USA medicare coverage in Thailand

[pomchop]

In reading this it sure appears that if you live in USA but get admitted to a hospital in Thailand that Medicare would reimburse you for most of the Thai hospital costs....does anyone have any first hand experience with this?  Sure would be nice to know for sure that if you get hospitalized in Thailand that you do have coverage..

 

https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11037-Medicare-Coverage-Outside-United-States.pdf

[cdemundo]

"There are 3 situations when Medicare may pay for certain types of health care services you get in a foreign hospital (a hospital outside the U.S.):

1. You’re in the U.S. when you have a medical emergency, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your illness or injury.

2. 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 your illness or injury. Medicare determines what qualifies as “without unreasonable delay” on a case-by-case basis.

3. 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 it’s an emergency."

 

"Except in the limited situations described on page 1, Medicare doesn’t pay for health care services you get outside the U.S."

 

Seems like care in Thailand is not one of these 3 situations.

Edited July 21, 2022 by cdemundo

[ubonjoe]

Moved to the US & Canada sub forum of the home country forum.

[pomchop]

10 hours ago, cdemundo said:

"There are 3 situations when Medicare may pay for certain types of health care services you get in a foreign hospital (a hospital outside the U.S.):

1. You’re in the U.S. when you have a medical emergency, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your illness or injury.

2. 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 your illness or injury. Medicare determines what qualifies as “without unreasonable delay” on a case-by-case basis.

3. 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 it’s an emergency."

 

"Except in the limited situations described on page 1, Medicare doesn’t pay for health care services you get outside the U.S."

 

Seems like care in Thailand is not one of these 3 situations.

why would Thailand not be covered under #3...for sure any hospital in thailand would be closer to home than the nearest us hospital???

 

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 it’s an emergency."

[cdemundo]

1 hour ago, pomchop said:

why would Thailand not be covered under #3...for sure any hospital in thailand would be closer to home than the nearest us hospital???

 

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 it’s an emergency."

"You live in the U.S."

That kind of sums it up.

 

[mania]

1 hour ago, pomchop said:

why would Thailand not be covered under #3...for sure any hospital in thailand would be closer to home than the nearest us hospital???

 

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 it’s an emergency."

Because

You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital

 

If you live in the US that is your home

[GinBoy2]

The only way you are ever going to get Medicare to cough up is if you are traveling through Canada to/from Alaska, apart from that it's delusional.

 

Now why Medicare should be treated differently from Tricare, call your Rep or Senator!

[pomchop]

2 hours ago, cdemundo said:

"You live in the U.S."

That kind of sums it up.

 

yes i live in usa but am travelling in thailand and the foreign hospital is closer to my home???  govt insurance fine print doubletalk?

[pomchop]

ok it appears that a supplemental plan g which i do have will cover in first 60 days??

Does Medicare cover international medical emergencies?

 

 

If you have Medigap Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M or N, your plan: Covers foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first 60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn't otherwise cover the care.

 

[pomchop]

ok for anyone interested here is an answer re supplemental medicare plan coverage for first 60 days in a foreign country

 

Plan G is also one of the Medigap plans that include foreign travel. With so many people on the move these days, this benefit is a priority for those who travel for work or leisure. Foreign travel emergency care is covered if it begins during the first 60 days of the excursion. After meeting a deductible, the benefit amounts to 80% of the charges invoiced for specific medically necessary emergency care outside the United States. In 2019, the deductible is $250 and the lifetime limit is $50,000.

[mania]

1 hour ago, pomchop said:

ok for anyone interested here is an answer re supplemental medicare plan coverage for first 60 days in a foreign country

 

Plan G is also one of the Medigap plans that include foreign travel. With so many people on the move these days, this benefit is a priority for those who travel for work or leisure. Foreign travel emergency care is covered if it begins during the first 60 days of the excursion. After meeting a deductible, the benefit amounts to 80% of the charges invoiced for specific medically necessary emergency care outside the United States. In 2019, the deductible is $250 and the lifetime limit is $50,000.

You would actually do better to just buy travel insurance

I usually buy 100k USD coverage for three months runs me $201

[mania]

2 hours ago, pomchop said:

yes i live in usa but am travelling in thailand and the foreign hospital is closer to my home???  govt insurance fine print doubletalk?

Not really as your home is where you live

Where you travel is not your home

Trust me we would all love to have medicare in a foreign country ????

[pomchop]

31 minutes ago, mania said:

You would actually do better to just buy travel insurance

I usually buy 100k USD coverage for three months runs me $201

yep but i already have the plan g  which ocvers all kinds of extra stuff in usa and am at least covered for major problem in foreign country up to 50 K....for first 60 days....works for me....didn't even realize i had any out of usa coverage so pleasant surprise