Medical Insurance before Medicare kicks in

[sailscubasurf]

Hello,

My girlfriend and I are planning on retiring in two years at the age of 62. While our retirement funds are enough to live and cruise, we cannot afford the $600 per month (each) we currently pay for medical insurance.

How do other cruisers handle their medical insurance needs?

We are both fairly healthy, and were thinking about some kind of catastrophic insurance (cancer, accidents, etc.).

We are planning on splitting our time in Mexico/Central America and Europe.

Any suggestions and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[redhead]

I have the Affordable Healthcare Act subsidy - I have a plan with a huge deductible so it's basically just a contingency plan for a catastrophy - I pay US $42 per month.

Luckily, I'm pretty healthy and don't have any ongoing prescriptions (yet...)

[rtoner]

There is a cruisers insurance you can get. This covered me and my wife for all Europe and Latin America for a year (1k). It did not cover us in the USA if we were here more than two weeks.

[Sojourner]

I use IntegraGlobal missionary health insurance... catastrophic coverage mostly, about a grand a year premium. It is good for inside the US as well, as long as I don't live there or spend more than 6 months a year there. I think the scuba organization DAN does cruising insurance too....

[sailscubasurf]

Originally Posted by rtoner

There is a cruisers insurance you can get. This covered me and my wife for all Europe and Latin America for a year (1k). It did not cover us in the USA if we were here more than two weeks.

Can you tell me the name of the insurance?

[rtoner]

I don’t have access to my laptop right now but this I found when I started looking. https://www.marine-insurance.co.nz/

Not sure if they are still open for business. Or try this. http://www.bwsailing.com/bw/cruising...-for-cruisers/

Good luck.

[zeehag]

i have useless medicare and i pay cash on delivery of healthcare.
as you go you will learn medicare is absolutely useless. best use for it is to get you into a hospital so you can receive emergency coverage thru the state in which you reside. usable inside usa only.
costs of health care delivery are so incredibly much less in mexico and other locales--mexico is approx 1/16 price of usa medications. check up costs vary md to md. i had an ent exam for 100 pesos, and a trauma surgeon eval for a procedure for 500 pesos. very reasonable . took a friend into a private hospital/clinic in zihuat for severe dehydration-- after 4 bags iv fluid and 4 suero(electrolite) and rest--one 12 hour day, 3000 pesos. exchange was 12 to one usd at that time.

[RobPatterson]

I have found the cost of health care in Mexico and Nicaragua to be so low that I am self insured. The care is excellent. The cost in Costa Rica is higher but still affordable.

[leboyd]

If you’re not going to be in the US (splitting your time between Europe and Central/Latin America), the Medicare is not going to be of any value to you (other than maybe with a prescription supplement).

You will need to think about your solution for much longer than three years.

That being said, as was mentioned, at least in Central/Latin America and Caribbean, the cost of on-demand medical care is generally significantly lower than the US. I once received a quite nasty cut on my hand in Dominica and they didn’t charge me anything to clean it, wrap it and provide additional bandaging for future changing. I got an eye infection when something got in my eye while swimming from the dingy buoy to shore at the Baths. In Spanish Town, the Dr. and prescriptions were about the same as a typical US co-pay. I recall a couple of other events, but not the specifics, over the last 30 years of traveling the Caribbean and I never felt I paid a lot for the service.

[Cloroxbottle]

Originally Posted by sailscubasurf

Hello,



My girlfriend and I are planning on retiring in two years at the age of 62. While our retirement funds are enough to live and cruise, we cannot afford the $600 per month (each) we currently pay for medical insurance.



How do other cruisers handle their medical insurance needs?



We are both fairly healthy, and were thinking about some kind of catastrophic insurance (cancer, accidents, etc.).



We are planning on splitting our time in Mexico/Central America and Europe.



Any suggestions and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Obamacare outlawed catastrophic coverage policies.

One of the side effect of that law is that people are finding it prohibitively expensive to buy insurance to cover them from their retirement date to age 65 (or whatever that magic number will be raised to in the future). One of my colleagues priced policies from age 62 onward and was getting quotes north of 2000 a month for he and his wife and that seems quite common. So at 600 a month each, you are actually doing quite well.

The best alternative given where you are going to be cruising is to look for some sort of global coverage insurance and have your health care needs taken care of in your cruising grounds. Global coverage insurance that won't cover you in the US can be quite affordable and frankly as a cash paying customer you can get equivalent care in a European or high quality South American (Chile, yes, Venezuela not so much) health care system as you would here.

For some conditions, it is actually better in Europe because new procedures and drugs don't face the same liability/malpractice hurdles as they do here.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by leboyd

If you’re not going to be in the US (splitting your time between Europe and Central/Latin America), the Medicare is not going to be of any value to you (other than maybe with a prescription supplement).

......

Medigap policies cover the first 60 days out of the country for emergency care. But more important your Medicare is your insurance should you get a serious long-term costly disease, so you don't burn through all yours and your spouse's assets.
General medical care is not expensive outside the US, but major medical care can be just as ruinous.

[redhead]

Originally Posted by Cloroxbottle

Obamacare outlawed catastrophic coverage policies.

I call it catastrophic coverage when the deductible is $7000 for each of us. We just have it so we don't lose the house in the worst case scenario.

My husband's since gone on Medicare, so my coverage is down to $42/month and I'm glad to have it. I'm in pretty good health (knock wood) and don't have any prescriptions to fill so it fits the bill pretty well. Each decision has to be made based on individual health requirements.

[chuckr]

We left at 62 and that was 11 years ago. We do not carry medical insurance and pay out of pocket. We have had a few issues and medical is really inexpensive. Went to a eye doc here in Turkey the other day and cost was about $40usd for a visit and check with no waiting and a referral to an eye specialist in a university hospital that was for the next day and cost about 210usd for the most complete eye exam I have ever had and a dx that I have to use eye drops the rest of my life. It also included a follow up. The first doc has seen me on a walk in at no cost twice now and wants to see me one more time before we set sail at all no added cost -
This is just one small example and we have others such as shoulder surgery for a torn tendon ect

[tackleandtax]

Trying to make sense of Medicare for a close friend of mine who hasn't paid enough attention to his paperwork and is now in a bit of trouble. Sorry if these are dumb questions!

He has no fixed address, but is from New Mexico and has never arranged residence abroad, which I believe makes him a New Mexico resident still. Is this correct?

He has some health issues now (outside of US) and I don't know if he is covered. I have read about "Medigap plan K" and believe it may offer him some coverage when outside of USA. Is this a possibility? Am I completely wrong?

I would try and call Medicare myself but I've been told they won't give me any info as I'm not a blood relation.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by tackleandtax

Trying to make sense of Medicare for a close friend of mine who hasn't paid enough attention to his paperwork and is now in a bit of trouble. Sorry if these are dumb questions!

He has no fixed address, but is from New Mexico and has never arranged residence abroad, which I believe makes him a New Mexico resident still. Is this correct?

He has some health issues now (outside of US) and I don't know if he is covered. I have read about "Medigap plan K" and believe it may offer him some coverage when outside of USA. Is this a possibility? Am I completely wrong?

I would try and call Medicare myself but I've been told they won't give me any info as I'm not a blood relation.

Your friend is most likely considered a resident of NM. Related items like a drivers license, registering to vote, a mailing address can all help to confirm.

The medicare medi-gap policies offer some out of US coverage. Usually only for the first 2 months out of country. You pay for the medigap policy separately from medicare and it is optional.

Traveling back to the US or a US territory and medicare coverage will kick back in.