Dream of Retiring Abroad? The Reality: Medicare Doesn’t Travel Well

mabuhay said:
Healthcare is so much cheaper anywhere in the world but the US. Global health insurance is double the premium if you want US coverage. I have health insurance here in US but when I'm overseas in SE Asia I don't need insurance, as things are so reasonable.
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Not clear from your post if you live in SE Asia or are just visit but if living there and not having insurance that can be very risky. Going OOP might be fine for minor medical treatments but if you come down with a serious illness or are in a serious accident the bills can quickly pile up, even overseas. There was some discussion in another thread about Thailand and and how they do or will soon require expat retirees living there to show proof of insurance.
 
mabuhay said:
Healthcare is so much cheaper anywhere in the world but the US. Global health insurance is double the premium if you want US coverage. I have health insurance here in US but when I'm overseas in SE Asia I don't need insurance, as things are so reasonable. For example, almost any minor medical is $50 or less including the doc (US trained) and prescription. Often less than the copay would be here in the US. My knee MRI was $240. Teeth cleaned in the Philippines (modern dental clinic) for $15. Really good haircut $4. I generally get my major dental done in Thailand in state of the art clinics - gold crown $6-700 vs $1500 here, ceramic crowns about $300. I haven't been to a US dentist in several years, got sick of paying $150 for a teeth cleaning in Portland. Medical costs in the US are just outrageous.
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I didn’t know a haircut was a health care expense.
 
MichaelB said:
No expert here but it seems to me most health insurance around the world is locally domiciled and does not cover out of country care. The EU is not an example of extra-territorial coverage, the countries are a legal union for many things. Some coverage provides for urgent care when abroad, including some Medicare supplements.

I would imagine the basis for not including coverage abroad would be the difficulty insurers would have scrutinizing claims.
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The expat health insurance plans I've seen often offer worldwide coverage, excluding U.S., Canada, China, & some SE Asia countries.

I've also seen U.S. expats well over 65 post online that they pay out of pocket in Mexico, keeping Medicare & returning for serious problems (one returned to the U.S. for a liver transplant)

In Mexico buying into the national health insurance as catastrophic, "what-if-I-get-hit-by-a-bus" coverage is also popular at a cost of a few hundred bucks annually.
 
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While I would love for ME to receive Medicare coverage all over the world: the potential for fraud should it be allowed to all recipients is astronomical.

Hence, I have to agree with the Medicare policy not to pay medical abroad.
 
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I understand Medicare not being available outside the US- huge lack of uniformity in quality of care and and facilities, need to negotiate reimbursement rates, etc. I suppose it was also set up that way on the assumption that Medicare beneficiaries people who traveled outside the US were wealthy enough to buy private coverage when they traveled.

Earlier this year I was in a city in Mexico (La Paz) with a large US expat population and the local paper directed to them (The Gringo Gazette) had ads for insurance agencies that offered health insurance. Maybe it was just for under-65s?
 
ShokWaveRider said:
Can you do that after 65?
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Yes, but understand the restrictions:

"The first year on IMSS only a minimum of basic services are covered. Anything needed beyond these basic services must be paid out-of-pocket. Enrollees are assigned to a clinic where they receive their medical care. Most of these are staffed by doctors, nurses and technicians who do not speak English. Applicants who are not fluent in Spanish usually bring a translator. Normally appointments are not made, the clinic waits on people on a 'first-come, first-served basis'. The quality of care is very good, however. The second year there are a few more services available, and the third year, all care is covered 100%, including everything from a flu shot to a quadruple bypass."

https://www.accesslakechapala.com/guide/health-care/medical-coverage/

Did you try BUPA for private insurance? (up to age 75):

https://internationalliving.com/can...ico-for-those-retiring-there-after-age-65-qa/
 
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Just_Steve said:
Funny how BCBS Global Core has no problem managing world wide coverage.
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athena53 said:
Does it cover for long-term stays or just occasional travel?
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We were on their PPO plan for 7 years after retiring and every year spent several months traveling out of the USA. Before leaving I would look up each city we would be staying and took screen shots of their in-network providers. For example in 2014 we spent 5 months in Australia staying for several weeks in Mackay, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hobart, with some weeks on the road. The only place I couldn’t find anywhere on their site was for the week we spent in Vanuatu so we took out travel insurance to be sure. (Flew out and back from Brisbane for that trip).
 
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