Health insurance for travel - 2 questions

[pandastache]

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Our family has an HMO plan with BCBS that covers New England. Outside of that they only cover emergencies.

1) My younger son is traveling to Morocco for two weeks in January. We are looking into some travel medical insurance for him while he is there. I have looked at GeoBlue which seems to be reasonable. Does anyone have any thoughts?
 
2) My other son has been been working on short term positions for the past 2 years. One was as a park ranger position out in Utah, another was with Americorp. He is looking again at another short term position outside of New England. When he was in Utah, he remained on our New England plan but we also purchased a supplemental plan for him with Combined insurance. I am wondering if he moves again for 6 months if there are any better options.

Thanks!

[reeshau]

We were in Europe for the summer, and bought insurance through TinLeg, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.  The price seemed good for the coverage given.  Fortunately, we didn't have to engage it for anything, so I can't comment on their claims service.

[flyingaway]

I traveled a lot, but never bought any medical insurance for travel. I did have medical problems in China, I just went to their hospitals and paid cash for the doctors, exams, and medicines.
In my opinion, the medical costs in other countries are far far lower than those in the United States. I don't want to be bothered by buying insurance and filing claims, and arguing with them.
However, these are just my opinions and experiences.

[ixtap]

For the one travelling two weeks, I would think emergency coverage would be sufficient.

For the other, has he looked into ACA for where he will be going next?

[pandastache]

For the 2nd son, he is currently on our health insurance. If he wants to go on ACA he needs to establish residency in his new location. The jobs he takes are usually 6-10 months so that would mean new license, car insurance, etc. Not impossible, I know but then he has to do it again when he comes back home to get back on ours.  Hopefully he will stay in New England until he gets enough experience to land a full time job.

[LightStache]

I'm confused, are you expecting them to need non-emergency care during these periods? Do they have chronic illnesses that need to be treated during these periods away from NE?

[By the River]

Just had our company benefit meeting and the rep said that BCBS has a product called global blue on their website.  Gave an example of 1 week in Italy being $28  See if your blue cross has something similar.   I've never used it.
 

[pandastache]

Thanks for your suggestions. I am looking into GEO Blue right now and Nationwide. Both seem reasonable so I will probably purchase one of those for my short term traveler. I am not generally concerned of sickness during this time. I am more concerned of an emergency situation. I have always been a worrier!

[YK-Phil]

For short-term emergency medical coverage, we use either WorldNomads or SafetyWings. For long-term coverage (12 months) as Canadian ex-pats living in Mexico who lost our universal coverage in Canada, we subscribe to Trawick or IMG depending on which is cheaper, with a relatively high deductible of $5K, still only for emergency medical coverage. We pay out-of-pocket for routine checkups, GP and specialist consultations, prescriptions, dental, etc.

[LightStache]

Thanks for your suggestions. I am looking into GEO Blue right now and Nationwide. Both seem reasonable so I will probably purchase one of those for my short term traveler. I am not generally concerned of sickness during this time. I am more concerned of an emergency situation. I have always been a worrier!

You said in your first post that your existing BCBS covers emergencies. Personally I'd buy medical evacuation and repatriation insurance for Morocco before buying supplemental medical. But the last time I was there I bought neither.

I used to over-insure. Part of my Mustachian evolution has been to more objectively look at insurance. I've dropped auto comprehensive/collision and term life, but added umbrella. I really don't see a rational case for supplemental medical for the situations you've described.

[NotJen]

2) My other son has been been working on short term positions for the past 2 years. One was as a park ranger position out in Utah, another was with Americorp. He is looking again at another short term position outside of New England. When he was in Utah, he remained on our New England plan but we also purchased a supplemental plan for him with Combined insurance. I am wondering if he moves again for 6 months if there are any better options.

I've been doing seasonal work (4-5 months at a time) outside my home state without purchasing additional insurance for the last two years.  My BCBS plan says it covers emergency care at the same level whether I am in-network or out (I hope never to test this).  I make sure I get all my routine care done while I'm at home.  I plan to use telehealth (either through Teledoc or directly through my PCP) if I have a non-emergency situation arise while I'm gone (none have so far).  I have been able hoard enough of my prescription drug to take all I need with me, but if I needed to fill a prescription and a local chain pharmacy wasn't covered, I have mail order as an option.