MEDICARE COVERAGE WHEN YOU TRAVEL

Medicare may pay for inpatient hospital, doctor, or ambulance services you get in a foreign country in some rare cases.

GlobeHoppersm Senior addresses the insurance needs of U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent resident seniors who need temporary medical insurance while traveling outside the U.S.

This plan is designed for U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents 65 years of age or older, who are qualified for Medicare, actively enrolled in Medicare Parts A & B and enrolled in a Medigap Plan or Medicare Advantage Plan.

Plan Highlights

  • Short-term travel medical coverage
  • Coverage for individuals and dependents
  • Two plan designs - Single-Trip and Multi-Trip
  • Maximum Limits from $50,000 to $2,000,000
  • Numerous deductible options
  • Available in daily and monthly rates
  • GlobeHopper Senior Single-Trip is extendable up to 12 months
  • Freedom to seek treatment with hospital or doctor of your choice
  • 24 hour secure access from anywhere in the world to manage your account at any time

Eligible individuals

  • 65 years of age or older
  • U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents
  • Qualified for Medicare, actively enrolled in Medicare Parts A & B and enrolled in a Medigap Plan or Medicare Advantage Plan
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Helpful Information

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(when you need health care outside the U.S.)

In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S. isn't covered. The 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa are considered part of the U.S.

Beneficiaries with Original Medicare are responsible for a deductible and coinsurance for most covered services. The deductible is the amount a beneficiary must pay before Medicare begins to pay for services and supplies covered under the program. Coinsurance is the share of the cost for services that the beneficiary is responsible for after the deductible is met (normally a 20/80 percentage).

Medicare drug plans don't cover prescription drugs you buy outside the U.S. Medicare doesn't cover dialysis you get when you travel outside the U.S. unless it's an emergency in which you get dialysis at a hospital. Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) policies may cover you when you travel outside the U.S.

Medicare may pay for inpatient hospital, doctor, or ambulance services you get in a foreign country in these rare cases:

  • You're in the U.S. when a medical emergency occurs, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition.
  • You're traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat the emergency.
  • You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition, regardless of whether an emergency exists.
  • In some cases, medically necessary health care services you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.

Your costs in Original Medicare

You pay 100% of the costs, in most cases. In the situations described above, you pay 20% of the approved amount, and the Part B deductible applies. In the situations above, Medicare pays only for services covered under Original Medicare:

Medicare Part A

(Hospital Insurance) Covers hospital care (care you get when you've been formally admitted with a doctor's order to the foreign hospital as an inpatient).

Medicare Part B

Part B covers emergency and non-emergency ambulance and doctor services you get immediately before and during your covered foreign inpatient hospital stay. Medicare generally won't pay for services (like return ambulance trips home) if Medicare didn't cover your hospital stay, or you got ambulance and doctor services outside the hospital after your covered hospital stay ended.

You pay

The part of the charge you would normally pay for covered services. This includes any medically necessary doctor and ambulance services you get in a foreign country as part of a covered inpatient hospital stay. You also pay the coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles you'd normally pay if you got these same services or supplies inside the U.S.

Some of the information above is from www.medicare.gov