Need recommenations for Medical Insurance while in Europe
#21
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,646
Likes: 11
janisj. YES things have definitely gotten on the wrong foot with back and forth comments about things I didn't ask about.
I will be on a AARP Medicare Complete plan when we leave for our trip but I will need something that covers medical issues
outside the U.S. I have checked insuremytrip.com but their cost ($110) seemed suspicious since I had found most quotes to be
around $900+. I will recheck them and also call United Health Care whom I have signed up for with the new insurance.
Thank you everyone for you input. If anyone has another company they would like to suggest for me to investigate for coverage
please let me know.
B.
I will be on a AARP Medicare Complete plan when we leave for our trip but I will need something that covers medical issues
outside the U.S. I have checked insuremytrip.com but their cost ($110) seemed suspicious since I had found most quotes to be
around $900+. I will recheck them and also call United Health Care whom I have signed up for with the new insurance.
Thank you everyone for you input. If anyone has another company they would like to suggest for me to investigate for coverage
please let me know.
B.
On insuremytrip.com, you get to compare features and prices of plans from several different companies, so I don’t understand your comment about the quote from them being lower than other companies.
In any event, I have, in addition to purchasing insurance using the comparisons at insure my trip.com, purchased a policy solely for medical evacuation. I have heard a couple of horror stories about the expense of medical evacuation back to the US from locations abroad. Most of the travel insurance policies will only cover evacuation to the nearest hospital. But with MedjetAssist, you can buy a yearly membership that covers the expense of evacuation to the hospital of your choice, even if it in the US. I read about it in Consumer Reports, where it was recommended highly.
#22
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 25,694
Likes: 0
And I don't know your comparison point for the plan you did find on insuremytrip. Insuremytrip covers trip insurance, which can include medical coverage while traveling. That means that the risks and likely costs are quite different than other types of medical insurance. For example, you aren't likely to be seeking a lot of primary or preventive care while on a trip; you won't likely be undergoing all the tests and screens that most people include as part of their annual physical, etc. The average traveler is probably in better health than the average person seeking health insurance. Etc.
#23

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,820
Likes: 0
OP - yes, it IS a bit confusing owing to the complexity of US healthcare financing and assumptions made by posters here.
It appears you will be on a Medicare Advantage plan which takes the place of (not supplements or provides gap coverage) your traditional Medicare coverage. The plan you mention is a PPO and does not (I believe) provide any coverage outside the US, but you most definitely need to check with United to verify what, if anything , would be covered. Once you know that, you can go to a site like insuremytrip.com and select the coverages you need. It is the most popular and recommended site, consolidates info and allows you to compare multiple plans.
If you have any sort of pre-existing condition, coverage for that may be severely limited if you do not purchase your policy within a specified period of booking your travel.
If you are concerned about some sort of acute event/injury, SOME plans will reimburse for emergency care but not ongoing hospitalization or medical evacuation.
.
It appears you will be on a Medicare Advantage plan which takes the place of (not supplements or provides gap coverage) your traditional Medicare coverage. The plan you mention is a PPO and does not (I believe) provide any coverage outside the US, but you most definitely need to check with United to verify what, if anything , would be covered. Once you know that, you can go to a site like insuremytrip.com and select the coverages you need. It is the most popular and recommended site, consolidates info and allows you to compare multiple plans.
If you have any sort of pre-existing condition, coverage for that may be severely limited if you do not purchase your policy within a specified period of booking your travel.
If you are concerned about some sort of acute event/injury, SOME plans will reimburse for emergency care but not ongoing hospitalization or medical evacuation.
.
#24
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 621
Likes: 0
Before we got so tangled up in thIs, I mentioned that my Medicare Advantage plan PPO through United Health Care included emergency care for foreign travel with evacuation. I must pay the bills first and file for reimbursement and get permission for the evacuation. My problem is that United Health Care does not have available to me, an in print version of their foreign travel benefits. I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get this pinned down with little luck. Most helpful to me was my pension group's benefits office.
Don't know at all if OP with Medicare Advantage would have the same but it certainly is worth finding out. Poster can build additional coverage around what may be already offered.
Don't know at all if OP with Medicare Advantage would have the same but it certainly is worth finding out. Poster can build additional coverage around what may be already offered.
Last edited by Envierges; Apr 28th, 2018 at 02:45 AM.
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