Health Insurance

[Gary Smith]

Me and my wife would like to start camp hosting this winter. We are 58 with a good savings but no company insurance. And suggestions on a good plan or other methods of approach....      Thank you for any help....

[Zulu]

First, where (City, State) will you be hosting?

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums, Gary! More important than where you will host is the issue of where your domicile will be. Do you plan to retain a home and domicile in your present state of residence, or will you change? Before you get to far on that subject, I suggest reading The Issue of Domicile just to get a feel for what the issues may be. You don't really say that you plan to go full-time so if not domicile isn't really an issue. The issue of heath insurance has very different answers, depending upon what state you will be shopping for insurance in. 

[Twotoes]

My domicile is So Dakota using the Escapees address. My health insurance is thru So Dakota insurance broker who is a Escapees commercial member. 

[Lisa S]

I am from Texas and domicile in Texas and I am a fulltimer.  I am 63 and I am going thru the Health Marketplace for my medical insurance.  I have been told that my insurance is only good in Texas therefore if I need to see a Dr. while out of state it comes out of my pocket.  Do I have any options for insurance that I can use wherever I travel without paying huge monthly premiums?

[Barbaraok]

Most insurance will cover emergency situations, like to an urgent care facility for a sore throat, er for broken leg or heart attack.  Whether the insurance you chose would cover other things is in the fine print of the policing so you have to read very carefully and ask questions.   They will expect that you return to Texas for your primary care annual visits, etc.    We always made a circuit of the country returning to Texas in November for our checkups, etc., and then the holidays with our daughter and son-in-law.   Since you are 63, you will need to do something similar for 3 years.   We never had a problem as our insurance was overseen by BCBS and we found we were never turned away for an strep throat, etc.  

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you here.

1 hour ago, Lisa S said:

I have been told that my insurance is only good in Texas therefore if I need to see a Dr. while out of state it comes out of my pocket. 

If this information was not from your insurance carrier, check with them before you make any changes. Most policies state pretty clearly doctor limitations and such. Is your present policy an HMO or a PPO? If you share information specifics about the policy we may be able to find the information that you need. 

[Zulu]

2 hours ago, Lisa S said:

I am from Texas and domicile in Texas and I am a fulltimer.  I am 63 and I am going thru the Health Marketplace for my medical insurance.  I have been told that my insurance is only good in Texas therefore if I need to see a Dr. while out of state it comes out of my pocket.  Do I have any options for insurance that I can use wherever I travel without paying huge monthly premiums?

Probably Yes – if you spend time in a couple of locations during the year.

Probably No – if you spend time in many locations during the year.

The ACA has a provision called the Special Enrollment Period (SEP). In a nutshell, it allows you to change health insurance as you move around.

For example, if you wintered in FL, then you could apply for one of the FL ACA plans which I believe still offer nationwide EPO plans. To check, determine the ZIP code of where you'll stay and use www.healthsherpa.com to see the available health plans. For instance, I used the ZIP code for St Johns county (32033) and found 108 plans. I further refined the search by just looking at Florida Blue (Blue Cross Blue Shield FL) – there were 26 EPO plans.

[Blues]

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

If this information was not from your insurance carrier, check with them before you make any changes. Most policies state pretty clearly doctor limitations and such. Is your present policy an HMO or a PPO? If you share information specifics about the policy we may be able to find the information that you need. 

She said she's getting her insurance through the "Health Marketplace", which I assume is healthcare.gov.   There are currently no Texas plans on the Marketplace that provide access to a nationwide network.  And even the EPO or PPO plans on the Marketplace might have a network that covers only a certain region of Texas, and not the whole state, never mind other states.

There might be companies that offer policies that offer access to a nationwide network via policies that aren't sold on the Marketplace, but I've never heard of anyone who actually knows of one.  I suppose you'd have to just start calling every insurance company you can think of and ask, and hope the person you're talking to understands what you're asking.

And good luck getting a look at a policy before buying the insurance.  I've found that the most you can do is navigate the provider network on a company's website, and hope that the general information you get for who's in network will be applicable to the particular policy you're planning to buy.