Here is the problem: It is not real easy for an individual to get health insurance in the U.S. on the open market, particularly if you are over 50. Therefore if one already has an individual policy (i.e., has already been underwritten and is paying premiums) it is desirable to keep it, unless you have another sure-thing policy available. However, from what I have read, if you move to another country, your U.S. health insurance is no longer good. Therefore, you would have to give it up and purchase insurance in the foreign country. But if you plan on returning to the U.S. at some point you are going to have to get health insurance again, at an even more advanced age, and possibly with conditions that have developed in the interim.

Anyone have any ideas how one can make the move to another country for a year or so, and either preserve your U.S. insurance in the interim, or have it ready to be reinstated (without additional underwriting) when you return? I suspect this is not an easy problem, and probably can only be solved by someone very familiar with the health insurance industry (at some point I will probably try to find someone to help me specifically, but thought it would be worth posting this for general discussion, since it is an issue that I am sure others on the board will have to face).

Keep a US address: if you are intending to come back I assume you are planning to keep your credit cards etc and are thus maintaining a `residence` which could be nothing more than a mail box. Keep your premiums up to date, and just don´t tell them you´re out of the country. You may require an intermediary to intercept the bills and mail out the checks, or maybe you can tell them you want to pay by the year.

"However, from what I have read, if you move to another country, your U.S. health insurance is no longer good."
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Several months ago, I attended a retirement seminar sponsered by my employer and your question came up. We were told that most U.S. private health insurance will cover medical cost incurred overseas if it's "reasonable and necessary." However, there is no direct billing. You will have to pay the foregin medical provider out of your pocket and then submit a claim for reimbursement. The tough part is getting a detail bill that will be acceptable to your U.S. private health insurance carrier. Since the cost is so much lower than it would have been in the USA, many U.S. private health carriers don't raise too much of a fuss.

The exception is Medicare. There is absolutely NO overseas coverage for Medicare. There is, however, an exception if you're retired U.S. military.

I carry medjetassist available at medjetassist.com. If you are admitted to an emergency room in a foreign country they will return you to the U.S. on a medical equipped jet. You might want to go to their website and check out the details.

However, if you have an ongoing medical condition this may not be what you are looking for.

If you have an American Express Platinum caard, they will bring you back to the US also. If you are admitted to a hospital overseas, they will pay the charges, and then delete them from your bill when you get back to the state.

MM

Thanks for the responses. However, the problem is (according to what I understand) if you are living abroad your U.S. health insurance, even if you keep it current, will no longer pay for your health costs, since it is predicated on your being a U.S. resident (i.e., even if you medi-evac back to the U.S., you will have still violated your contract with the insurance company by living outside the U.S. and they can refuse to pay your medical costs). So, assuming this is true, there is no reason to continue paying the $500 a month premiums except possibly to make sure the insurance is still available when you return to live in the U.S. But $500 a month is rather steep to make sure you have insurance when you return after a couple of years (and if the insurance company finds out you are living abroad, they may cancel your insurance in any case leaving you SOL).

I suspect there may be no solution to this problem, but I thought I would ask. If I find a solution, I will report it here. If anyone else has a solution (I already have medi-evac insurance to cover me on short trips abroad, but that is not the problem I am concerned with)

$500? Wow. LAG, have you looked into a high-deductible PPO plan from Blue Shield or Blue Cross, and combine that with a tax-deferred HSA (Health Savings Account)?

Murasaki: I am presently looking into that, particularly since my health insurance company raised my premiums from under $300 a month to almost $500 in the last 12 months or so(and this despite that I remained in the same risk category). I actually have the applications for an HSA qualified plan, but they are such a pain to fill out; I will get around to it though.

You can maintain "US resident" status by using a US-based mail forwarding address such as http://vmfs.com or http://www.myus.com or do a Google seach for "overseas mailing forwarding service."

If you require medical attention overseas, you simply tell your health insurance carrier that you were on "vacation." There's no way that the insurance company is going to know any different or even care. There's no exclusion for taking an extended vacation.

LAGuy,

If you are going to live somewhere for longer than a year, IMHO get a health plan in that country. Brasil seems to have a ton of options, so check with some of the resident mongers there about how they handle their insurance. If you can get it through a company, that's great. If not, see about getting a private plan. I'm not sure what the requirements are, from a residency perspective, but the plans in Brasil aren't overly expensive.

LAG, check out Blue Shield's brand new (just debuted in July) Shield Spectrum PPO Savings Plan 4000. My health insurance agent says it's been very popular with his self-employed clientele. Then once you get the plan in place, open up the HSA and get that $2650 deduction per year off the top.