Retirees? What'S Your Thai Living Budget?

[NancyL]

Living in Thailand won't have any increase in Medicare for us.

Mine will as far as I know. What makes you say there will not be an increase if someone is living in Thailand?

MSPain

From the Social Security web site:

Information about Medicare changes for 2012, when announced, will be available at www.Medicare.gov. For some beneficiaries, their Social Security increase may be partially or completely offset by increases in Medicare premiums.

Some American retirees here do elect to pay in for Medicare and their premiums will increase. For those of us that either are too young for Medicare or have opted-out of the program, then it's party time with that 3.6% increase! Whoopie -- that's about a $50 per month increase for Hubby and our monthly expenses for groceries have increased by much more than that in the past six months here.

But, we should count our blessings. At least we'll get the same increase as U.S. residents, unlike our British cousins who don't see their government pensions indexed if they report overseas addresses.

Edited October 21, 2011 by NancyL

[L&J]

Medicare Part A which covers inpatient hospital care,nursing home care, hospice care and

home health care is FREE for virtually anyone who is receiving social security benefits.

Exception would be few people who didn't pay much in Medicare taxes when they were working or probably

more correctly not working.

Can't imagine why anyone would "opt out" of being enrolled in Medicare Part A?

.

However if you want Medicare Part B-C-D then you are going to pay premiums and will get increases.

If you are retired in Thailand you can't use Medicare coverage unless you haul yourself back to the USA.

Quite feasible plan if you are diagnosed with a condition that requires treatment. However have a heart

attack, stroke or get run over by a motorbike and you're not getting on a plane for treatment so you better

have resources here to pay for emergency treatment. What that is essentially called is Self Insurance and

you should be safe with 1 million baht at hand. If you don't have that then answer the question who is going

to pay for your treatment? If you don't have a good answer maybe you should get back to your home country

where you are covered by insurance at least in part. If you're too young for that coverage then maybe your

"retirement' is more wishful thinking than a reality.

Edited October 21, 2011 by L&J

[NancyL]

Medicare Part A which covers inpatient hospital care,nursing home care, hospice care and

home health care is FREE for virtually anyone who is receiving social security benefits.

Exception would be few people who didn't pay much in Medicare taxes when they were working or probably

more correctly not working.

Can't imagine why anyone would "opt out" of being enrolled in Medicare Part A?

.

However if you want Medicare Part B-C-D then you are going to pay premiums and will get increases.

If you are retired in Thailand you can't use Medicare coverage unless you haul yourself back to the USA.

Quite feasible plan if you are diagnosed with a condition that requires treatment. However have a heart

attack, stroke or get run over by a motorbike and you're not getting on a plane for treatment so you better

have resources here to pay for emergency treatment. What that is essentially called is Self Insurance and

you should be safe with 1 million baht at hand. If you don't have that then answer the question who is going

to pay for your treatment? If you don't have a good answer maybe you should get back to your home country

where you are covered by insurance at least in part. If you're too young for that coverage then maybe your

"retirement' is more wishful thinking than a reality.

Thank you for the clarification of Medicare. The advice to have at least 1 MM baht on hand for a medical emergency is good. I'd also add it would be a good idea to have at least 100,000 baht readily accessible, like in an ATM account, because hospitals will ask for a deposit at the time of admission. I know many retirees who have their head in the sand on this issue. They think that somehow the hospitals are "obligated" to treat them if they show up at the the emergency room in critical condition. Or they think they can go back to their home country immediately if they need treatment without realizing they may be in no shape to travel.

American retirees who opt out of Medicare Part B-C-D can get back in, but the enrollment period is just for a few months of the year. It's my understanding that the enrollment period for this year is now -- Oct 7 thru Dec 7 and the new policy additions will go into affect Jan 1. So I guess you should "plan ahead" for your emergencies -- not very possible, is it?

[hml367]

A person should check with both Medicare and their medical coverage provider as to who will pay what and who pays first. There are some instances that it may be better to pay the Medicare premiums while out of the U.S.A. in case a person does have an "emergency" situation. I consider myself better off to pay for Medicare B, even though I live in Thailand.

I think most "emergencies" would be unplanned and as NancyL posted, Medicare has enrollent periods.

There is a lot of information (besides forums) on the internet that should be able to help a person make a good decision. If someone doesn't happen to use the internet or cannot, they should take other avenues to find out what is available to them and which is best for them.

Not everyone thinks about what could happen in the same way. A person has to make the decision for themselves. Of course they can read opinions on forums and talk to people to get their opinions.

MSPain