US Health Care Bill and Cruising

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I'm in Ireland and we generally need health insurance. To my knowledge no healthcare insurance covers you out of your country All it covers is emergency healthcare s
and then if you want more you are going home. I don't beleive it is possible to insure yourself abroad like at home.

Dave

I'm not sure about Ireland, but in the UK you can "purchase" an E111 card which covers most medical stuff whilst travelling in the EU

Introduction to EHIC

Maybe Ireland has something similar?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

I'm not sure about Ireland, but in the UK you can "purchase" an E111 card which covers most medical stuff whilst travelling in the EU

Introduction to EHIC

Maybe Ireland has something similar?

Yes but thats a EU thing, its really not a medical insurance thing. I have both a EHIC ( the E111 thing is gone) and foreign assit medical insurance coverage. The EHIC is really a repicrocal aggreement to recognise each others public health service. ( You dont purchase it, its free) for example in ireland a foreign EHIC, will not get you access to private hospitals, wheras medical insurance will ( in some cases). Anyway since you guys in the UK never need medical insurance at home, how do you cope with the need for extended cover abroad?

The EHIC, is not really useful for the long term cruiser as it effectively ends if you looses residency in your own country, ie you leave it for more then 6 months. Its really designed for tourists. ( sorry for the thread drift guys).

The reason I comment re teh US medical posiiton ( I do have a reasonable experience as I lived there). Most medical insurance policies over cover emergency facilities abroad, You dont get the full features of the plan like you do at home and this is a fairly universal situation.

But for US citizens/residents cruising outside with potential medical exposure you need to purchase the International Medical Plans available from multiple sources. These cover your medical needs in other countries and also satisfy the "Visa" medical insurance requirements such as the French have

That not neccessarily the case, foreign medical insurance plans, actualy rarely meet the new french medical insurance requirements, unless they specifically state so. There has been a lot of problems under the new "non-activ" residency laws where people with insurance found they werent covered.

[osirissail]

Since this is a Cruisers Forum, I was discussing medical plans for long term travel (cruising) outside your home country. I.M.I.S. and a web search will locate organizations that specifically address the medical insurance needs of cruisers. Most all of these International Medical Insurance plan are specific policies that also include coverage/language that meets the requirements of medical coverage for Visas of different countries including the French. Otherwise they would not be competitive in the cruiser and world traveler market. These are stand-alone policies over and beyond any National medical schemes that you may qualify for. Co-ordination of benefits is always a high priority for any insurance company if another valid coverage exists. If it does not exist then these type policies cover all or at least up to the purchased limits you paid for.
- - Since it will be years (maybe) before all the regulations and procedures are written and published for the new modifications to USA medical insurance, having a solid coverage for the time you are outside your home country is a consideration in whatever planning you are doing. These various International Medical Insurance policies all have a "rider" or additional coverage available to take care of your medical insurance needs inside your home country. But, in the case of the USA/Canada the premiums for such coverage rise in multiples of the cost of the basic "outside" coverage.
- - I have yet to do a spreadsheet costs of the Medicare coverage costs per year versus the cost of the "rider/additional coverage" for inside your home country (e.g., USA). It just might be that after the rate increases for internal coverages and the new requirements of this law - the International Medical Insurance "rider/additional coverage" may be more economical. But it will take years to hash out the complexities and impact of the new law.

[lucseawalker]

As far as Emergency Medical Travel insurance + full hyperbare treatment in case of scuba diving accident: we have DAN insurance. DAN - Divers Alert Network is a nonprofit scuba diving and dive safety association providing expert medical advise for underwater injuries, ...
DAN Divers Alert Network
Had some friends who were very happy to be covered!

[gwmort]

Originally Posted by Stevens 47

Here is an example. I have rental house's in Florida. It has been my intention to live of the rental income while cruising. I live in California and the boat will be home ported in CA. I currently do not have health insurance. In 2014 if I am cruising in New Zealand, would I be required to purchase insurance in the USA. Seems like I would then I would have to travel back to the USA/State of issuance to use the policy??

It works like this, if you have a policy, inform the irs of the amount you are paying in premiums and you'll get a tax break. If you don't disclose the premiums you pay you won't get the tax break, which effectively amounts to a tax penalty for anyone that doesn't have coverage and pays US taxes. Thats pretty much it.

[osirissail]

The question for international cruisers might better be - does our "international medical" policies qualify as "having insurance" for the new rules? Since most, if not all, internal USA health insurance does not cover you for outside the USA long term (a cruise ship vacation or a week or two in a resort is normally covered).