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Travel Insurance and Medicare


cruisemama2011
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My parents are taking a long overdue Bahamas cruise to celebrate my mom's recent retirement. This is their first cruise being on Medicare. They are looking for reasonable cruise insurance on one of the popular sites and are a little overwhelmed by all of the options. My mom spoke with someone at Medicare and it sounds like if anything were to happen while they were away, they would be covered at 80 percent. Does anyone know if travel insurance would pick up any of the remaining portion?

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My parents are taking a long overdue Bahamas cruise to celebrate my mom's recent retirement. This is their first cruise being on Medicare. They are looking for reasonable cruise insurance on one of the popular sites and are a little overwhelmed by all of the options. My mom spoke with someone at Medicare and it sounds like if anything were to happen while they were away, they would be covered at 80 percent. Does anyone know if travel insurance would pick up any of the remaining portion?

Here's what the Medicare.gov website says:

 

In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S. isn't covered. The 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa are considered part of the U.S.

Medicare may pay for inpatient hospital, doctor, ambulance services, or dialysis you get in a foreign country in these rare cases:

 

 

  • You're in the U.S. when a medical emergency occurs, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition.
  • You're traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat the emergency.
  • You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition, regardless of whether an emergency exists.

In some cases, Medicare may cover medically necessary health care services you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.

Medicare drug plans don't cover prescription drugs you buy outside the U.S.

Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) policies may cover you when you travel outside the U.S.

Your costs in Original Medicare

 

You pay 100% of the costs, in most cases. In the situations described above, you pay 20% of the approved amount, and the Part B deductible applies.

In the situations above, Medicare pays only for services covered under Original Medicare:

 

  • Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) covers hospital care (care you get when you've been formally admitted with a doctor's order to the foreign hospital as an inpatient).
  • Part B covers emergency and non-emergency ambulance and doctor services you get immediately before and during your covered foreign inpatient hospital stay. Medicare generally won't pay for services (like return ambulance trips home) in either of these cases:
    • Medicare didn't cover your hospital stay.
    • You got ambulance and doctor services outside the hospital after your covered hospital stay ended.

     

    [*]You pay the part of the charge you would normally pay for covered services. This includes any medically necessary doctor and ambulance services you get in a foreign country as part of a covered inpatient hospital stay. You also pay the coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles you'd normally pay if you got these same services or supplies inside the U.S."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Note: Because Medicare has limited coverage of health care services outside the U.S., you may choose to buy a travel insurance policy to get more coverage. An insurance agent or travel agent can give you more information about buying travel insurance. Travel insurance doesn’t necessarily include health insurance, so it’s important to read the conditions or restrictions carefully.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My husband and I carry annual trip insurance policies and we are both on Medicare. In January he was on a trip to Japan and fell and needed to go to the hospital. Fortunately he was OK but we did have a bill of nearly $1000 that had to be paid before he left the hospital. We submitted the bill and proof of payment to our insurance carrier, Allianz, and received full reimbursement.

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My husband and I carry annual trip insurance policies and we are both on Medicare. In January he was on a trip to Japan and fell and needed to go to the hospital. Fortunately he was OK but we did have a bill of nearly $1000 that had to be paid before he left the hospital. We submitted the bill and proof of payment to our insurance carrier, Allianz, and received full reimbursement.

 

Good story, thanks for posting

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  • 3 months later...
My husband and I carry annual trip insurance policies and we are both on Medicare. In January he was on a trip to Japan and fell and needed to go to the hospital. Fortunately he was OK but we did have a bill of nearly $1000 that had to be paid before he left the hospital. We submitted the bill and proof of payment to our insurance carrier, Allianz, and received f

annual trip insurance policies

ull reimbursement.

WHAT IS annual trip insurance policies

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People who travel a lot either by land and ship will buy annual travel insurance. It covers them for one year no matter what type transportation or where they go. It is more economical to buy annual trip insurance if you travel a lot. My friend who takes 8 cruises a year; buys annual trip insurance

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People who travel a lot either by land and ship will buy annual travel insurance. It covers them for one year no matter what type transportation or where they go. It is more economical to buy annual trip insurance if you travel a lot. My friend who takes 8 cruises a year; buys annual trip insurance

 

Presumably that is for medical only, and wouldn't cover trip cancellation or interruption costs...?

 

GC

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Here's what the Medicare.gov website says:

 

In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S. isn't covered. The 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa are considered part of the U.S.

Medicare may pay for inpatient hospital, doctor, ambulance services, or dialysis you get in a foreign country in these rare cases:

 

 

 

  • You're in the U.S. when a medical emergency occurs, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition.
  • You're traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat the emergency.
  • You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition, regardless of whether an emergency exists.

In some cases, Medicare may cover medically necessary health care services you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.

Medicare drug plans don't cover prescription drugs you buy outside the U.S.

Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) policies may cover you when you travel outside the U.S.

Your costs in Original Medicare

 

You pay 100% of the costs, in most cases. In the situations described above, you pay 20% of the approved amount, and the Part B deductible applies.

In the situations above, Medicare pays only for services covered under Original Medicare:

 

  • Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) covers hospital care (care you get when you've been formally admitted with a doctor's order to the foreign hospital as an inpatient).
  • Part B covers emergency and non-emergency ambulance and doctor services you get immediately before and during your covered foreign inpatient hospital stay. Medicare generally won't pay for services (like return ambulance trips home) in either of these cases:
    • Medicare didn't cover your hospital stay.
    • You got ambulance and doctor services outside the hospital after your covered hospital stay ended.

     

    [*]You pay the part of the charge you would normally pay for covered services. This includes any medically necessary doctor and ambulance services you get in a foreign country as part of a covered inpatient hospital stay. You also pay the coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles you'd normally pay if you got these same services or supplies inside the U.S."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Because Medicare has limited coverage of health care services outside the U.S., you may choose to buy a travel insurance policy to get more coverage. An insurance agent or travel agent can give you more information about buying travel insurance. Travel insurance doesn’t necessarily include health insurance, so it’s important to read the conditions or restrictions carefully.

 

Remember, that's Medicare Part 'B' (traditional Medicare). My Medicare Part 'C' (aka Medicare

Advantage) covers "urgent" and "emergency" care worldwide (even down in the ship's medical

center), albeit on a reïmbursement basis.

 

Something to consider come next open enrollment.

 

YMMV

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We started to buy insurance since it also covers our non refundable air fair and hotel reservations and other expenses that might happen in case of an emergency. One site that gives you the ability to compare companies and policies it Square Mouth. There are lots of options but this site lets you compare them and pick out the items that work for you. After all the storm problems last year we felt this was the way to go. Its more expensive than the standard cruise line insurance but covers a lot more.

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  • 1 month later...

We travel a lot (three or four foreign trips a year) and recently came to realize we have been flirting with disaster! Our ages are 60 and 71. We are going to purchase an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy for both of us before our next cruise. They require that you have home health insurance, but Medicare qualifies.

 

Yes this is just for medical. Our Chase Sapphire card covers any other reason we would cancel, such as family member's health emergency. Also financial insolvency of travel agent or tour provider! which, it turns out, CitiCard does not. Read small print.

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We travel a lot (three or four foreign trips a year) and recently came to realize we have been flirting with disaster! Our ages are 60 and 71. We are going to purchase an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy for both of us before our next cruise. They require that you have home health insurance, but Medicare qualifies.

 

Yes this is just for medical. Our Chase Sapphire card covers any other reason we would cancel, such as family member's health emergency. Also financial insolvency of travel agent or tour provider! which, it turns out, CitiCard does not. Read small print.

 

Double check whether you are covered for pre=existing conditions if you need to cancel a trip due to medical reasons.

 

GC

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We travel a lot (three or four foreign trips a year) and recently came to realize we have been flirting with disaster! Our ages are 60 and 71. We are going to purchase an annual GeoBlue Trekker policy for both of us before our next cruise. They require that you have home health insurance, but Medicare qualifies.

 

Yes this is just for medical. Our Chase Sapphire card covers any other reason we would cancel, such as family member's health emergency. Also financial insolvency of travel agent or tour provider! which, it turns out, CitiCard does not. Read small print.

 

So your actual Chase credit card covers you if you cancel your trip for certain reasons? I assume you have to purchase trip with the Chase card? What does it actually cover; do other credit cards do this?

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So your actual Chase credit card covers you if you cancel your trip for certain reasons? I assume you have to purchase trip with the Chase card? What does it actually cover; do other credit cards do this?

 

Each/every credit card has its own policies. They are tedious to read! Chase Sapphire covers for personal health and first-degree relatives' health (including in-laws) -- and (BION) even pets' health emergencies! It covers ONLY those non-refundable expenses paid for with THE CARD. But it covers when your trip provider goes out of business, unlike the CitiCard. This was a $9K lesson on our part!

 

Chase Sapphire is not a "cancel for any reason" policy... they are much more expensive. There is no one-size-fits-all, but for this decade or so, I think we have found our FIT, with GeoBlue for medical and Chase Sapphire for cancellation (also baggage delay, etc).

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Each/every credit card has its own policies. They are tedious to read! Chase Sapphire covers for personal health and first-degree relatives' health (including in-laws) -- and (BION) even pets' health emergencies! It covers ONLY those non-refundable expenses paid for with THE CARD. But it covers when your trip provider goes out of business, unlike the CitiCard. This was a $9K lesson on our part!

 

Chase Sapphire is not a "cancel for any reason" policy... they are much more expensive. There is no one-size-fits-all, but for this decade or so, I think we have found our FIT, with GeoBlue for medical and Chase Sapphire for cancellation (also baggage delay, etc).

 

Please double check that your Chase card does in fact cover cancellations/interruptions due to medical conditions that the insurer considers to be "pre-existing".

That is apparently not covered by many (most?) card-based insurance.

 

GC

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  • 2 weeks later...
Please double check that your Chase card does in fact cover cancellations/interruptions due to medical conditions that the insurer considers to be "pre-existing".

That is apparently not covered by many (most?) card-based insurance.

 

GC

Also check to see how much they pay if you need to be flown home. Most cards pay only a fraction of the cost and only trip insurance covers the entire expense which is sizable. Medical transport home is why we buy it having been injured when out of the country.

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Remember, that's Medicare Part 'B' (traditional Medicare). My Medicare Part 'C' (aka Medicare

Advantage) covers "urgent" and "emergency" care worldwide (even down in the ship's medical

center), albeit on a reïmbursement basis.

 

Something to consider come next open enrollment.

 

YMMV

 

Open enrollment starts Oct 15.

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  • 6 months later...

We took Royal Caribbean insurance for a trip to Australia. I got sick on the ship. Sent bill to Medicare (denied). Sent bill to my medigap insurance (denied). Submitted bill to the RCI carrier (paid in full). It worked as expected. You just have to follow the process...even if it takes awhile.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We have 60 days out of country medical benefit through my pension plan.   We either plan for 58 day trips or we buy add on out of country insurance when we exceed that time frame.

 

At one point we had a six month out of country policy.  We took the option of a 30 percent premium reduction for a 3K deductable.   We are only concerned about the larger numbers.

 

From time to time we have looked at insurance offers from various cruise lines.  They always seemed expensive on the premium and light on the coverage limits and repatriation compared to dealing with an insurer directly.  At one point I looked at the HAL offering for my father.  It was a joke.

Edited by iancal
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