Health Insurance
 

An earlier poster noted that "Medicare doesn't cover you in Europe". I'd never thought about it but seems logical to me. I am on Medicare with supplemental coverage from United. What is the smart thing for me to do on trips out of the US? Thanks

It is just the way the law was written, the govt can't afford to cover people abroad and doesn't have the budget for that. It's not exactly that it is logical or not, as regular Medicare is just health insurance. It does actually cover people abroad in a couple unusual situations (I do a lot of consulting on Medicare): if you are near a border such as Canada or Mexico and the closest emergency room is foreign, it will cover that, and it also does something like that if you are in Guam or something, as I recall (as Guam is covered under Medicare).

In any case, some private Medicare Advantage plans may cover foreign services, also, so if you have one of those, you need to check your coverage materials or call them up. SOme Medigap policies also cover it, if you bought that kind of coverage.

The smart thing is for you to buy travel insurance or buy a Medigap policy that covers it if you use it a lot. see www.insuremytrip.com for quotes

My recently acquired Medicare Advantage policy does cover me anywhere in the world, which is one of the reasons I picked it.

On the other hand, I don't know of any medical insurance that provides for evacuation back to the US, which can be an issue for some people and may cost upward of $50,000. If your regular medicare supplementaty insurance doesn't cover health care abroad or for medevac policies, you need a separate travel policy as Christine describes.

We aren't quite of medicare age yet, but we do have a travel insurance policy for disastrous things where we might need medical evacuation. We buy it annually through our
American Express card, and I think it is about $150 annually to cover two of us.

There are several agencies that offer medivac insurance for travelers including Travel Guard and Seven Corners.

Amex offers a great Premium Car Rental Protection plan, Baggage & Travel Delay Protection and Automatic Flight Insurance, but I've never seen any reference to them offering medical or medivac insurance.

>medical insurance that provides for evacuation back to the US, ....<

Check out https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

Membership comes with Travel Assist evacuation insurance.
((I))

Also, www.medjet.com

You need medical care insurance for the country you are visiting not just medivac coverage.

Bills in Europe or elsewhere in the world can be as high as in the US.

Check the terms and conditions of medivac insurance - they may mean that your insurance is actually virtually useless.

"You need medical care insurance for the country you are visiting" Where did this come from?

If you're in Spain and need medical assistance or hospitalization, it isn't a problem, but you will receive a bill and be asked to pay for the service. Medical costs in countries with socialized medicine are no where near as expensive as in the good old US of A.

I believe what AMEX offers depends on what type of AMEX card you have. I was offered the AMEX plan that did provide medical insurance and medvac insurance, Robert.

I know one woman whose mother had a serious medical problem and who
had medjet insurance. That co. insisted like mad that they would only take her to the nearest US hospital versus the N CA hospital where she lived and where her primary physician was located. It did get worked out but only after a lot of arguements and stress.

I too would, as Christine stated, check out the various policies via: www.insuremytrip.com.

Check with the insurers you currently have to find out exactly what (if any) coverage you MAY have and how it applies. For example, our current medical insurer covers any international medical care to the extent of "usual & customary" charges for the US (insured pays any excess). This is more generous than some other policies who have much stricter geographic limitations on their coverage. Decide what risk you're willing to deal with and how much you're willing to pay to cover the rest, then find somewhere to cover it.