Health Insurance Confusion-

[Steevo]

I am currently in the U.S. and covered under Medicaid. I am 59 years old and will be leaving for Thailand & various parts of Southeast Asia on a 2-3 year hiatus and possible retirement. I have a Thai long stay retirement Visa so Thailand will be my base but I do not currently have or plan to have a permanent address in Thailand.

I am looking for options on International Health Insurance. I just spoke with two Insurance companies 1 in the UK the other in the States. Both quotes were between $500.00 & $1,000 per month. I almost needed medical care on the spot.

I would like to pick the brains of those already in the know about this topic. Do I need to purchase international health insurance in the US or is there a better alternative. What kind of Insurance do Travellers have?

I leave in about 3 weeks and would really appreciate some help.....other sites are to vague

[Sheryl]

People have done all 3:

- Get local Thai poilcy (coverage levels tend to be unrealistially low, so always need to go for the highest level offered)

-Get US policy that covers while abroad

-get other international policy

A lot depends on whether you expect to return to the US at any point/want the option of going back there for health care.

I would say that as a US citizen still now living in the US your best bet is to get a US policy now that includes cover for extended periods abroad, and preferrably one with a company that offers some sort of Medicare Advantage/gap plan so that later on you have that option. It is not possible to sign up for any of those plans once no longer living in the US, if you do a search in this forum you'll find long discussions of this.

In addition, Thai companies will absolutely exclude you if you have pre-existing conditions, and are some times skittish about taking people on at your age. Thanks to the Obama reforms these are no longer problems in the US.

As a result the only folks here who have coverage that includes the US and Medicare gap are those who obtained it before moving to Thailand.

It is also not possible to take advantage of the subsidies under "ObamaCare" (if you qualify for them) or use its exchanges when not living in the US. So all in all, you are probably best off arranging something there provided you can get something that includes coverage while living abroad for extended periods.

For me, I have a local policy that covers worldwide except the US and take out travel insurance when I go back to the US for short visits. But that would preclude going to the US for anything pre-existing and will put me at a disadvantage when I reach Medicare age in terms of not having a gap coverage.