How to obtain Medicaid coverage on the road?

[myfirstRV]

How do you deal with health insurance while on the road? 

I am a single healthy male in my 30's. I do not have income.

I am considering either Medicaid or marketplace insurance. Are there issues demonstrating eligibility without being physically present in your state? How has your experience been receiving coverage in different states while traveling?

I do not yet have a domicile, though I'm considering SD since it seems to be the easiest to obtain domicile. I am open to all options. What is the ideal state for healthcare eligibility?

[Chalkie]

17 hours ago, myfirstRV said:

How do you deal with health insurance while on the road? 

I am a single healthy male in my 30's. I do not have income.

I am considering either Medicaid or marketplace insurance. Are there issues demonstrating eligibility without being physically present in your state? How has your experience been receiving coverage in different states while traveling?

I do not yet have a domicile, though I'm considering SD since it seems to be the easiest to obtain domicile. I am open to all options. What is the ideal state for healthcare eligibility?

Every state has differing requirements for Medicaid eligibility so you will need to determine which is best from that aspect. Also Medicaid generally does not cover non-emergency health needs out of state. 

South Dakota, Texas, and Florida are considered to be the most RV friendly states.

[myfirstRV]

12 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

Every state has differing requirements for Medicaid eligibility so you will need to determine which is best from that aspect. Also Medicaid generally does not cover non-emergency health needs out of state. 

I'm very aware that every state is different. I'm wondering if anyone in this channel has first-hand experience dealing with out-of-state Medicaid issues?

 

12 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

South Dakota, Texas, and Florida are considered to be the most RV friendly states.

I've heard this as well. Do you know why they're considered RV friendly? It seems that SD allows you to domicile with one night's hotel stay - certainly quite easy. But are there other factors that make these states RV-friendly?

Thanks for your reply!

[lappir]

19 hours ago, myfirstRV said:

How do you deal with health insurance while on the road? 

I am a single healthy male in my 30's. I do not have income.

I am considering either Medicaid or marketplace insurance. Are there issues demonstrating eligibility without being physically present in your state? How has your experience been receiving coverage in different states while traveling?

I do not yet have a domicile, though I'm considering SD since it seems to be the easiest to obtain domicile. I am open to all options. What is the ideal state for healthcare eligibility?

While I think there may be others who are in your same situation, I find it hard to understand a single healthy person who does not have an income and wishes the rest of us who are employed to pay for your health care.  You apparently also want to travel from where you currently reside to somewhere else where you will somehow survive without an income. Is it you just don't declare the income you generate? 

If you feel I'm being too blunt I won't feel bad knowing that. 

Of course this is only my personal opinion and is not the opinion of the forum or others who may participate. 

Rod

[Kirk W]

Are you asking about Medicaid or did you by any chance mean Medicare? There are a lot of us here who are using Medicare as out primary healthcare coverage. 

2 hours ago, myfirstRV said:

Do you know why they're considered RV friendly?

There are several reasons that those 3 are the most popular states for fulltime RV folks to claim as their domicile. Some things that all three share is that none of them have any state income tax, all three allow one to use a mail service as their legal address for things like driver's licenses, vehicle registration & insurance, for voter registration and none of the three require any length of living in the state to claim domicile, although SD does require you to prove that you have spent 1 night each time you renew your driver's license. Nevada is probably the third on that list. 

Now let me ask you a question. If it is Medicare that you are seeking, does that not mean that you have very little income? If so you need to be aware that living in an RV is not greatly less expensive than to live in some other type of abode. If that is your situation, you probably would find a lot of help by visiting Cheap RV Living website.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Kirk W

[Blues]

17 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

Are you asking about Medicaid or did you by any chance mean Medicare?

He said he's in his 30s, so I assume he means Medicaid and not Medicare, plus he specified that he knows Medicaid operates differently depending on the state.  If he were on Medicare because of a disability, I doubt he'd be even considering getting a marketplace insurance plan instead.

2 hours ago, myfirstRV said:

I'm very aware that every state is different. I'm wondering if anyone in this channel has first-hand experience dealing with out-of-state Medicaid issues?

I follow the health insurance for traveling fulltimers landscape pretty closely, and I've never seen anyone report any first-hand experience using Medicaid out of state while they travel. 

One reason could be that none of the Big Three (Texas, Florida, and South Dakota) expanded Medicaid to adults.  (However, voters in South Dakota approved a ballot measure requiring expanded Medicaid coverage effective July 1, 2023.)

Another reason is that if a person does qualify for Medicaid, as you know, each state administers its program differently, but one thing they have in common is that they don't cover out-of-state care except in very limited circumstances, like an emergency, or if residents of that state live near the border of another state and use facilities in that other state.  Medicaid is like an HMO in that it has its network of providers it has contracted with, and won't pay for care received outside that network, and traveling fulltimers know that an HMO is not a good fit for them.

20 hours ago, myfirstRV said:

I am considering either Medicaid or marketplace insurance.

If a person's income qualifies him for Medicaid, it disqualifies him for a subsidy on the marketplace.  In other words, to receive a subsidy on the marketplace, a person has to have a minimum income--approximately $14,000 for a single person.  If your income is below that, you can still buy a policy on the marketplace exchange, but you would have to pay full price for it, without any financial assistance from a subsidy.

And if you do buy a policy on the exchange, you have to be sure it provides access to a nationwide network.  Neither Texas nor South Dakota offers any such policies.

[sandsys]

In your situation, I likely would buy a market place PPO pollcy in Florida,  Or you could put money into a designated savings account for future medical care. Then you can spend it where and when needed. Of course, the second option will not get you any negotiated coverage prices but sometimes you can negotiate for paying cash. 

In the meantime, medicaid does means testing that would likely eliminate your ability to own an RV. My mother was not allowed to own a vehicle worth more than $500 when she applied for subsidized housing.

Linda

[Ray,IN]

Actually, IMO you should consult an elder law attorney.

[Jaydrvr]

11 minutes ago, Ray,IN said:

Actually, IMO you should consult an elder law attorney.

He's in his thirties... Jay

[Kirk W]

17 hours ago, Blues said:

He said he's in his 30s, so I assume he means Medicaid and not Medicare,

I suspect that you are correct, but there are disabilities that qualify younger people for Medicare, so it is possible.

[lappir]

6 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I suspect that you are correct, but there are disabilities that qualify younger people for Medicare, so it is possible.

"I am a single healthy male in my 30's. I do not have income."

The above in quotes is a copy and past from the OP's first post.  There has been one other post after the first from the OP. 

 

Rod

 

[Ray,IN]

Rod based upon his statements there is one extenuating/special circumstances, He has/will have moved to a different state. Otherwise  he has missed the 2023 open signup period for Obamacare medical insurance.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Ray,IN

[Blues]

23 hours ago, sandsys said:

In the meantime, medicaid does means testing that would likely eliminate your ability to own an RV. My mother was not allowed to own a vehicle worth more than $500 when she applied for subsidized housing.

The only means testing for adults who are eligible for Medicaid under the ACA expansion is income; there is no asset or resource test:

"The Affordable Care Act established a new methodology for determining income eligibility for Medicaid, which is based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI).  ... The MAGI-based methodology does not allow for income disregards that vary by state or by eligibility group and does not allow for an asset or resource test."

https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/index.html