Health Insurance for Medicare Insured

[chickentravel1]

Just before I go on my next international cruise, I go on Medicare. I know that Medicare doesn't cover treatment for illness abroad and I will be purchasing a Medicare Supplement. The problem is the supplements only cover overseas medical expenses up to a paltry $50,000. Medicine is cheaper abroad but $50,000 doesn't even cover a day in the hospital in the US.

Travel insurance provides some medical coverage but it seems to be a very poor value, benefits are confusing, and frankly I'm rather wary of relying on it in the event of a real emergency. Is there a reliable policy that can be purchased that would provide adequate medical coverage abroad on an annual basis? I travel overseas frequently.

[Keith1010]

You will get answers here but you can also post this on the Travel Insurance Board.

 

Keith

[buggins0402]

https://geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/multi-trip/trekker-5-overview.cfm

[NMLady]

If you look at some of the policies listed at Insuremytrip.com or look at Travelguard.com you will find travel policies with much better medical and evacuation coverage than that offered through the cruise line.

 

You can also easily phone an insure my trip rep or Travel Guard rep with questions. They are extremely helpful.

 

I'm a Medicare/Medicare Supplement person for several years and get additional insurance coverage. I purchase it as soon as I book so that hubby's pre-existing conditions are covered.

[margeecruiser]

Just a heads up on any insurance -- you must pay for treatment and then file paperwork for reimbursement from the insurance company. We plan on a couple of credit cards with high credit limits, so we can pay for medical treatment and get ourselves home in case of an emergency. Had a friend who had a heart attack on Grand Cayman. That was a lesson on insurance, the hard way!

 

Margee

[Dayenu]

Go to InsureMyTrip, mark off several of them, and get a comparison table.

[sail7seas]

While you likely would have to pay upfront and seek reimbursement from insurance, take not if the policy you select are primary payers. Primary payer saves times and effort of having Medicare etc refuse before they will pay.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Check out GeoBlue Trekker Choices.

[Hlitner]

We are also fans (and customers) of the GeoBlue Annual policy. This is not trip insurance but rather a travel medical policy that covers all trips (for the first 70 days per trip) over an entire year. The normal premium is about $350 for a couple (that is total cost) and gets you a $250,000 medical policy (and $500,000 med evacuation). This type medical policy does not have any coverage for trip cancellation or other related stuff. It is merely a decent medical policy.

 

Hank

[donaldsc]

We are also fans (and customers) of the GeoBlue Annual policy. This is not trip insurance but rather a travel medical policy that covers all trips (for the first 70 days per trip) over an entire year. The normal premium is about $350 for a couple (that is total cost) and gets you a $250,000 medical policy (and $500,000 med evacuation). This type medical policy does not have any coverage for trip cancellation or other related stuff. It is merely a decent medical policy.

 

Hank

 

That is the type of policy that we have. I can afford the loss and can handle the costs if I have to cancel a trip without reimbursement. I can't handlebig overseas medical bills. I especially can't handle really big overseas evacuation costs.

 

Several years back, we did an expedition trip to Antarctica. If I remember correctly, we carried 1 million in evacuation insurance.

 

DON

[zqvol]

Just before I go on my next international cruise, I go on Medicare. I know that Medicare doesn't cover treatment for illness abroad and I will be purchasing a Medicare Supplement. The problem is the supplements only cover overseas medical expenses up to a paltry $50,000. Medicine is cheaper abroad but $50,000 doesn't even cover a day in the hospital in the US.

Travel insurance provides some medical coverage but it seems to be a very poor value, benefits are confusing, and frankly I'm rather wary of relying on it in the event of a real emergency. Is there a reliable policy that can be purchased that would provide adequate medical coverage abroad on an annual basis? I travel overseas frequently.

 

You are woefully misinformed about what a day in the hospital costs in the US unless you are in ICU, and even in ICU it is not what you are suggesting.

[Treven]

As far as getting back home after a medical emergency, I count on MedJet Assist. You can get a temp policy covering a single trip or an annual policy for those who travel frequently. They also have family coverage.

[Treven]

Just a heads up on any insurance -- you must pay for treatment and then file paperwork for reimbursement from the insurance company. We plan on a couple of credit cards with high credit limits, so we can pay for medical treatment and get ourselves home in case of an emergency. Had a friend who had a heart attack on Grand Cayman. That was a lesson on insurance, the hard way!

 

Margee

What if you just don't have the money, either in cash or on a credit card, and you end up in a hospital outside the US, would you not be treated? I'm covered through Kaiser Permanente (an HMO) at home and I know they will cover me anywhere in the US, even out of their coverage area.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Treven

[snowskier]

You are woefully misinformed about what a day in the hospital costs in the US unless you are in ICU, and even in ICU it is not what you are suggesting.

 

Interesting comment -- I was in ICU a couple months ago for a traumatic brain injury. The room alone for one night was $45,000. Thankfully I didn't need much in the way of emergency medicine / care as I was being monitored for 4 brain bleeds. Even with minimal ICU stuff -- by the time the doctors, pain meds, etc. were added in it was a bit over $50,000. Based on my experience OP is right on with the dollar amount being suggested.

[margeecruiser]

I don't really know. I think they try to get you to wire home for money or arrange a loan through a bank. The hospital is not in the business of loaning money. Things are different in foreign countries. Grand Cayman is pretty advanced for the Caribbean, but other islands would be very different. Some others on CC probably have experienced what really happens. The cruise ship sails on and you are absolutely on your own.

 

Margee

[klfrodo]

https://geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/multi-trip/trekker-5-overview.cfm

 

The annual policy is not sold to residents of Washington State

[SPacificbound]

Just before I go on my next international cruise, I go on Medicare. I know that Medicare doesn't cover treatment for illness abroad and I will be purchasing a Medicare Supplement. The problem is the supplements only cover overseas medical expenses up to a paltry $50,000. Medicine is cheaper abroad but $50,000 doesn't even cover a day in the hospital in the US.

Travel insurance provides some medical coverage but it seems to be a very poor value, benefits are confusing, and frankly I'm rather wary of relying on it in the event of a real emergency. Is there a reliable policy that can be purchased that would provide adequate medical coverage abroad on an annual basis? I travel overseas frequently.

 

Check out HTH. https://hthtravelinsurance.com/

[Philob]

You are woefully misinformed about what a day in the hospital costs in the US unless you are in ICU, and even in ICU it is not what you are suggesting.

 

I had heart surgery a few years ago. 3 nights in the ICU and 3 nights upstairs.

The pre-insurance bill was over $250,000. That's close to $42k per night.

 

And the food was lousy :p

Edited July 11, 2015 by Philob

[sail7seas]

I had heart surgery a few years ago. 3 nights in the ICU and 3 nights upstairs.

The pre-insurance bill was over $250,000. That's close to $42k per night.

 

And the food was lousy :p

 

You're right...... In top heart centers here in Boston, before taking into consideration the pre-negotiated insurance covered amounts the figures you use are about what a hospital would try to bill an uninsured person. Insurance companies pay less but those set fees are negotiated in terms of all times they do that procedure during the contract period.

 

An Emergency Room in MA will not turn a true emergency patient away despite no insurance. I have no idea what other states or countries do in such circumstances.

Edited July 11, 2015 by sail7seas

[NMLady]

The annual policy is not sold to residents of Washington State

 

My husband has V.A. As his primary insurance and Geo blue will not consider that coverage.

[buggins0402]

Check out HTH. https://hthtravelinsurance.com/

 

You're right...looks like there are 11 states that Trekker isn't sold. And, as also noted by NMLady regular insurance cannot be VA (or Medicaid).

[zqvol]

Interesting comment -- I was in ICU a couple months ago for a traumatic brain injury. The room alone for one night was $45,000. Thankfully I didn't need much in the way of emergency medicine / care as I was being monitored for 4 brain bleeds. Even with minimal ICU stuff -- by the time the doctors, pain meds, etc. were added in it was a bit over $50,000. Based on my experience OP is right on with the dollar amount being suggested.

 

 

Notice that I said except for ICU. I recently spent two nights in the hospital and the cost was about $4500 per night. The key is the level of care that you need.

[Flatbush Flyer]

What if you just don't have the money, either in cash or on a credit card, and you end up in a hospital outside the US, would you not be treated? I'm covered through Kaiser Permanente (an HMO) at home and I know they will cover me anywhere in the US, even out of their coverage area.

 

 

I'm reminded of a skiing trip many years ago in Austria where I saw an emergency helicopter used by the ski patrol for evacuation. The decal on the side of the helicopter was a big Red Cross and under each side of the horizontal bar of the cross were the familiar logos of a Master Card and Visa.