We have great Health Insurance. Since we hit the road in 2005 Kathy has had two surgeries and I have had one. I was hospitalized for four days in Florida with a still unknown virus. If we had not possessed good insurance, our life on the road would have been over. I am retired from the U.S. Navy and have the good fortune to have excellent health insurance for both of us. Now we are both on Medicare and the military insurance pays all costs Medicare doesn’t. This is probably the best situation to be in. Many of you will have health insurance from a previous employer or from your state in some cases. That’s great! Usually.
We have talked to fellow full-timers who have medical plans from a previous employment that is only in effect if they are in the original state of that employment. Apparently there are supplemental policies for out of state travel, but the cost is very high.
Travel Without Health Insurance?
Affordability is in the eye of the beholder, but there are many companies that will provide varying levels of plans for a monthly or semi-annual fee. The obvious point here is even a short hospitalization can produce tens of thousands of dollars in costs and an office or urgent care visit with the attending tests can run into several thousands. If you set out on the full-time lifestyle without any insurance, you are betting everything you have that neither of you will become seriously ill. It’s a crapshoot my friends. I cannot in good conscience recommend this lifestyle to you without your having adequate coverage.
Affordable Care Act
With the advent of the Affordable Care Act (Obammacare), we may eventually see affordable coverage for full-timers. Unfortunately, there are roadblocks. South Dakota is a very desirable domicile state but not so much if you aren’t 65 years of age. We have not been able to identify a health insurance plan in the state that covers you when out of state. I am told Florida has plans that will work out of state.
Prescriptions
This is a good time to mention medications. Our Military plan uses a mail order prescription service called Express Scripts. We give them a delivery address as we travel and get most of our meds that way. Some of our refillable prescriptions are through WalMart and Good Sam Club pharmacies. Just show the packaging or the prescription number to the local store and you can get your meds that way. We use WalMart primarily because they are found almost anywhere in the country. We asked our doctor(s) to set us up with 1 year prescriptions in ninety day packages. This way we can plan in advance when we may be running low. No matter who you choose, make sure they have outlets where you will be travelling. Unfortunately, that is not possible with controlled drugs. One refil is usually the max. Some require blood tests before a prescription can be issued. Our doctor will write a prescription with a phone call. Get to know your doctor and especially his nurses.
Here is a really good website with lots of helpful information on healthcare for RVers. Although it is a commercial site, I’m including it here for the great amount of good information that is constantly updated. http://rverhealthinsurance.com/