Here Are Four Things You Should Know
If your retirement dreams include traveling the world, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate healthcare coverage in case you experience an unexpected medical emergency. While Medicare typically offers coverage within the United States, your overseas coverage may be severely limited.
Here are four things you need to know before traveling with Medicare.
#1 – Basic Medicare coverage varies based on where you travel.
Basic Medicare, including Parts A, B and D, is widely accepted within the United States. As long as you travel within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa, you’ll generally be covered by any doctor or at any hospital that accepts Medicare.
However, Medicare typically doesn’t cover medical costs incurred outside the United States. This means you may be on your own when it comes to paying for medical expenses should you need care while traveling abroad.
Without Part A coverage, you’d be responsible for paying expenses related to hospital visits, skilled nursing care, hospice and palliative care. Lack of Part B coverage means you wouldn’t have help paying for outpatient care, medical equipment or medically necessary doctors’ services. And without Part D, you’d be responsible for paying the full cost of any necessary prescription drugs while traveling overseas.
#2 – Certain Medigap policies offer limited overseas coverage.
Medigap policies offer supplemental coverage to help pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses, such as copays and coinsurance. Some Medigap policies, including Plans C, D, F, G, M and N, also offer foreign travel emergency care. With these policies, you’ll typically need to pay a $250 deductible and 20% of costs incurred, with a maximum benefit of $50,000.
However, as far as medical expenses go, $50,000 isn’t a lot. These plans are usually designed to help you get healthy enough to travel back to the United States for medical care, not to cover the cost of overseas care.
It’s also important to note that these plans don’t cover any costs related to prescription drugs, whether you’re traveling in the United States or abroad.
#3 – Some Medicare Advantage plans help with the costs of overseas medical emergencies.
Certain Medicare Advantage plans offer overseas travel benefits that cover more than just emergency and urgent care. Typically, these plans require that you pay up front for medical services then request reimbursement from your insurance provider. However, not all plans have the same coverage provisions, which is why it’s important to carefully select your policy if your retirement goals include traveling abroad.
As you’re evaluating your options, it’s important to ask the following questions:
- What emergency and routine medical services are covered when I’m traveling abroad?
- How long can I travel in a foreign country and still remain eligible for coverage?
- Am I limited to certain medical providers or healthcare systems?
- Are there any geographic limitations to coverage?
#4 – Travel insurance can help fill a coverage gap.
If you plan to travel abroad extensively, it may make sense to purchase travel insurance. Comprehensive travel insurance can help cover the costs of emergency and short-term medical care as well as expenses related to medical evacuation.
Based on your specific travel plans, you can choose between single-trip or multi-trip coverage. Just as it sounds, single-trip coverage is good for one trip abroad — although you can visit as many countries as you’d like in that single trip. Multi-trip coverage is intended for those who plan to travel back to the United States between multiple trips abroad. Coverage typically continues no matter how many times you travel back and forth, so long as each individual trip doesn’t exceed a certain allowable period, usually between 30 and 90 days.
It’s important to note that travel insurance can be expensive if you’re older than 65, especially if you have preexisting medical conditions. You may also have a difficult time finding coverage if you’re older than 75.
