Retirement - Company Benifits from the States

[TOQ]

When I retired and moved to Thailand I was covered by my insurance that my employer had provided when I was working. Cobra allows you keep your insurance for 12 maybe 18 months. In my case the hospital that I used for an operation would not accept my insurance up front. I had to pay and then file a claim. The insurance company paid, no problems.

[luvthai-2]

You should contact the health care provider of your employer for the answers you need as there are to many variables out there.

[Neal]

I can tell you that when I retired and moved here my health insurance company Humana/Employers Health dropped all regular medical proceedures with the exception of emergencies and medications. They said that moving outside the country and being gone over 6 months cancelled anything non-emergency. Therefore like my dialysis and stuff has been all out of pocket! Check and find out or go to the states once every 6 moths!

[adman5000]

My health insurer has a special International section and covers me similar to out of network. Best to call them and ask. It also may be different whether you visit versus live full time in another country.

[francois]

My health insurer has a special International section and covers me similar to out of network. Best to call them and ask. It also may be different whether you visit versus live full time in another country.

My health insurer is same as with adman5000 above. If a hospital stay is more then one day the hospital can bill the insurer directly otherwise will reimburse my expenses, eventually.

[quiet1]

You should contact the health care provider of your employer for the answers you need as there are to many variables out there.
Absolutely agree. Often time retiree health benefits (especially for union workers) are negotiated down to the last satang, so are as varied as there are number of plans.

My particular plan requires I pay 40% of my employer's costs on a monthly basis. The coverage is the same world wide. However, in the USA the plan is administered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and at particpating hospitals/clinics/doctors they bill BCBS directly and I would pay any unpaid balance directly to the health care provider. If I choose to go to a location that is not direct-billable to BCBS -- whether that be a facility in the USA or Thailand or Zimbabwe or anyplace else -- I must pay the entire bill up front and then file a clam to BCBS for reimbursement. As a US resident it is a strong incentive to use a BCBS-affiliated facility as it minimizes out-of-pocket expenses.

It so turns out that a policy with BUPA Thailand with coverage similar to my retiree insurance in the USA has a monthly premium about the same as my employer's retiree plan. The benefit of BUPA is that they handle direct billing with most private hospitals here, so like using BCBS in the USA, I only pay the un-covered expenses out-of-pocket.

I had to coax out of my employer's insurance department the fact that I can "suspend" health insurance coverage, and reinstate it later, if I choose. e.g. If I move back to the USA, I can choose to un-suspend the policy. The only provision is that I need to provide proof that I carried health insurance during the period where I had suspended my benefits. So, I currently have BUPA Thailand insurance, but if I repatriate to the USA, I will again have my employer-provided, BCBS-administered retiree health insurance.

And, lastly, this whole fandango really only applies until I reach Medicare age. At that point, my retiree policy kind of folds over into Medicare, and I can use the Medicare system any time I return to the USA after that age.