Medical insurance for US 'resident' long-term cruisers

[Sawbonz]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

I would argue that they know exactly how to fix it, but lack the political will to do so. In all other industrialized countries medical costs are regulated and thus more in line with reality. It aint rocket surgery, but as long as policy is driven by campaign funding I doubt we will see change.



It is frustrating to see politicians arguing non-stop about who will pay for heath care, without addressing why we pay so much.

I won’t comment after this because we have gotten off topic and starting towards political, but I wanted to say that other countries are cheaper for a number of reasons. One, lawyers. ‘Nuff said. Two, other countries are rarely on the forefront of innovation. That happens in the US. Three, they pay it, but they pay it in taxes which aren’t as readily visible as a copay. Oh, and four, we expect it all for everyone all of the time and immediately. That costs money.

[john61ct]

Of course food and decent shelter are basic rights of citizenship in the more civilized developed nations.

[chuckr]

Moderator can you please get this back on target or shut it down - enough politics

[sagablu]

Originally Posted by Sawbonz

That doctor may have CHARGED $68k (which is stupid) but I can guarantee you he didn’t get it.

I should have added more to my post. he had the gall to charge $243,000, the $68,000 is what he was paid. That was his fee exclusive of the hospital fees. Insane and hard to believe, I know.

[Sawbonz]

Originally Posted by sagablu

I should have added more to my post. he had the gall to charge $243,000, the $68,000 is what he was paid. That was his fee exclusive of the hospital fees. Insane and hard to believe, I know.

That is totally asinine. While I support the capitalistic idea of making what you can this is really unfair. What was the procedure?

[sagablu]

Originally Posted by Sawbonz

That is totally asinine. While I support the capitalistic idea of making what you can this is really unfair. What was the procedure?

Cardiac Ablation for A-Fib. I see things like this all to often. Way too much profit in the US medical system.

[valhalla360]

Assuming you are a US Citizen and will have minimal income during the trip, keep your residency and buy obamacare. With low income, it is pretty cheap.

Then add repatriation/travel insurance to get you back home if needed.

This allows you to travel and move between countries without constantly finding new insurance.

Now, if you will still have significant income...trying to work the insurance system in other countries makes more sense.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Sawbonz

I won’t comment after this because we have gotten off topic and starting towards political, but I wanted to say that other countries are cheaper for a number of reasons. One, lawyers. ‘Nuff said. Two, other countries are rarely on the forefront of innovation. That happens in the US. Three, they pay it, but they pay it in taxes which aren’t as readily visible as a copay. Oh, and four, we expect it all for everyone all of the time and immediately. That costs money.

1) conceded
2) Not strictly true; many countries with universal and/or lower-cost health care also have famous and world-leading institutes in medical research. Also, for innovations to work, people have to be able to afford them.
3) Many countries can deliver equivalent and sometimes better health care outcomes than the US, at a lower per-capita cost. They are simply more efficient systems, even as most also contain for-profit providers (doctors, service providers, drug companies, etc).
4) People should expect healthcare for everyone, delivered when needed. What's the point of being a wealthy country if you can't deliver on that? It's a fact that when people can get (and afford) regular checkups and healthcare, problems are detected sooner and intervention is more effective and less expensive.

/derail done

[GrahamO]

Guys,
Thank you for the useful information but it is getting buried in opinion. I have strong opinions about this topic as well but I'm trying to solve a problem here and would really appreciate it if we could stay with relevant facts or proposed solutions.

Thanks!

Graham

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Assuming you are a US Citizen and will have minimal income during the trip, keep your residency and buy obamacare. With low income, it is pretty cheap.

Then add repatriation/travel insurance to get you back home if needed.

This allows you to travel and move between countries without constantly finding new insurance.

Now, if you will still have significant income...trying to work the insurance system in other countries makes more sense.

I guess I do not understand the need to get back to the USA for medical treatment. We have gotten excellent medical over 1/2 the world and paid out of pocket. Hand surgery Colombia 1,500usd, 1/2 nose replaced due to a bit of cancer in Trinidad about 1,800usd, shoulder surgery for torn tendon in Tunisia was about 1,500, gall bladder removed in Turkey 10k and we were told by many Turks that we got taken -

Medical is excellent and reasonable all over the world.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by chuckr

I guess I do not understand the need to get back to the USA for medical treatment. We have gotten excellent medical over 1/2 the world and paid out of pocket. Hand surgery Colombia 1,500usd, 1/2 nose replaced due to a bit of cancer in Trinidad about 1,800usd, shoulder surgery for torn tendon in Tunisia was about 1,500, gall bladder removed in Turkey 10k and we were told by many Turks that we got taken -

Medical is excellent and reasonable all over the world.

If you have insurance, there is nothing that says you can't pay out of pocket for local procedures. If you are sticking to 3rd world countries, it's pretty cheap but had a twisted knee in Italy and nothing but a consultation and basic knee brace and was just shy of $1000.

If you have limited income, obamacare is dirt cheap. $6-800 per year after subsidy. $10k for a gall bladder is still a decent chunk of cash and if you are moving country to country, not so easy to know the going rates.

Nice to have the option to return to what you know if experiencing a trying medical issue.

[ProteusRising]

Originally Posted by sagablu

I am a health insurance broker in the US. I have been using IMG for the last few years, have had no issues with coverage outside the US. Hope this helps.

https://www.imglobal.com/?msclkid=4a...IMG%3A%20Exact

Link broken. Really curious about this, so if you can post a corrected link, that would be great. Thanks.

[ProteusRising]

We're interested in this and although, it'll be years before we're out of the U.S. for more than 6 months at a time, we've already started talking to insurance companies about this. There is a possibility to let your life insurance pay for your health insurance...but I'm not an expert at that as of yet and we're still learning. But, I'm very interested in this subject as there doesn't seem to be any easy answers for this, save to have a chunk of huge change in the bank and pay as you go.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by ProteusRising

Link broken. Really curious about this, so if you can post a corrected link, that would be great. Thanks.

The link works for me. Or just manually prune it to this:
https://www.imglobal.com/

[hellosailor]

"It’s possible that that doctor didn’t have a contract with your insurer. That’s pretty unusual but it does happen."
Sawbonz, it sounds like you're stuck in a time warp.

These days? Most folks are HMO or PPO or some other plan group, and it is VERY common to have a thousand doctors in your area, with only fifty of them vaguely under your plan. The others are all out of plan, and bill the insurer at full rack rate.

Some major insurers no longer issue wider coverage, and they tell practitioners that's in order to ensure there will be enough business for the few they accept, to make it worth accepting the crumbs they pay.

Any state insurance commission will tell you, off the record, that the only reason they don't "throw the bums out" and prosecute more often, is that they would have no insurers left if they did that every time it was merited.