Medical Insurance for overseas?

[Jesse88]

Hi all! My husband is now on Medicare and I know it does not cover medical expenses out of the country. He has supplemental but I'm thinking that would not be sufficient. If you are in the same situation, what do you do about medical coverage when you travel overseas? Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

[hancock]

travel insurance with medical coverage. Most (a few do)medical insurance policies don't cover medical bills outside the country.

[GTO-Girl]

Hi all! My husband is now on Medicare and I know it does not cover medical expenses out of the country. He has supplemental but I'm thinking that would not be sufficient. If you are in the same situation, what do you do about medical coverage when you travel overseas? Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

 

Go to http://www.insuremytrip.com and you can find a lot of choices. If you need more help just call them, they have great customer service.

[skandls]

We usually buy travel insurance that covers more than medical. You can buy a medical only policy - check out the website that was recommended for the different kinds of policies.

[calliopecruiser]

I think it is a mistake to travel without medical coverage. There are other types of insurance you can get on a trip, but I would never travel out of the country without some medical insurance. I consider it as important as my luggage.

[cruzin lady]

 

Be aware that many policies do not cover existing health issues, unless. you purchase the policy within the first few days after your initial deposit.

 

Cruzin Lady

[Keith1010]

You are correct. You will want to purchase travel insurance when you travel outside the USA.

 

Keith

[slidergirl]

When I travel out of the country, I always buy travel insurance that included medical coverage. I buy it right when I start paying for my trips. I have had to use it before - it was so worth it to pay for it rather than go through all the hoops and crap that I would have to go through if I had just had my company-provided insurance (out of network, out of country - pay first, fill out claims, try to get money back)...

[Jesse88]

Thank you all for your quick responses. The travel insurance that includes medical sounds like it might be a good way to go. We wouldn't dream of traveling without medical coverage. My insurance covers overseas as well, but slidergirl's comment has me thinking. Do you buy more insurance even if your primary insurance covers overseas?

 

Skandls, where would I find the website you referred to? Is it the same as GTO girl mentioned?

 

Thanks again to everyone for your help. I really appreciate your taking the time to post.

[cruise10000]

Compared to the amount of money we spend on a cruise, the cost of insurance is very small.

We have good insurance + medicare and we still buy additional insurance.

I am very careful to know exactly what coverage is included, before I buy.

Just my $.02.

[preschool teacher]

We always get insurance thru CSA......have also had to use it....no problems....

[cruzin lady]

 

We,too, have had to use the insurances than once, and that time was to cancel just two weeks before cruise when I had to get a pacemaker. I sent a request

to the company, with proof they required, and I had a check for $2000 within

2 weeks.

 

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is y o u want insurance to cover

Medical costs if you have to be returned to a hospital (very expensive). This

is horrible, but should a person pass away, insurance will pay for those expenses,

and will usually help with the planning.

 

Sometimes ships are delayed for whatever reason, and you need a place to stay and food to eat; insurance pays for that,as well as lost luggage.

[PennyAgain]

Medicare (traditional) covers no out of USA medical expenses (the OP of this thread stated this as well) and although some Medicare supplements have some out of USA coverage, they require to pay first and then submit the bills and hope and pray for some sort of payment.

 

I travel a great deal and carry an annual medical evacuation policy and pick up specific medical coverage for travel out of the USA.

 

Cruise ships do not accept medicare and generally will not file any insurance and wait for payment.

 

The only exceptions for Medicare (traditional coverage) are for the towns near the US border where Americans might seek care, but there's a great deal of small print in all that.

 

People will argue about this till the cows come home, but don't assume that you have coverage which may not exist.

[Jesse88]

Good information here. Now to decide which travel insurance company to use. I'll check out the link on this thread (thank you!) and some others. We've used Travel Guard for general insurance in the past (no medical) but never had to file a claim so I'm not sure how good they are in a crunch, though the company was highly recommended to us. Guess I'll be doing a lot of reading! Thanks so much for our help!

[xxoocruiser]

Hi all! My husband is now on Medicare and I know it does not cover medical expenses out of the country. He has supplemental but I'm thinking that would not be sufficient. If you are in the same situation, what do you do about medical coverage when you travel overseas? Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

 

Many Medicare Supplemental Plans do not cover foreign travel. Those that do have a limited lifetime maximum of usually no more than $50K for medical only and nothing for medical evacuation.

 

If you have employee insurance benefits in which your husband is using as his supplemental it's important to note many companies have dropped foreign travel medical and evacuation benefits due to raising premium costs. Those that do offer this usually have a limit of $25K medical only Therefore it's important to carefully check your policy benefits.

 

Personally I always purchase travel insurance which has at least $50K medical and $100K evacuation just to be safe. When adding the $50K foreign travel medical included in my Medicare Supplement I have a total of $100K for Medical and Evacuation each. In theory should be enough but no one never knows for certain.

[CasaM]

I've been researching this question for DH and me. We want only the medical insurance and evacuation insurance. We are looking at GeoBlue. It is specifically for foreign travel, cost is quite reasonable, and it covers pre-existing conditions. I think you can get either a one time policy or a yearly policy.

[Treven]

In addition to trip insurance, I also get a temporary policy from MedJet Assist. This will transport you from a foreign hospital to a hospital of your choice (generally one where you live). The policy isn't expensive and you can get one for an individual, which is what I get, or for a family; for just one trip, or for a year's time.