Medical insurance

[Viki]

Was wondering what full timers do for secondary insurance to Medicare.  If you don’t live in or close to South Dakota or Texas but have your physical address with escapees, how do you manage regular doctor visits. 

[Second Chance]

If you use the search function on the forums, there are quite a few threads on this topic. That said, we are domiciled in Texas but our providers are all in the Augusta, GA, area (GA and SC) from whence we launched. We route back through the area once a year for our regular appointments and will sometimes get a 6-month dental cleaning and checkup wherever we happen to be. Our situation is simpler than many with Medicare and Tricare For Life as the secondary (retired military). You'll get almost as many answers to this question, though, as there are members on the forum - everyone's situation is different.

Rob

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums, Viki!

While there have been some discussions of where you should use for an insurance address, I believe that most fulltime RV folks do as we did and signed up for our Medigap policy using the same address as ou domicile and our mail service. It has been a while but we were fulltime before we were eligible for Social Security and Medicare. Upon reaching age 62, we each signed up for SS, and we used the mail service address which was also how we had been filing our income tax for 5 years at the time. Upon reaching 65 each of us signed up for Medicare and again used the same address, which is what we used for everything. I believe that our Medigap assumes the address used for Medicare. 

A member of the forums, Mike.gibble is an insurance agent so perhaps he can join in and help.

[Twotoes]

I am a full timer with the Escapees South Dakota address who is on MediCare. I purchased my supplement using the SD address. DO NOT PURCHASE A MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN IT IS A HMO. The supplement plans available last year in SD were United Health Care thru AARP, or a supplement plan thru Mutual of Omaha. I went with Mutual of Omaha’s G plan. I also purchased my part D prescription plan thru Silver Scrip/CVS. When I need a Dr I just go on Medicare’s website, click in the location I am in and find Dr in the area who accepts MediCare. I use Walgreens or CVS for my Rx. 

[D&J]

All supplement plan except a Advantage plan are required to have national coverage, all the plans weather they G, F or any of the lettered plans have the same coverage with the only difference being the price. I just went to a independent agent to find a plan. Just use your domicile for a address. 

Denny 

[2gypsies]

Go to the official Medicare site and you can easily find the supplement for you.  Good comparison of plans. You don't need an agent.  I agree, get a Medicare Supplement; not an Advantage Plan.  In 16 years of full-timing we never had a problem finding a doctor in any state we needed one.

https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/#/?lang=en

[whj469]

An Advantage plan can be at no cost where as they, AARP/United Health Care, want $600 per month for both of us for a supplemental policy.  My Advantage Plan is the best health care that I have ever had! They only pay for emergency care if out of area, four counties in SE Texas. So should I pay $7,200 per year for a supplemental policy in case I need to see a doctor while I am on the road? In many places I can see a doctor for less the $100.

 

[Kirk W]

Viki, have we answered the questions that you have, or at least helped a bit? 

[Twotoes]

On 3/24/2020 at 6:27 PM, whj469 said:

An Advantage plan can be at no cost where as they, AARP/United Health Care, want $600 per month for both of us for a supplemental policy.  My Advantage Plan is the best health care that I have ever had! They only pay for emergency care if out of area, four counties in SE Texas. So should I pay $7,200 per year for a supplemental policy in case I need to see a doctor while I am on the road? In many places I can see a doctor for less the $100.

My supplemental plan using the Escapees SD address thru Mutual of Omaha is only $225 per month and is good for everything everywhere and not just for emergencies. It covers everything Medicare does not. I only have to pay my Medicare annual deductible of $195 .