Financial Tip of the Month

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By David Edge

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International Travel & Medical Coverage?

When folks are traveling outside of the country, and they have Medicare as their health insurance coverage, they don’t seem to realize that Medicare will not pay for any health services outside of the U.S.A.

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If you have a Medigap or Medicare Supplement plan C, D, F, G, M, or N, these plans include an 80% reimbursement up to $50,000 lifetime. Keep in mind that the medical services received in a foreign country must be an emergency and they will not reimburse the medical service or procedure unless it is for a medical service that is also normally covered in the U.S.A.

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What’s the alternative? You can shop over 50 companies that sell international medical coverage. At American Retirement Advisors, we have access to shop for all plans on the open market and compare exactly what coverage you want, and the amount of coverage you want, for the specified time period of travel!

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Things to consider that you might want covered can be extensive. Emergency medical, flight for life back to the U.S.A. including family members, routine medical, lost luggage, rental car, emergency travel home in the event of civil disturbance in the country you are visiting, adult and/or children coverage, and many more financial coverage issues. The policy can even include trip cancellation coverage in the event you or the family member you are traveling with gets sick at the last minute and you have to cancel the trip.

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I recently took a two-week trip to visit several Pacific Rim countries and took my wife and adult daughter with me. We had
total coverage up to $1 million dollars for only a $400 policy fee.
When I was shopping for policy coverage, I found some companies that wanted to charge as much as two thousand dollars for the exact same coverage… so it pays to shop!

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Now, we don’t want everyone to panic over their medical travel insurance, as in most cases if you’re only going to Canada, Mexico, or on a cruise in the Caribbean for a week, most likely there is travel and/or medical insurance that can be included in the purchase price of your trip for a small additional fee. In an extreme emergency case, since you are still close to the U.S.A., you can just board a plane and be home in a few hours if need be. So, in this short trip scenario, it’s a judgement call on whether you need additional medical coverage or not.

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Extensive trips out of the U.S. of two weeks to several months are when you definitely need to consider additional international medical and travel coverage. So next time you are planning that once-in-a-lifetime vacation, don’t forget to review your options!

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You may also find that the use of a premium credit card
fulfills the needs you are looking for.

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Need more help? Or would you like us to do some pricing research for you? Just call!