Medicare and travel insurance

[trivia addict]

If I am covered by Medicare and also have secondary medical insurance, do I still need a travel policy that includes medical coverage?
We will be in a Canadian port for less than a day. I am wondering how others have handled this.

Of course I do intend on getting a policy with the evacuation coverage.

 

[Jjg34219]

Does any of your insurance cover medical out of country?

[Joseph2017China]

You might want to check with your insurance company, since none of us are your medical insurance provider.  Travel policies only cover what your medical policy does not cover. 

[5waldos]

Medicare and your secondary insurance will cover the majority of the time you are aboard so don't get sick or have an accident in Vancouver. Although your secondary may well cover things out of the country- many do. What they rarely cover are medical transports if you should need them. You need to review your insurance, or call and ask them what they would cover. And check the credit card you have used. We got a Chase Platinum card for exactly this reason- they are one of the only ones I could find that continue to have travel insurance. 

[GloriaF]

Am I not seeing this correctly?  It has always been my understanding that travel insurance covers more than medical and medical evacuation.  What about if your flights are late or you need to cancel the cruise?  Travel insurance will help.

 

As for secondary insurance to Medicare, policies are different but my secondary will not cover anything Medicare does not cover.  Medicare pays the majority and secondary pays the difference.

[trivia addict]

I agree, travel Insurance is very important. My thought was to find travel insurance that eliminated the medical portion since I would not need it. Coverage for a two week trip to Alaska is very expensive!

However, upon doing research today, I find that all policies must include the medical portion.

Obviously, then I will acquire a policy that covers everything.

Thank you all for your responses.

[Elaine5715]

https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/travel-outside-the-u.s.

I would not count on regular Medicare coverage outside the US.  

Travel outside the U.S.

 

Medicare usually doesn’t cover health care while you’re traveling outside the U.S. There are some exceptions, including some cases where 

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance)

 may pay for services that you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. However, Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.

[trivia addict]

Already knew about Medicare not covering outside the U.S., and do make sure that I have outside insurance whenever I am traveling internationally.
But it is an interesting fact about the 6 hour rule when cruising. which could impact those traveling to Alaska. I learned something today! 

[klfrodo]

Alaska is part of the USA and Medicare works well within Alaska.

Since you will only be in Canada for a very short time and if you need to be evacuated from the ship, it will most likely be free of charge by the USCG to a USA hospital,,, I am very comfortable not buying extra medical insurance for my Alaska cruise.