[LevieYamazaki-Gray]

Aloha al
In a few months I will be turning 65 and as I understand it, I will be required to sign up for Medicaid. Do any of you know of any plans that will provide coverage anywhere in the US and during international cruising and /or have any other insights or recommendations ?

Thanks so much !

With Aloha

Levie Yamazaki-Gray

 

[BobbyLex]

Firstly, it’s Medicare you sign up for, not Medicaid. That gives you hospitalization coverage. Then you need a supplemental plan to cover non-hospital related medical costs. There are a number of choices with different coverages, including foreign travel. Cost varies depending on the plan you chose and the State you call home.

This is a Medicare question. Not really a sailing question. You should check out the Medicare.gov website. Also some good info on AARP and their United Healthcare partner.

Good luck!

Bob

 

[Skipper Jer]

The other thing to know (among many) is IRMAA . If you are going to have a large income amount (capitol gains) plan to split that over two years. The Medicare premiums are based on yearly income. Google IRMAA and have your eyes opened.

 

[JimsCAL]

Original Medicare does not cover medical costs outside of the USA. Many Medicare supplement plans will cover foreign costs but you will have to check. Not sure if any Medicare Advantage Plans do. These are HMO plans that are paid by Medicare and typically have more coverage in exchange for having to use their network.

 

[AndyL]

We went to Medicare last year and loss of international coverage was a big issue. There is a lot to learn about Medicare but there is also a lot of good information on medicare.gov and I spent a lot of time researching our options.

Be prepared for a slew of people trying to sell you their plans - we must have received multiple pieces of mail and emails every day with pitches for plans or experts who would help us through the process. It's really very much a buyer beware situation.

If you feel uncomfortable researching it yourself you'll need to find trusted help. Not sure the best way to do that. But the more educated you are about the options, the better you'll be.

Regarding international coverage: we have a Medigap plan that partially covers emergency treatment with a pretty low lifetime cap. It's not something we'd want to rely upon. When we travel - which is usually for short periods - we also buy travel medical plans which are also only for emergency care.

If we were to be outside the US for an extended period, we'd need to do more research on options.

 

[hpeer]

We resideostly outside USA
Basic medical treatment has been good and cheap. For a while we had an international plan, but that raised it rates 10x one year and we dropped.

Now we have repatriation insurance. If we end up in a hospital outside the USA they will fly us back to the hospital of our choice in the USA.

 

[paulk]

A while back we noticed that Gowrie Group was offering what seemed like a very reasonable plan for US sailors going international. Don't think it applied within the US, or there may have been limitations on it for that. Now it looks like they may have tweaked it a bit. Perhaps worth checking out. Don't know if this is the plan Hpeer was referring to. Gowrie Group - SailorsHealth Insurance

 

[hpeer]

Paul,

Likely the same plan but not 100% sure. Then this past year the kept the same payment but reduced coverage to about 10% of previous. Something like $2 million went to $200,000 for the same costs. There were some other caveats.

When we thought about it the emergency evacuation plan seemed a better fit.

 

[chuck53]

Aloha al
In a few months I will be turning 65 and as I understand it, I will be required to sign up for Medicaid. Do any of you know of any plans that will provide coverage anywhere in the US and during international cruising and /or have any other insights or recommendations ?

Thanks so much !

With Aloha

Levie Yamazaki-Gray

not trying to be ugly, but if you don’t know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, you need more assistance than we can really give here.
Going traditional Medicare, you need additional supplements which there are several options available. If you sign up for Medicare Advantage, there are a number of options available.
You need a sit down with someone well versed in this topic.

 

[JimsCAL]

Medigap & travel | Medicare

Read about which Medigap policies offer coverage when you travel outside the United States (U.S.).

www.medicare.gov