only have to purchase the plan before your date of departure and not when trip is booked.

Sadly the insurance mentioned only covers those up to 74 years old.

[Shmoo here]

If you live in an area where Senior Advantage coverage is available, they usually cover outside the US. We have Kaiser Senior Advantage Basic in CA, and they cover anywhere in the world, including medical transport.

Funny. We've been told that Medicare and Kaiser neither one will cover us out of country. From the Kaiser representative.

 

But, in checking our coverage plan book, we see that emergency services, including ambulance to nearest hospital are covered. Any emergency needed services. But not evacuation. We're on our own for that.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Is there decent medical insurance for seniors on Medicare when out of the country.?

 

 

 

Step 1 is to make sure whatever Medicare supplement policy you have converts to a regular coverage with international benefits.

Even then, you should consider getting a comprehensive travel policy to fill any gaps.

 

Take a look at Travelex, if for no other reason than to give you a basis for comparison.

 

Know that one important item is to purchase the policy in line with the insurer's deadline (after depositing for the cruise) to get a waiver of pre-existing conditions which may have experienced a change in treatment (or were first diagnosed) during the "look back"period of X months before the purchase.

 

 

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[rhblake]

I use the website www.squaremouth.com to compare multiple companies travel insurance offerings in one place. In the summary listing they show how much medical coverage there is and whether it is primary or secondary coverage. They also show how much evacuation coverage is included in the policy. I always choose a policy with primary medical coverage.

[sail7seas]

Since going on Medicare, I have been buying Travel Ex policies. Thankfully, I have never had to make a claim. I have no conncern continuing to buy their coverage, however, I have been thinking about a GeoBlue p;lan policy for future travel.

Edited January 7, 2018 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

On our upcoming cruise, I have HAL’s Platinum plan and I have a BC/BC Bronze supplemental plan.

 

Is that adequate should an emergency occur?

 

TIA

 

 

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In my non professional opinion, I would not travel internationally with only that coverage. JMO

 

 

HAL 's policy will pay only $10,00 in medical bills. that is a very low amount IMO.

[billslowsky]

Step 1 is to make sure whatever Medicare supplement policy you have converts to a regular coverage with international benefits.

 

No Medicare Supplement policy does this. Some already include limited coverage, described several times in earlier responses.

[Flatbush Flyer]

In my non professional opinion, I would not travel internationally y with only that coverage. JMO

 

 

 

I always scratch my head at folks who buy insurance from a company that may become the subject of any claim they may need to file.

 

 

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[pcur]

I read somewhere that younger seniors should buy medical insurance for their trips and save the 50k of coverage in their supplemental medicare plans for when they are older, and extra medical insurance may be limited or expensive because of their age. Hope this makes sense.

 

This is (I think) referring to the Medigap Plans for Foreign Travel:

Foreign Travel Emergency

Medicare does not cover any health care you receive outside of the United States. Medigap Plans C, D, F, G, M and N cover some emergency care outside the United States. After you meet the yearly $250 deductible, this benefit pays 80 percent of the cost of your emergency care during the first 60 days of your trip. There is a $50,000 lifetime maximum.

If one purchased Plans C,D,F, G,M and N, they would be paying for this all year. Much cheaper to buy individual travel policies when you need them, no matter how old you are. The premiums are $71 to $375 a MONTH. I think they are marketed primarily to Medicare recipients who live outside the US.

[pcur]

Funny. We've been told that Medicare and Kaiser neither one will cover us out of country. From the Kaiser representative.

 

But, in checking our coverage plan book, we see that emergency services, including ambulance to nearest hospital are covered. Any emergency needed services. But not evacuation. We're on our own for that.

 

This is the Evidence of Coverage from 2018 for Kaiser Southern CA, the ambulance benefit is on page 55:

file:///C:/_Personal/Kaiser/Sr%20Adv/2018/ca_scal_EOC.pdf

 

They cover ambulance services, including air, anywhere in the world.

 

The problem with Kaiser is they bury us with documents, and it's almost impossible to know what's covered unless one reads all the stuff. Even the Member Services people don't know all of it. I had to argue with them, and tell them the actual page number in the EOC, about an icon next to CT scans that were follow-up to cancer surgery, which is free. Saved my mother-in-law $250. But, then, I'm an insurance geek, having worked for Blue Cross for 16 years: I learned how to read and how to look for benefit details:

[Flatbush Flyer]

No Medicare Supplement policy does this. Some already include limited coverage, described several times in earlier responses.

 

 

 

Wrong.

 

CalPERS (the retirement system for CA public employees) offer a menu of Medicare supplements that do just that- "convert" to the insurer's basic plan (including significant international coverage) the minute one leaves the U.S. We have "PERS Care," which is Anthem Blue Cross. Terrific insurance and my former employer (the CSU) picks up that tab as well as most of the Medicare IRMA adjustment costs. God Bless California!

 

Nonetheless, we're into leaving no holes anywhere in our travel protection because we do what some folks might consider fairly expensive longer cruises quite far from home:

All travel expenses are paid with two different United Explorer VISA cards (splitting expensive cruise costs to effectively double the coverage limit). This insurance is the "no cost" backup when the claim dust settles.

We then select "comprehensive travel" insurers with excellent ratings that provide PEC waivers, reasonable med limits and the most flexible med evac. Often this will be Travelex Select though for several future cruises we are considering Nationwide because their deadline for purchasing with PEC waivers jives better with our needs for "lookback" timing. We budget approx 10% of the cruise cost for this expense.

Between the "no cost" PERS Care and the purchased comprehensive travel policy, every medically related possibility is fully covered at 100%. Between the purchased comprehensive policy and the "no cost" VISA coverage, most of what might cause trip interrupt or cancel for retirees is covered at 100% as well.

 

In 2016, we had a serious medical issue requiring surgery (all is well now) that caused cancellation of a month long cruise during the 100% penalty phase. Our comprehensive policy paid 100% of all non-refundable expenses. Equally important, I later revisited the issue with the comprehensive policy insurer (John Hancock), PERS Care, and VISA reps to determine if all associated expenses would've been covered had the medical issue at hand happened while abroad on the cruise. Bottom line would've been not one penny out-of-pocket.

Insurance: you don't need it until you need it.

 

 

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[sail7seas]

I always scratch my head at folks who buy insurance from a company that may become the subject of any claim they may need to file.

 

 

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Of course, I get your point but I question whether HAL is sel finsuring these small policies as I highly dou t it. Someone who purchases HAL 's cancellation coverage and has a copy of the policy can say who is the 'insurer.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Of course, I get your point but I question whether HAL is sel finsuring these small policies as I highly dou t it. Someone who purchases HAL 's cancellation coverage and has a copy of the policy can say who is the 'insurer.

 

 

 

Of course HAL is using an insurance company. But, it can always be just "too cozy" an arrangement. More importantly, it's convenience as an "add on" generally means a far worse deal/coverage than DIY research and independent purchase.

 

 

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[sail7seas]

Of course HAL is using an insurance company. But, it can always be just "too cozy" an arrangement. More importantly, it's convenience as an "add on" generally means a far worse deal/coverage than DIY research and independent purchase.

 

 

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I don't see it as 'of c ourse' they are using an ins urance company for these small policies. I get t he part about ' too c ozy'

 

 

Of c ourse, they have insurance companies for the ships, liabilities, accidents, injuries, and possible very high cost losses. A handful of guests cancelling their cruise is not high exposure for them.

Edited January 7, 2018 by sail7seas

[summersigh]

Evacuation coverage is very important indeed....make sure to have it and try to get higher limits if you can....in addition to medical coverage. I guess it depends on where you are travelling to. A million miles from nowhere? Best to get much higher limits on evacuation!

I agree and we always do.:)

DH has some pre-existing conditions so the insurance $$ for him are higher than for me. Our total for $2500 cruise was around $200 for cancel for any reason, high medical and high evacuation coverage.

To the best of my knowledge Medicare itself does not cover outside the US although your supplementary may pick up some.

You can also check to see what kind of extra travel insurance your credit card may offer complimentary.

[runner15km]

We have Medicare Supplement plans.

[billslowsky]

Wrong.

 

CalPERS (the retirement system for CA public employees) offer a menu of Medicare supplements that do just that- "convert" to the insurer's basic plan (including significant international coverage) the minute one leaves the U.S. We have "PERS Care," which is Anthem Blue Cross. Terrific insurance and my former employer (the CSU) picks up that tab as well as most of the Medicare IRMA adjustment costs. God Bless California!

 

The CalPERS website specifically calls the coverage "Supplement to Original Medicare". Those aren't Medicare Supplement insurance policies. They might be better, but Medicare Supplement insurance is specifically defined in both NAIC guidelines and California statutes and regulations.

 

Go to the "Evidence of Coverage" documents on the CalPERS website and search for "Medicare Supplement" within the document. The term is never used. Not the same thing,

 

Again, it may be better, but Medicare Supplement is specifically defined and has been standardized across all companies.

 

CalPERS plans are self-funded and not Medicare Supplement insurance.

[famwald]

Now that hubby and I are both on MediCare (with Plan F supplement), I shopped travel insurance and bought a policy from TravelGuard that will cover us beyond the lifetime amount of our supplement and includes med evac for our upcoming HAL cruise. All it takes is a really bad event like stroke, emergency surgery, or whatever, to make it all worth the price of the insurance. Nobody plans those events; they just happen.