Weighing benefit of Primary for Medical

[Hdog76]

I cannot find the giant thread that explained why Primary was important for medical coverage. My mom has Medicare and GHI as her secondary. If we buy a standard policy, is it necessary to upgrade to Primary? It would tack $125 onto the policy as each person has to upgrade. Thanks!

[GeezerCouple]

9 hours ago, Hdog76 said:

I cannot find the giant thread that explained why Primary was important for medical coverage. My mom has Medicare and GHI as her secondary. If we buy a standard policy, is it necessary to upgrade to Primary? It would tack $125 onto the policy as each person has to upgrade. Thanks!

 

One reason to get "primary" is simply convenience, in a couple of ways.

 

However, the first thing to look into is possibly much more important:  IF someone has their own out-of-country coverage, but it has some sort of life-time limit (e.g., $50,000) and then no more, then you want the travel insurance to be primary.

Otherwise, you'd run through some of that $50k each time you had a claim, and might not even use the medical part of the travel insurance until you've used up the full $50k - and then... it's gone.

 

Our policies cost $25 to upgrade to primary.

 

GC

[Philob]

A standard or secondary policy will require you to file with Medicare (or other insurance), wait for their decision (denial) before the travel insurance company will begin processing your claim.

 

With a Primary policy you file your claim with the travel insurance company only.

[Hdog76]

Thanks everyone! It would be $125 because there are 5 on the policy and you can't just upgrade some of the family, you must upgrade all. This info was helpful so thank you!

[Ep010835]

Further, at least with the company I buy from, if you or another covered traveller are hospitalized in some foreign country, the primary insurer will contact the hospital and advise them of your coverage limits and guarantee payment up to the amount of your policy. 

I've known of real horror stories of people taken off a ship and transported to a local hospital only to have the hospital ask for a deposit of thousands of dollars ($25K and more) in order to begin treatment. Not able to provide them with a high limit credit card? The person in need of treatment will be transferred to the local public hospital where conditions are likely to be, well, less than ideal. 

The $25/pp to buy primary coverage is truly the definition of a no-brainer to my way of thinking.