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returnee

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Nov 25, 2012
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Dear All, I am just returning from 30 years living overseas, and need healthcare coverage. I am now fulltiming, touring the country to see what I have been missing all these years, and will choose somewhere to settle in about three years time.
I need healthcare coverage, and am having difficulty finding something suitable for fulltimers who travel around. I have searched the blogs, and don't find any recent information.
All research suggests that healthcare in the US is anything other than affordable, and several times more expensive than the very adequate private insurance I was getting overseas (why is it so expensive? the coverage is nowhere near as good)
Can anyone please recommend companies who will provide coverage, preferably at reasonable rates.
I am female, too young (62) for Medicare, in (so far and for the foreseeable future) perfect health.
All tips will be gratefully received
 
Not to bring religion in here, but have you checked out medi-sharing? The ones I have seen are all Christian based, just so you know.
 
When we first started full timing we used a broker in our domicile state (SD). He found two companies that would sell us a policy. You might try one in your domicile state.
It was very expensive. I was very happy when we both reached Medicare age.
 
Check what policies are available in your domicile state. We have a Blue Cross/Blue Shield,plan with national coverage. We ended up getting it through our former employer retiree benefits, but we compared buying one on one of the exchanges too. If you are healthy and have some disposable income to cover the deductible, get a very high deductible plan. Ours is $6000 individual deductible, and we just pay for normal visits out of pocket (routine physicals, mammograms, flu shots, etc are free). We get a substantial discount for the visits because the insurance company has negotiated discounts.
 
At least some national PPO plans have nationwide networks. You list your domicile state (whatever you choose for financial and legal reasons as your "home") for insurance purposes and you can travel freely as long as the plan has "providers" nationwide. I 'm pretty sure Blue Cross-Blue Shield has a non-Medicare nationwide coverage PPO plan. I think Aetna too, but it depends on what state you originate coverage from. A plan may be offered in one state and not another, so you might factor health coverage into your choice of a domicile (legal "home").  Don't get embroiled in a "fulltimer" discussion with an insurer - it just leads to confusion. Declare whatever address you use for legal purposes as your home and when asked if you travel much, just answer YES. Or even "Frequently" if they ask how much. Don't lie, but don't offer any extra explanations either.

Premium costs are going to be a shocker, though.  It will get better when you turn 65!

Here is one plan through Blue Cross: http://national.horizonblue.com/plans/bluecard-ppo
 
Another resource for information for fulltimers is Escapees RV Club. Check out their insurance exchange.

https://escapees.com/8-member-benefits/205-insurance-resources

They also offer many other services like mail forwarding, domicile setup.
 
The price of coverage will depend on what state AND county you live in or claim. Where I'm at. I have only one choice for coverage. If I lived across the river in another county. I would have a choice of 4 coverages at less cost. My cost went from $1021 and month, to $1389 a month with a $6,000 deductible.  :eek:
 
Insurance is out of site.  Was happy to turn 65 this month.  In years past I've used BC-BS as they seem to have the best coverage using providers all across the US.  Many in Minnesota will not even cover going to Mayo, but Blue Cross has no problem with it  Good luck in your search!
 
In many states, Blue Cross will not sell full timers a personal policy unless it is part of a pension plan.
We had a BCBS policy when we started full timing. We had to use our daughters address in NH (we "rented" a room from her) and when we moved to SD they would not accept the street address of the mail fowarding service. They wanted utility bills as proof of domicile and required that we spend at least 6 contiguous  months in SD each year.
 
Thanks to everyone for the answers. Good to have people to talk to about it. Really, it is hard to believe that the costs are justified, but I recognize that the insurance companies are unlikely to change without serious motivation, and it is hard to see where that might come from.
 
We had individual policies with BCBS for 32 years because I was self employed and it was affordable then then Obama stuck his noise in it and we lost our coverage. Our cost went up 45% the first year and have not stopped going up but at least I'm on Medicare now so we just have one policy to deal with. Just remember that on Tuesday!

Denny
 
One option for Healthcare is taking a part time consulting gig self employed or for a company.  It's somewhat easier to obtain insurance as a self employed person. It does require parking for a few months. We are waiting to travel full time until my hubby retires and then he'll consult very part time requiring a month or two in a place 3x a year.  It'll equal about 4-6 months of sitting.  These jobs aren't really easy to find but you could always look into it.  Traveling nurses, IT consulting,  Appraisers, Photographers, Web Design, Seasonal Carpenters are just a few ideas I've seen in forums. 
 
Insurance is just a way to get the bills paid - it's healthcare costs that are driving the premium costs so high.  The insurers could help by cutting their own huge overhead, but that's only one modest piece of the larger problem.  I don't want to get into a diatribe about why healthcare has gotten so expensive in the US (not that  it is cheap anywhere!), but insurers aren't the main problem.
 
Found out last week our Obamacare is going from $875 a month for the wife and I up to $1725 a month. And in NC the only choice you have is BCBS, no other company is offered.
 
Russ+Chris said:
The price of coverage will depend on what state AND county you live in or claim. Where I'm at. I have only one choice for coverage. If I lived across the river in another county. I would have a choice of 4 coverages at less cost. My cost went from $1021 and month, to $1389 a month with a $6,000 deductible.  :eek:
Click to expand...
We just signed up for Obamacare. Everything is as stated. But the deductible is $7000. If we make over $64,000. We don't get a tax credit. So I had to adjust our income under that. We will now get a tax credit of $975. So we will be paying $414 a month.
 
US Health Group! I just changed from BCBS. They hiked rates everywhere this year for crap coverage. 42% for me, no thanks!
 
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