Medicare age divers and supplemental insurance coverage

[cubalake]

I have recently turned 65 and am now on medicare. I have read that medicare pays for NOTHING if an accident happens outside the United States. I have DAN insurance but that seems to have a non-diving medical reimbursement limit of 10K.

Do those of you on medicare purchase additional medical insurance for out of the country dive trips?

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Check in to AARP medicare supplemental insurance. I think they have decent international coverage. Also, trip specific travel insurance has many options as well.

 

[TMHeimer]

We have to get private coverage for outside of Canada. I would be surprised if any country or org. within that country would cover someone outside said country. But I don't know.

 

[DandyDon]

I have recently turned 65 and am now on medicare. I have read that medicare pays for NOTHING if an accident happens outside the United States. I have DAN insurance but that seems to have a non-diving medical reimbursement limit of 10K.

Do those of you on medicare purchase additional medical insurance for out of the country dive trips?

That $10K coverage, Preferred/top plan only, is only for non-diving accidents, not illness - nothing for that, but then again it is Dive Accident coverage. So yes, it'd be prudent to cover non-diving accidents and illness both when you leave the country. This site Travel Insurance - InsureMyTrip.com can be used to compare a large number of plans from various carriers per your selected choices & benefits. If you want medical coverage only, fine. I always get the comprehensive plan from TravelSafe.com primarily for medical coverage but a lot more included, but you may not feel the need for that much.

As a DAN member, you still have TravelersAssist for emergency transportation if over 50 miles from home, and DAN will still take calls and offer assistance with regard to any problems, so call them anyway - see what they suggest or offer.

 

[MMM]

If US medicare works like it does in Canada, medicare reimburses out-of-country emergency hospital care AT CANADIAN HOSPITAL RATES which are well below what most hospitals south of the border (and elsewhere) would charge. In fact, if you don't carry out-of-country insurance, and you get sick out-of-country, you can face a shockingly high medical bill. So most Canadians are very used to carrying out-of-country health insurance if they travel.

But I recall a case about 10 years ago that hit the media here: an immigrant family travelled to the US for a holiday and their kid broke his neck in some sort of water-related accident. They had no out-of-country insurance and assumed the Canadian health care system would pick up the tab. The kid had to be air-lifted back to Canada after a lengthy hospital stay on a respirator and in a coma. The bill was in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars and I imagine they are still paying for it.

I guess the thinking is that if you are sufficiently well off to afford to travel, you should also be able to afford the insurance. In addition to DAN, we always tack on extra out-of-country health insurance when we go to Mexico for the winter. Mostly the latter plans DON'T cover diving accidents.

 

[knotical]

If US medicare works like it does in Canada, medicare reimburses out-of-country emergency hospital care AT Canadian hospital RATES ...

US medicare doesn't come close to that. In general they pay nothing (with a few narrow exceptions). For more info: http://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11037.pdf

 

[MMM]

Thanks knotical. That is an interesting read. So, basically, it's "just passing through" or living exceptionally close to Canada.

 

[Zen Diving Inc.]

I have recently turned 65 and am now on medicare. I have read that medicare pays for NOTHING if an accident happens outside the United States. I have DAN insurance but that seems to have a non-diving medical reimbursement limit of 10K.

Do those of you on medicare purchase additional medical insurance for out of the country dive trips?

How can one afford out of country dive trips and still require medicare? I was under the impression that medicare was for people who could not afford insurance and required government assistance. I'm not saying you are taking advantage of the system. I honestly don't know how it works. It makes about as much sense to me as a family on welfare taking a trip to disneyland at the expense of tax payers.

 

[chrpai]

How can one afford out of country dive trips and still require medicare?

Generally Part A Medicare cannot be declined once you are eligible. Typically a senior citizen who had private health insurance is forced out of it once they turn 65. At that point only supplemental policies that are secondary to the government are obtainable.

I don't like it but with Obama being reelected, a conservative minority in the Senate, a Supreme Court Chief Justice that contrives an argument the government didn't ask to be considered to validate Obamacare and businesses that will find it easier and cheaper to pay the penalty rather then offer health insurance to it's employees..... well bend over and take it.

 

[tracydr]

If US medicare works like it does in Canada, medicare reimburses out-of-country emergency hospital care AT CANADIAN HOSPITAL RATES which are well below what most hospitals south of the border (and elsewhere) would charge. In fact, if you don't carry out-of-country insurance, and you get sick out-of-country, you can face a shockingly high medical bill. So most Canadians are very used to carrying out-of-country health insurance if they travel.

But I recall a case about 10 years ago that hit the media here: an immigrant family travelled to the US for a holiday and their kid broke his neck in some sort of water-related accident. They had no out-of-country insurance and assumed the Canadian health care system would pick up the tab. The kid had to be air-lifted back to Canada after a lengthy hospital stay on a respirator and in a coma. The bill was in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars and I imagine they are still paying for it.

I guess the thinking is that if you are sufficiently well off to afford to travel, you should also be able to afford the insurance. In addition to DAN, we always tack on extra out-of-country health insurance when we go to Mexico for the winter. Mostly the latter plans DON'T cover diving accidents.

If this was Canadians and occurred in in the US, the US facility will normally bill the Canadian government. Or at least, that's how the Urgent Care where I used to work did. We saw Canadien citizens on vacation all the time.
I also used to have several Canadien patiens when I had my own clinic. They paid cash but only because I didn't accept Canadien insurance and wasn't an Urgent Care. They saw me for cosmetic procedures. They told me that they would pay cash at the Mayo for elective surgeries because they had waited too long in Canada and then they would attempt to collect the money after the fact. This was unusually very well off citizens getting elective procedures such as hysterectomies or gallbladder removals that they said they had waited several years for and couldn't stand waiting any longer, due to pain and terrible symptoms.

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How can one afford out of country dive trips and still require medicare? I was under the impression that medicare was for people who could not afford insurance and required government assistance. I'm not saying you are taking advantage of the system. I honestly don't know how it works. It makes about as much sense to me as a family on welfare taking a trip to disneyland at the expense of tax payers.

Sounds like you are confusing Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is actually required of all citizens 65 and over, although you may have supplemental or secondary insurance. Medicaid is insurance for people unable to afford insurance or for the disabled. Medicaid is state run and Medicare is federal.
many people don't understand the difference, although its important to understand the difference, especially as you near 65 years of age.