Elderly Parents, southern states, health coverage

[mjkaliszak]

Anybody have any input on what your elderly parents do when traveling from north to south ( for the winter ) with their health insurance. What do the snowbirds do ? My Dad is in poor condition, he needs to relocate at least for the winter to the south. His comment was that he doesn't think his health insurance will cover out of state docs ???? His days are numbered, my parents seem to foot drag and we are diligently working on convincing them to at least snowbird it. Any suggestions, they live in PA have Medicare + Private health insurance, what questions or options do they have ?

Any Input is appreciated.

 

[lotoftoys]

My parents have a similiar situation. They left Michigan to snow bird it then reloacated.Medicare will pay but you may have to switch to the state they are residing in which may increase/decrease the monthly cost. If the state of PA is cheaper; ride it out as long as possible. As far as secondary insurance to Medicare I would think the worst case would be a doctor that is not in the preferred provider listing which would decrease the amount the insurance company would pay. I have never heard of a insurance company not paying for care in another state. Now if they snow bird all the way to Mexico most insurance will not pay. I would say make some phone calls or e mails. Hope everything works out.

 

[98panther]

Certainly not an expert. But inlaws and my mother travel around the U.S. and are all on Medicare. I have never heard any of them mention having to change or get extra health insurance. Medicare is from the U.S. goverment not through a State.

Definately something to verify, but I'd really be suprised if it's a problem.

 

[mjkaliszak]

Thanks for the reply's. There are so many revolving parts of this issue with my parents that it has consumed most of our time for the last 2 days. Just looking for input and ideas on what I can expect.
Very Grateful.

 

[lotoftoys]

I checked with my parents today and Medicare was never a problem. What they had to do eventually was switch the Blue Cross to Illinois from Michigan. As far as other or supplemental insurance I have never heard of not paying doctors in other states. However it will cost more if they choose a doctor that is not in their network. Good luck with your parents as I sure this is a difficult time.