Medicare usually doesn’t cover medical care outside the U.S. and its territories. However, Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans must cover care you receive outside the U.S. in some very limited certain circumstances:
• Medicare will pay for emergency services in Canada if you are traveling a direct route, without unreasonable delay (straight through), between Alaska and another state, and the closest hospital that can treat you is in Canada.
• Medicare will pay for medical care you get on a cruise ship if you get the care while the ship is in U.S. territorial waters. This means the ship is in a U.S. port or within six hours of arrival at or departure from a U.S. port.
• In limited situations, Medicare may pay for non-emergency inpatient services in a foreign hospital (and any connected provider and ambulance costs). Your care is covered if the hospital is closer to your residence than the nearest available U.S. hospital. For example, this might happen if you live near the border of Mexico or Canada.
Some Medigap policies also provide coverage for travel abroad. Medigap plans C through G, M, and N cover 80% of the cost of emergency care abroad. Check with your policy for specific coverage rules.
Medicare Advantage Plans may also cover emergency care abroad as a supplementary benefit. Contact your plan for more information about its costs and coverage rules.
It is always best to purchase travel insurance coverage. Your Medicare insurance plan is primary coverage and the travel insurance policy is secondary coverage. Travel insurance policies have options to purchase coverage for lost luggage, trip cancellation, helicopter rides to closest U.S. hospital (off a ship), and more.
If you would like a quote for Travel Insurance, please give me call for a quote so I can help and make sure that your enrollment stays with me as the agent/broker. Here is the website for IMG Travel, (scroll down towards the bottom of the page): https://retirementhealthplansmadesimple.com/quote-tools/
SOURCE: www.MedicareRights.org