Traveling out of state and medical insurance

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tantle1961

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Posts
7
Location
Washington State
My wife and just purchased our first motorhome and plan to hit the road around the first of August.  We are self employed and our residence is in Washington state.  We want to maintain our residence here while traveling for about half the year and living in WA the other half.  One obstacle we have run into is health insurance.  Since all the plans we have found only cover a single state, we have not found a solution while out of state.  We are not old enough for Medicare so that is not an option.  Most plans will cover emergencies for short time but none cover general office visits.  Some will cover medication through national pharmacies or mail order but visiting our local doctor for refills may not align with dates for a return trip home.  Does anyone know of a company that provides basic coverage nationwide?

Thanks in advance for any advise.  :)

Terry
 
Have you talked to your Doctor about this?

I'm having a little problem understanding the problem here.

6 months on the road and 6 months home in WA?  You schedule your routine visits for when you first get home, and again just before you hit the road.

As for prescriptions, my Dr. Writes me a 90 day supply, with 3 refills.
 
Optimistic gives good advice.  You probably want to do most of your medical stuff with the same "home" doctors anyway, so routine medical visits on the road can be minimized.  And you can get prescriptions refilled most anywhere these days - just use a nationwide pharmacy chain (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart stores, etc).

You can get insurance with nationwide provider networks, but they tend to be more expensive if not Medicare plans.  Aetna, United Healthcare and Anthem are the most likely bets.  If you are 50+, try the AARP healthcare offerings (which are mostly thru United healthcare).
 
Call local independent agents, most will have coverage that will cover you within the state and as well when you travel.  You may have to call a network number for a list of providers where you are should you have a need.

My wife got a plan from an agent here in Iowa and she is covered when we travel and we are gone 5-6 months over the winter.  She is 63 and not eligible for Medicare yet as well.
 
We also traveled for months at a time before being eligible for Medicare.  We had Blue Cross/Blue Shield which covered us nationwide.  Realistically, unless you belong to an HMO, you can have your primary medical practitioners in your home state.  We've never had a problem using an emergency room which we've done a few times, including a broken elbow which involved three surgeries and physical therapy over several months.  The health care providers just submitted their bills to the insurance company just like when we're at home.

By the way, here's a tip for all of you.  My elbow was broken while we were cleaning the motorhome (I now avoid ladders) and as soon as we mentioned the word "motorhome" at the emergency room they asked about our vehicle insurance which became the first payer, followed by our health care insurance when the vehicle insurance ran out.  We always recommend having the maximum vehicle personal accident insurance.  The following year we increased ours to the maximum allowed.

ArdraF
 
tantle1961 said:
We want to maintain our residence here while traveling for about half the year and living in WA the other half.  One obstacle we have run into is health insurance.  Since all the plans we have found only cover a single state, we have not found a solution while out of state.
Click to expand...
Where have you checked for health plans? If you buy through Washington's ACA Exchange (https://www.insurance.wa.gov/individuals-families), there appears to be a variety of plans. Plus, you may be eligible for a subsidy.

Also, ACA plans are based on where you actually reside, not necessarily your domicile. So if you travel between two locations, you could switch providers. See the FAQ about SEP (Special Enrollment Period) -- https://www.regtap.info/uploads/library/ENR_FAQ_ResidencyPermanentMove_SEP_5CR_011916.pdf
 
being self employed we choose to go with med share plans, we use Christian Health Care, we went with this when our insurance tripled and the deductible went to 15000.
we full time so the CHC plan was a good choice for us (we also had it for a few years before we went full time) we do pay for check ups and visits to urgent care out of pocket but it is still better than the plan we had before
old plan was going to be 950.00 per month with a 15000 deductible so we would be 26400 (11400 in premiums and 15k in deductible)before  the deductible would kick in
we pay about 300.00 a month for CHC with the best plan they offer and another 50.00 every quarter for the brothers keeper.
urgent cares are around 100 to 150 (we have been to 3 of them in 2 years)
we have several friends who also use med share plans with no complaints
 
Alaskansnowbirds said:
Another place to check is the Escapees Club. They offer different health care plans. Here is the link to their health care page.
Click to expand...

I posted some concerns about it a while back.  Notice that they call it an "alternative to traditional medical insurance."  My impression is that it exists as a way for employers to avoid being fined for not complying with the ACA. 

Here's a previous post I wrote about it; maybe you can take a look at it and provide some answers:
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,113330.msg1026194.html#msg1026194
 
Alternative "med-share" programs such a Christian Health are often a cost-effective healthcare solution for people in good health and likely to need only routine care.  As trivet notes, however, they do not provide the same benefits as an ACA-compliant health insurance policy, so review carefully and don't just leap in for the low costs.

The plans offered thru Escapees are similarly an alternative to traditional insurance and provide minimal coverage. The program that looks like insurance is designed as an assist for someone who already has a high-deductible catastrophic coverage plan and may work well for some people. Again, read beyond the low rates and evaluate the coverage carefully.
 
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