Medicare & travel outside the U.S.

13 years ago

I understand that Medicare does not cover a person traveling outside the U.S. If you are on Medicare and leave the country, do you purchase health insurance along with a travel insurance policy?

Susan

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Comments (16)

mariend
13 years ago
Our Blue Cross policy covers us. Check with your insurance company and some will issue a rider for a limited time etc.
glenda_al
13 years ago
luckily, in my travels, I have never had a problem, health wise.
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colleenoz
13 years ago
Travel insurance usually includes health cover. If you aren't covered by your health insurer for travel, check what the travel insurance on offer covers before making a choice. If you have to be repatriated for health reasons it can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
vala55
13 years ago
I was told by my travel company that medicare will not pay out of our country. My BCBS supplemental covers because of the package I chose. BCBS sent me some forms to carry with me. When I travel I go with a group and I buy cancellation insurance. I found out that for a few extra dollars you get the medical also. I was on a cruise and a lady got sick with what they suspected was the virus that is so common on ships. She was flown by helicopter to a hospital, then the ship would not let her back on the ship. I don't know what it cost this person, but her cancellation insurance paid it all. Even if I traveled out of the country by myself I would buy the cancellation insurance. Our tour director said someone in her group on another trip had a heart attack, the ship turned around and took her to a hospital. She was stabilized, then sent home first class with an RN who accompanied her to her home and got her settled before she left. All paid for with her travel cancellation insurance. Never travel without it. I was told for a helicopter trip it cost one person $14,000.
nicole__
13 years ago
My Kaiser insurance does NOT cover us either. We buy scuba diving insurance that covers ALL medical accidents. It covers a helicopter flight or a barametric chamber if needed. Costs about $150 for 2 people for 1 year. It's called DAN insurance.
monica_pa Grieves
13 years ago
Right - Medicare does not cover medical expenses on foreign soil....that's just one of the many reasons people need to also carry Medicare Supplemental insurance.

We chose a plan in our Medicare supplemental insurance policies that covers foreign travel.
chisue
13 years ago
What if you need medical care in a country that has national health care? My brief encounter with that was flying home from Italy with a kidney stone. We had a stop in the UK. A nurse came on board and gave me a pain shot (free) to help me make it to the US.
jannie
13 years ago
My friend Barb was travelling in England, got very sick, went to a hospital and needed emergency surgery for a perforated bowel. She had no insurance other than Medicare. At the end of a week, they determined she was well enough to travel. They sent her to the airport in a cab. They billed her about $1000 US, which she paid with American Express Travelers Checks. Imagine bring in the hospital a week in the US! Your bill sure wouldn't be for a Grand!
colleenoz
13 years ago
Chisue, you were lucky. UK National Health generally does not cover foreign nationals and you have to pay.
sheesh
13 years ago
Last year my dtr and her friend went to Incheon, SKorea to teach English for a year. While they were still in the airport in Seoul, the friend tripped and broke her leg. She and my dtr and all their luggage were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where friend's leg was xrayed and set in some sort of ultra-lite cast she could remove and replace for bathing, crutches, pain meds and a prescription for more meds if necessary, in a little more than four hours in a beautiful, ultra-modern hospital! It did not cost one thin dime for the ride, the initial visit, or the follow-up care, and about $30 for the meds. She did not give the hospital one bit of insurance information because she was never asked for it. Having just graduated college, she had been booted off her parents' insurance and was uninsured in the US.
chisue
13 years ago
What's the scoop if I needed care in Canada? I'm guessing that *emergency* care IS covered in countries with national health insurance. Yes? No?

Our Medicare supplemental with Aetna does cover care outside the US, but I'm curious.

During the kidney stone episode, I wasn't yet 65. We offered to pay and were told there was no charge. Maybe it was an "airport" thing?
eccentric
13 years ago
chisue - I live in Toronto, Canada. We have an annual plan with AMEX Canada that covers out of country - AND out of PROVINCE. We do have family coverage with my husband's employer and of course our OHIP, but OHIP just won't cover the total costs if we should get sick in the U.S. or say in Vancouver, Canada - and coverage under my husband's out of country office plan would cover us to the maximums covered under their plan - which could maybe be 50% - and out of country medical costs are high. There isn't a chance I would travel to the U.S. without out of country insurance. And, no, if you were seriously injured in Ontario, to the best of my knowledge, you would have to pay - frankly, I would expect you to. We pay high premiums for our OHIP insurance and family coverage through husband's employer - yet many things are not covered. You know what it would cos us if we got sick in the U.S. and I would be terrified of the costs. On admittance to hospital you would be asked for your insurance. Last year in Italy I had to see a doctor - and I had to pay 131 Euros - CASH - note the Cash - to see the doctor and then had to pay for my prescriptions. I then submitted my claims through OHIP, husband's employer and AMEX - all 3 were involved. Many people think that the doctor's visit can be paid by credit card - well, not in every place. So basically do not travel without out of country (state?) medical insurance and trip cancellation insurance (which of course does you no good if your trip is cancelled due to an act of God, an act of civil unrest, a terrorist action, a strike etc.). Also watch out for credit cards that cover your for trip interruption insurance free of charge as most accidents happen before you leave. Just ask any travel agent when they get calls from people who declined coverage and then fell changing a light bulb. But to get back to your original question, why on earth should Canadians pay for medical treatment of people who do not live here, pay taxes etc. and did not take out medical insurance. Just saying...
dilly_dally
13 years ago
To answer the original question......... Yes, I have purchsed travelers medical insurance. Thankfully I have never needed to use it. I am not on Medicare but had my own insurance that did not cover out of the country travel without a rider.

Each country handles uninsured travelers differently. Some will treat you gratis. Some require insurance proof before you are allowed into the country. Some will bill you, but it will be way less than a 'for profit' hospital handles it here in the US. Some will just let you die.

Find out what the laws are in the country you are planning on visiting.
ruthieg__tx
13 years ago
About the only out of country traveling we do is on a cruise and we buy the inexpensive travel insurance with the carrier and hopefully we will never have to use it but it is there for an emergency since we are not that young anymore.
chisue
13 years ago
eccentric -- I'd expect to pay and would! I was just so surprised that shot at Gatwickthe was gratis.

Maybe there's a bit of 'public health' involved in the equation. We treat people because in many cases it's in the public interest to do so. (TB, open wounds, whatever.) They got ME and my darn stone on my way, out of the country! LOL

People in the US don't realize how much our non-national health care 'system' costs. We have many people treating the ER as their personal health care provider, whether they are citizens or not, whether they could pay or not. (They don't have insurance, and not always because they can't afford it.)

One of the factors in our decision to take the Aetna as secondary to Medicare was that it covers us wherever we are on Earth -- well, any of the places we're likely to travel.
monica_pa Grieves
13 years ago
One of the factors in our decision to take the Aetna as secondary to Medicare was that it covers us wherever we are on Earth

I wanted to get an Aetna medicare prescription policy this year when I went on Medicare, but found out(from Aetna) that they are barred from writing new policies by Medicare.

Medicare & travel outside the U.S.

Comments (16)

mariend

glenda_al

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