Nomads, full timers and anybody who likes or needs to travel share a similar struggle – getting health care.
For those 65 an older with Medicare and a good supplemental plan, there are lots of options nation wide.
The wealthy of any age also have lots of options.
For those of us under 65, not working and not independently wealthy, one of the state mandated insurance plans is the best (and likely only) choice. Our plan does a fair job of covering doctors and hospitals – as long as we do not leave the state.
Step over that state line into the rest of the country and coverage drops essentially to nothing. They claim to cover urgent care and emergency room visits. Yet after each visit we receive an EOB (explanation of benefits) that says our insurance companies responsibility is $0 and our responsibility is the total charge.
This leads us to group all our medical appointments for our May stop in Massachusetts.
We do like going to doctors and hospitals that we know and like. However the steady stream of appointments can be depressing. And as older Americans we find each doctors appointment seems to breed three more – and a few lab tests too.
With May done, we are still working through things. Mrs Ram has two more appointments for sleep issues and Mr Ram has a follow-up appointment from eyelid surgery. Both are keeping us from the road.
Once completed, we hope we are good till our next planned stopover in October.
Like many we wonder if there might be a better option for health care. Yet proposed solutions have the potential to be even worse.
So far the devil we know still seems like the best choice.