senior citizens medical insurance updates?

I searched past posts about insurance (medical) for senior citizens but they are all out dated. I am looking for what

senior citizens buy to cover for health insurance while out of the country? We just turned 67 and no longer have

company insurance.

Please will you share the company you use and if you ever collected from them in the past. I want to know if evacuation

is included. Not worried about if I get my money back for cancelling the trip because I buy the ship insurance.

I had a friend ended up with $80,000.00 hospital bill and dr. in a foreign country. She had to stay there until she was

well enough to come home. I am not poor but I would be if I had to pay those kinds of bills.

We have Medicare supplemental insurance plan F & they cover 80% of costs. We also charge both airlines & cruises on a travel credit card that provides some additional insurance.

I searched past posts about insurance (medical) for senior citizens but they are all out dated. I am looking for what

senior citizens buy to cover for health insurance while out of the country? We just turned 67 and no longer have

company insurance.

 

Please will you share the company you use and if you ever collected from them in the past. I want to know if evacuation

is included. Not worried about if I get my money back for cancelling the trip because I buy the ship insurance.

 

I had a friend ended up with $80,000.00 hospital bill and dr. in a foreign country. She had to stay there until she was

well enough to come home. I am not poor but I would be if I had to pay those kinds of bills.

We are your age and we buy our insurance from www.insuremytrip.com.....(we do not purchase any from the cruiseline).

if you have a question about which policy might fit your needs just call them....their customer service is great.

.

We have Medicare supplemental insurance plan F & they cover 80% of costs. We also charge both airlines & cruises on a travel credit card that provides some additional insurance.

Medicare does not cover medical expenses outside of the united states. You would need to purchase a separate travel insurance policy to cover any medical expenses.

I also have a medicare supplement policy, but my understanding is that it does not cover me out of the country. I don't buy the cruise line insurance, but I do buy insurance from insure my trip or next time will purchase from travel insured.

I have had to use the insurance a few times. Once when I got shingles on a cruise, I had to see the doctor and get meds from him. My insurance paid all charges after I submitted them. I also had to use the insurance when my husband developed pneumonia and was not able to travel. I was reimbursed in full. I again used it to cancel a trip when my husband passed away a week before the cruise.

My last cruise I had to use the insurance because my flight was scheduled to go to Ft Lauderdale, but due to the terrorist shooting at Fort Lauderdale, I was diverted to Orlando. I was reimbursed for hotel expenses, taxi, car rental to drive to Ft Lauderdale the next day and tolls.

I wouldn't plan a cruise without having insurance that includes at least $500,000 in medical evacuation insurance. So far, I haven't needed it, but who knows what will happen?

I work in health insurance. Medicare does not cover you outside of the US. However if you have a Medicare supplemental policy it MAY include some coverage for medically necessary emergency care in a foreign country. It depends on your individual plan. It's something that some insurance companies include as an extra benefit. However even if you do have it be sure to check to see what the limits are. For example my company's plans have a $250 deductible, only cover you for the first 60 days of your trip, only pay 80% of the costs and have a $50,000 lifetime max.

My mother is 70 and she purchases her trip insurance through Travel Guard. It's not terribly expensive and includes cancellation coverage as well as medical and evacuation coverage.

Medicare does not cover medical expenses outside of the united states. You would need to purchase a separate travel insurance policy to cover any medical expenses.

I didn't think so either but I researched Plan F and it does cover 80% out of country after a $250 deductible, with a lifetime benefit of $50,000. I haven't read the fine print, so am sure there are stipulations!!! ;)

BUT.....I will still purchase trip insurance through Insure My Trip because I would rather be safe than sorry!!

IMy last cruise I had to use the insurance because my flight was scheduled to go to Ft Lauderdale, but due to the terrorist shooting at Fort Lauderdale, I was diverted to Orlando. I was reimbursed for hotel expenses, taxi, car rental to drive to Ft Lauderdale the next day and tolls.

A little off topic, but this was most likely not a terrorist shooting. The guy claimed that "government mind control" was putting voices in his head and telling him to shoot people. The last I read, the FBI had found no links to known terror groups.

I get GeoBlue (which is Blue Cross/Shield but international) by a simple phone call. I use them and have pre-existing conditions which are covered under this plan...the plan name is Voyager Choice. Its inexpensive, no out of pocket fees if you go in network (which I may say are the best hospitals/clinics/doctors in the places I go to in the Caribbean), they give you 500k in medical evacuation, if your in the hospital they also give 1500 allowance to have somebody you want at your bedside. They cover everything 100% including ambulance. I got my father in law a different plan, because he is elderly his age is 78 and the price of the plan (which only covers you for the duration of your trip and does not cover cancellations due to cruise line, lost baggage, etc) the cost for his cruise was around $260, but they have another plan that they call the Trekker plan that covers you in all your trips within 12 months time, it is only up to 50k maximum (Voyager Choice is up to 1 million and since your younger than he is your premium should be less, just so you know my premium at the age of 54 is 49.60) but its medical coverage....if you google GeoBlue you find their web page give them a call and it can't be any easier, they will discuss the difference in plans they have (Voyager Choice is their best plan) and you can sign up over the phone, you pay them via credit card they immediately email you a reference number that you plug into their web site and you can print out your card immediately.....they provide 24/7 365 days assistance, I would not travel without this plan as I am disabled have medicare and no coverage traveling international. I did extensive research on these plans and thousands of people rated GeoBlue excellent.

After coming down with the flu aboard ship Christmas day a few years back and getting whacked with a $1,000 ships medical bill I always purchase travel insurance. As previously mentioned, the Geo Blue Trekker is a good, reasonably priced annual plan.

Like most folks my main concern is evacuation. I was recently told by insuremytrip that Travel Guard is the only policy they offer that covers evacuation from point of injury to hospital and then home. Others only cover trip home from foreign hospital. US Coast Guard will get you from ship to shore in nearby waters, but they don't operate world-wide.

Medicare does not cover medical expenses outside of the united states. You would need to purchase a separate travel insurance policy to cover any medical expenses.

Read the post again. She's not saying plain vanilla Medicare.

"We have Medicare supplemental insurance plan F & they cover 80% of costs. We also charge both airlines & cruises on a travel credit card that provides some additional insurance."

Medicare supplemental. I can attest to schedule F being the one that covers 80% of approved expenses while overseas.

Travel insurance to cover the rest is great, but since the OP is new to Medicare and travels overseas it's a good suggestion to look into this Cadillac of supplemental insurances!

My MIL gets it through AARP via UHC. It's not cheap in premiums but it allows her total freedom of hospitals and medical doctors (still doesn't cover naturopaths but Medicare is supposedly moving closer to that thank goodness) and should she travel outside the IS again it'll help with that too. My MIL despises getting medical bills, and since she's a heavy user of medical people the premiums for that and for the drug coverage is well worth it.

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We carry an annual plan for all our travel. This even covers us when traveling over 100 miles from home.

where from?

I use Insuremytrip dot com as well as squaremouth dot com and comparison shop the various policies as I always want a minimum of $500K evac. and a minimum of $100K medical if I can find it at a decent price point.

In late January 2017, I had to initiate a claim via TripMate for my TravelSafe policy (which I think I booked through insuremytrip). My elderly mum was hospitalized 2 days before our sailing which was after our trip had begun as we arrived in FL a couple days prior to our sailing.

I called TravelSafe the minute I knew my mom was being admitted and submitted a claim as soon as I had the doctor's paperwork complete (which took a couple of weeks). Now, here it is mid-April and I STILL DO NOT HAVE REIMBURSEMENT! Not even any written documentation - their website shows the series of calls and documentation received from me. I've called twice looking for status updates as communications has been slim. I have been informed that they were "expediting" my claim. (That message was on the 7th; it's now the 12th and I'm still waiting!) It's a long, slow process to get reimbursed and you must be very, very careful to be complete in your documentation so as to not delay the process. And, I don't think this is out of the norm for claims; they take a long time for due diligence to be done so don't expect to get the money reimbursed quickly!

Although I like the sound of "cancel for any reason," I never buy through the cruise line, though because I feel their insurance coverage isn't good enough for my high standards.

We are one senior and one not yet senior. We always buy trip insurance besides Medicare and supplemental which don't cover anything off USA soil. One accident or heart attack can be tens of thousands of dollars and one medical evacuation can easily reach over 100K. This year, because we are making multiple trips, we also bought a medical evacuation insurance only policy through AAA.

Another travel insurance website to check is tripinsurancestore. You have 2 choices for travel insurance policies. I would purchase one since medical evcuation from a ship is very expensive. The firs option is a policy that would be secondary in coverage to any existing coverage you have outsied the US. The second would be a primary policy that pays without using your existing insurance coverage.

Make sure if you have any pre-existing conditions that they are covered. Some policies have lookback periods where any change in prescriptions, including a doseage change will disqualify you. Some have waivers if you purchase within a certain time frame after initial trip deposit. There are a few policies that will cover pre-existing conditions with a waiver if you buy them by final payment. A pre-existing condition is anything that you have been diagnosed with, even if stable with or without medication. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. If you don't get a policy that covers pre-existing conditions and have an event related to that pre-existing condition, the coverage will most likely be denied. That would include a stroke or heart attack due to high blood pressure, etc.

I haven't purchased any yet, but do have a Medicare supp plan that covers out of country that Medicare doesn't cover. I have looked at GeoBlue and it looks good and I have looked at Medjet for evac, which looks outstanding. We haven't done any European travel recently, but I would certainly buy something additional when I do.

A few years ago I did purchase Medjet when we took all the kids and grandkids to Club Med Mexico. It really was cheap, but you have to watch the number of days of coverage. If you are doing frequent foreign travel during the year then the annual plan is an excellent buy.

If you work with a travel agent, they can also recommend (and sign you up) for a plan. I have to agree with others who've advised against buying any insurance through the cruise line. I think it's risky, because if your trip is affected by something that the cruise line did or didn't do, it may be awkward and difficult to get a claim paid. (e.g. they may want to just give you a cruise credit and call it good.)

Buying the right kind of trip insurance will not only cover medical, it will cover the costs of other things like delays, lost luggage, etc. And some will even cover trip cancellation due to your house being broken into, losing your job or having a car accident on the way to the airport/cruise port. I think medical evacuation is a necessity as is repatriation of remains in case of a very bad travel situation.

So maybe you don't want *just* medical coverage, but more.

We buy trip insurance whenever we cruise. Luckily, we have never had to use it.

"If you work with a travel agent, they can also recommend (and sign you up) for a plan"

Always wonder though whether TA is recommending the best policy for me or the one that is most profitable for them. Have more faith in multi-carrier agencies like insuremytrip.

"If you work with a travel agent, they can also recommend (and sign you up) for a plan"

 

Always wonder though whether TA is recommending the best policy for me or the one that is most profitable for them. Have more faith in multi-carrier agencies like insuremytrip.

TAS insurance endorsements have never been good enough for my level of coverage!

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Just want to thank OP for the question, and everyone who responded for their suggestions. I'm getting ready to retire (64-1/2) and hadn't thought ahead to health insurance when traveling. (I recently bought travel insurance from a travel agent for a trip to Ireland, and when there were problems with United (big surprise), I discovered that the insurance I had purchased was essentially worthless. I obviously didn't shop carefully enough). I didn't consider health insurance at all. Duh. All of your posts have helped me a lot.

We buy our travel insurance through the trip insurance store.

https://tripinsurancestore.com/

I call and speak to one of their very knowledgeable agents who helps me decide on the policy which best meet our needs. I've been purchasing Travel Insured policies lately. I buy the insurance shortly after paying the initial deposit for our cruise so that pre-existing medical conditions are covered. I purchase primary coverage so that I don't have to submit the claim to medicare and then wait for it to be denied before I can submit it to the travel insurance company.

We also have medjet assist that we purchase through AARP. With the AARP membership the cost is discounted 18%.

Below are two links to threads on the cc insurance board that might interest everyone.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2232479

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2225458

To those who have commented with some warnings on my advice that a TA can help, thanks for offering that. I do always read the fine print and make sure that my needs will be met. I hope everyone does that! Oh, and I use an agent who is "live and in person" and trustworthy. I probably wouldn't be so quick to recommend you get insurance advice from an agency with only an online presence. I should have included these aspects in my original post.

Check seven corners dot com also for all types of travel coverage...

Have used them for years..

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This is another excellent review for Travel Guard

A few years ago, I fell in the cabin and broke my leg. The hospital in St. Thomas was unable to fix it, so my husband and I were evacuated to a hospital in our home port of Ft. Lauderdale. My daughter and her husband stayed the night in St. Thomas and flew home the next day. Travel Guard paid for everything and promptly

Sorry, do not remember the plan or the cost

I would like to thanks everyone for all the great information that has been provided.

I also have a medicare supplement policy, but my understanding is that it does not cover me out of the country. I don't buy the cruise line insurance, but I do buy insurance from insure my trip or next time will purchase from travel insured.

 

I have had to use the insurance a few times. Once when I got shingles on a cruise, I had to see the doctor and get meds from him. My insurance paid all charges after I submitted them. I also had to use the insurance when my husband developed pneumonia and was not able to travel. I was reimbursed in full. I again used it to cancel a trip when my husband passed away a week before the cruise.

 

My last cruise I had to use the insurance because my flight was scheduled to go to Ft Lauderdale, but due to the terrorist shooting at Fort Lauderdale, I was diverted to Orlando. I was reimbursed for hotel expenses, taxi, car rental to drive to Ft Lauderdale the next day and tolls.

 

I wouldn't plan a cruise without having insurance that includes at least $500,000 in medical evacuation insurance. So far, I haven't needed it, but who knows what will happen?

All plan "F" supplementary policies cover 80% of costs outside the US. I was pleasantly surprised when my AARP/UH sent us info on the coverage. Also, I believe if within the 3 mile zone of the US coast, Medicare covers.