Medicare/supplement anygood?

Medicare ONLY covers you IF you are on a direct route TO or FROM Alaska and cannot get to an American medical facility. If you are just roaming around Canada, it will not pay one cent!

Best plan would be to call your supplemental insurance company and ask them. Medicare gets a bit complicated in a hurry. Most/all claims of a US citizen with Medicare, require that the person receiving the services in Canada, pay the bill and then submit it for reimbursement to Medicare. There is language in Medicare that speaks to being in a "straight line" route between the Lower 48 and Alaska or visa versa. Now what this means to Medicare, appears to be subject to interpretation on their part. It also doesn't mean they will pay the doctor or the hospital, ambulance, etc. You will have to pay the bill up front and submit it to Medicare for them to consider reimbursing you up to the approved rate.

My Medicare supplemental policy only starts coverage after Medicare has paid their approved amount. I have yet to find out if this means that if Medicare turns down my claim of services received in Canada, then my supplemental doesn't pay either? Don't know the answer to that question and have not found anyone at my supplemental insurance company that knows the answer either.

Most folks, US Citizens, with any concerns about medical coverage in Canada will purchase travel insurance to cover them for that time period they are in Canada. You can google those companies that sell it. Some of the travel insurance policies will cover air evac out of Canada to get you back to a Medicare covered facility in the US. Some don't seem to cover this service.

The couple of times I needed medical care in Canada, I just paid the bill at the doctor's office and the pharmacy for the meds. It was a small enough amount, a couple of hundred at most, that I don't remember if my insurance reimbursed me or not. This was back before I was a geezer and old enough for Medicare. LOL

You'll get the right answer by calling your insurance company. Especially on supplemental policies which vary from plan to plan.

My Medicare advantage plan covers me anywhere in Canada or elsewhere. The only way to know about your coverage is to ask your insurance company.

Plan F will cover to a certain amount when out of the country. Medicare does not cover but most supplements will. There are a few of the lower cost plans that do not have foreign coverage.

I had a gall bladder attack in Jasper, Alberta. I got right in with a local doctor. She spent so much time with me, prescribed meds, asked me to return the next day to make sure I was o.k. before traveling, and called me enroute a couple days later. For everything, I paid less than $100. I wasn't on Medicare at the time. I gladly paid the fee for the wonderful experience.

Just recieved my 2015 BC/BS plan "F" medicare supplement update on coverage. For out of country coverage, it states that Medicare DOES NOT have coverage and it states that BC/BS will pay 80% of the Medicare-eligible expenses after a $250.00 deductible up to a $50,000 lifetime benefit.

If you do find yourself in Canada without any insurance, if possible head for a clinic and not the ER. The minimum charge at the latter was $800 plus the doctor's fee for a family member, earlier this year. She was able to get to a walk in doctors' clinic and the charge was $70!