Insurance

[swanbirdcygnus]

This may be a bit off-issue, since it's not exactly a Bluebird question, however others than myself may have the same question.

Which is: Does anyone have any information about how to find Medicare Supplement Insurance that is not regional based? In other words, how does a full-time RVer who constantly travels get insurance that doesn't require visiting doctors in a home-base area? Some policies only cover visits to an ER or Immediate Care facility out of the area where their insurance provider is based, which isn't always the best way to get some medical issues resolved

Thanks,
Dave Swan
88FC Silver Edition

[JackandLiz]

Originally Posted by swanbirdcygnus

This may be a bit off-issue, since it's not exactly a Bluebird question, however others than myself may have the same question.

Which is: Does anyone have any information about how to find Medicare Supplement Insurance that is not regional based? In other words, how does a full-time RVer who constantly travels get insurance that doesn't require visiting doctors in a home-base area? Some policies only cover visits to an ER or Immediate Care facility out of the area where their insurance provider is based, which isn't always the best way to get some medical issues resolved

Thanks,
Dave Swan
88FC Silver Edition

Howdy, Dave.
You have posted a interesting question. Jack and I are full-time RVers and belong to the Escapees RV Club, an organization that supports fulltimers. The club might have some contacts for what you want. We have Medicare gap insurance through Jack's former employer, GE. How about checking out the discussion forums at the Escapees's web site? www. escapees.com. Another thought is that AARP might have plans that would work for you.

I do know that our premiums are based upon our home base's area. Ours is Livingston, TX.

Hope this helps,
Liz Pearce

[Lee Davis]

I am going on Medicare next month and have just had to decide about this stuff. I found that the Medigap plans were pretty expensive so I have opted for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Tennessee) Sapphire Advantage plan to go with my Medicare Part B. It has no premiums but does have copays for Doctor visits. One big plus is that BC/BS is pretty much around the country wherever you are. And drugs are covered up to the "doughnut hole" with small copays as well. If you hit the doughnut hole it gets expensinve quickly, but I think this is the case independent of whichever plan you choose. BC/BS has several other plans including some with premiums (Diamond, Platinum) that are better if you expect big problems with hospital stays, etc., but we are hoping that doesn't happen for awhile. I understand you can change plans once a year during the enrollment period with no penalty.

But, as the disclaimers always say, I am not responsible for any of this information and you should check it out yourself as your circumstances may be different.

Best,

[fxdwg]

Dave,
Any of the national companies (BCBS, United Healthcare, Aetna, etc) should be able to provide a decent plan that will give you nation wide coverage. I deal with this every day as a healthcare provider. As long as you stay with one of the "big guys", you'll be good to go. Virtually everybody will be on these panels.

[peteaeonix]

BCBS is truly nationwide, even though it's broken up in state or regional units. My wife's (new) employer is headquartered in NC, so our coverage is through BCBS of NC -- but it's honored without difficulty in our home area of Northern California. Visiting the "home" BCBS web site and following the links to look for participating doctors takes you to a national database if your zip code is outside NC...

The HMOs, (especially) Kaiser Permanente have regional restrictions, although you are allowed to "visit" other facilities outside your home area. Even so, there are broad swaths of the country where care isn't available. Kaiser has an "out of system" coverage for emergency care, but there are more restrictions and you might end up with unexpected fees. You can't get coverage for routine care outside one of the Kaiser facilities.

That said, our coverage was through Kaiser during our heaviest travel the previous couple of years -- we just planned our trips to allow us to have annual checks, etc. in our home area. Since I regularly used their mail-pharmacy service, ordering refills via the Internet, I was able to direct refills to be mailed to us on the road (when we had an address that would be stable for the necessary time period for shipping).