travelerone

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will start to investigate coverage alternatives and cost.
In addition to Medicare which does not cover one outside of the US, I have an Aetna supplemental policy offered thru the company from which I had retired. Aetna has told me that their policy only will cover me for 60 days outside of the US and that there is no way to extend coverage.
As far as staying in Europe for 5 months or longer, I already have that covered legally. I do not have EU citizenship.

bvlenci

I wanted to give a little warning because Medicare was mentioned. Be sure to read the fine print with plans like Seven Corners (and also Liaison). I had been using Seven Corners for travel to the US, which may have more restrictions than for people traveling in the other direction, but I learned this year that I've been paying for policies that would have been practically useless. When making plans for our next trip, I noticed that over the age of 70, the plan didn't cover pre-existing conditions under any circumstances.

Since most people our age have at least a few pre-existing conditions, I asked the agent if he could recommend something a bit more complete. He recommended a different plan, which cost considerably more but covered the acute onset of pre-existing conditions. It sounded good, but when I read the fine print, it excluded any pre-existing conditions for which you were taking medication or for which you had continuing medical supervision. That's a very big hole in the policy; I would think that most pre-existing conditions require medical monitoring, and often some sort of medication to prevent those acute recurrences. But worst of all, even though I had specifically said I wanted coverage for the acute recurrence of pre-existing conditions, the agent didn't tell me about it at all. Also, he had been selling us the other policy for five years, knowing that my husband was over 70.

For our next trip, we're using a German agency, ERV (Europäische Reiseversicherung) which covers acute recurrence of pre-existing conditions unless you've been advised by your physician not to travel. It costs a little more, but I don't want to pay less for something that may turn out to be useless.

Ackislander

Blue Cross Blue Shield Bronze Seniority policies sold in Massachusetts -- your state coverage may vary enormously -- cover the same medical expenses outside the US as they do in Massachusetts. They don't cover things like having yourself medevaced home because you don't like the hospital in Slovakia.

jan47ete

We are looking a Europe and Spain actually for 6 months. Can I ask how you are doing it legally as we figured we'd have to get to London every 90 days to beat the visa requirement.

thursdaysd

Re: pre-existing conditions. Seven Corners says right on the summary page what the coverage is for pre-existing conditions, but I haven't looked at the fine print to see whether there is an age cut off. I know the coverage goes down and the cost up as you get older. Since the cost of care is so much higher in the US policies for inbound travel are usually higher than for outbound.

My understanding is that Mass. has its own health care setup, different from other states. Never heard of a "Seniority Policy" in my state, and that coverage is defimitely not available, alas. (Maybe I should move to Mass!) I won't travel without a decent medical evacuation policy - used to be separate from the medical coverage - one that actually gets me home, not just to the nearest hospital.

Re: 90 day limit - have you looked into a long stay visa?

janisj

jan47ete: >>We are looking a Europe and Spain actually for 6 months. Can I ask how you are doing it legally as we figured we'd have to get to London every 90 days to beat the visa requirement.<<

You have to do more than just going to London (or someplace else 'non-schengen') every 90 days. You'd have to stay away for at least 90 days.

ribeirasacra

All about SCHENGEN and how you cannot beat the system.


https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntr...his-post-first

sparkchaser

<i>As far as staying in Europe for 5 months or longer, I already have that covered legally. I do not have EU citizenship.</i>

Student visa, right?

jan47ete

We were actually wanting to buy a barge/houseboat and cruise the French canals, so appreciate the Schengen clarification.

thursdaysd

You might do better in England, where you get six months instead of three and self-driving barges are common.