By Greg Dill
Planning to travel abroad this summer? Before you go, keep in mind that Medicare usually does not cover health care services or supplies while you’re traveling outside the United States.
That doesn’t mean you have to travel abroad without health coverage. Here are 3 ways you can get health coverage outside the U.S.:
In some cases, Medicare may cover medically necessary health care services you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining 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.
Medicare also may pay for inpatient hospital, doctor, ambulance services, or dialysis you get in a foreign country in these rare cases:
Medicare drug plans (Part D) don’t cover prescription drugs you buy outside the U.S.
If you get sick or injured while abroad, in most cases you’ll pay 100% of the costs. In the situations described above, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, and the Part B deductible applies.
In the situations above, Medicare pays only for services covered under Original Medicare:
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 United States.
Foreign hospitals aren’t required to file Medicare claims for your medical costs. You need to submit an itemized bill to Medicare for your doctor, inpatient, and ambulance services if both of these apply:
Safe travels!
Greg Dill is Medicare’s regional administrator for Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Territories. You can get answers to your Medicare questions by visiting www.Medicare.gov or calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
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