Question from Joe:
My friends and I are starting to plan for a Mediterranean cruise later this year and I have questions about travel health insurance. I have Original Medicare and I realize that Medicare provides no coverage for international travel. I also understand that my Aetna/Continental Life Supplement provides 80 % coverage with a $50,000 lifetime benefit for emergency care. That doesn’t feel like adequate coverage, and I am asking if there is “travel” insurance that I can purchase in addition to the Supplement? Any help or guidance you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Answer
$50,000 worth of foreign travel health coverage, which is what every person who has a Supplement gets regardless of what company it’s with or letter plan one has, is much more than you might think, especially in underdeveloped countries. Many people actually cross the border into Mexico to pay cash for medical services because the cost there can often be less than what they would pay in deductible and coinsurance (percentage of the bill one is responsible after a deductible has been met) with their individual or employer health coverage. The bottom line is in most countries, health care is much less than it is in the US.
I do have some concerns and Joe and others who travel abroad need to understand a few things, however. It’s not as easy as just handing your Medicare, Supplement, or Advantage Plan HMO or PPO cards for emergency care in while on vacation in the Bahamas for example. In most countries, if a foreigner went into a facility with a cut on their right hand that was so bad it couldn’t be used, before care would be given, he or she would most likely have to reach into their purse or wallet with their left and produce a credit card or cash prior to services being rendered. For those with a Supplement like Joe, a paper claim would have to be filed upon return to the US to the Supplement company. Providing an invoice or receipt and a summary of the services received would be needed to do this. I have no idea what that would like from a medical provider in a third world country, but I would think it would be extremely important to get something with the name and phone number of the facility and that it look as professional as possible.
As far as foreign travel coverage with most Advantage Plans, on paper, the coverage is very good, better than Supplements. Although in most cases, care received outside the US would have to be paid for up front and a paper claim filed upon returning home, full reimbursement would be made minus the co-pay the service(s) would have been in the US. My concern would be the Advantage Plan accepting the documentation that was given by the provider and getting them to approve the claim and then issuing a check. I have a feeling that the process may not be a smooth one. However, if any of our clients needed help getting a claim filed, processed, and completed, a member of our staff would do that and not stop hounding the insurance company until it was paid.
I don’t recommend buying travel health insurance for those on Medicare for a few reasons. My experience with the companies that sell these policies is they will do everything possible not to pay claims. Those on Supplements and Advantage Plans already have good protection as far as costs go. And in some European countries like Italy and France, where health care is socialized and funded by taxes, it’s possible emergency care might not need to be paid for. I had a client who experienced this years ago. He didn’t pay a dime for a hospitalization while in France. I can’t speak to how that would work today, however.
What I do highly recommend is getting something called Assist America, which provides global emergency services. When traveling outside of the US, Assist America guarantees you can get emergency services, including an inpatient hospitalization. And if they can’t arrange it where you are, they will literally fly the member out of that country or region to another hospital. There are several other benefits as well for domestic travel that can really come in handy and save people money. You can’t get Assist America directly. You must join an organization who offers it as a benefit. We know of one that only costs $12 per month or $120 per year. There is also one Advantage Plan company that provides all members Assist America, and from my understanding, it can eliminate the need to pay for care up front if Assist America is informed prior to getting services.
Another good idea if you have an Advantage Plan and do need emergency medical care outside the US is to call and inform the company within 48 hours if possible.
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