Is nationwide medical still important?

[TravelSolo]

With the expansion of telemedicine these past Covid years, is nationwide coverage still a concern for medical? Half of my appointments with my local docs are now virtual as it is.

Urgent care is still covered at a reduced cost out of network under nearly all plans from what I can see, if I need to see someone before I could go back to my domicile state.

Looking at my recent claims on my employer based coverage my semi-annual labs are billed at $250 so covering that twice a year is not a big deal if I lose that plan.

Pharmacy is not an issue if I use a national chain like CVS or Walgreens.

Not old enough for Medicare. May lose employer coverage if they push back against my desire for going full time and I have to move to a contractor type arrangement with them (or retire early), so trying to decide if national coverage is important in my case.

Of course finding a doc in the plan I may change to would have to be good with virtual visits on occasion.

[alank]

Wouldn’t consider leaving home without it.

[carybosse]

I looked at ACA plans for myself a few weeks ago. The first 3 pages of plans did not cover hospital systems at any of the 5 main hospital systems in Fort Worth. I truly did not know a hospital to add in the area in an attempt to find a hospital that the insurance accepted - none of them even included the county hospital where most trauma victims are taken. I was up to a plan at over $1K a month plus a deductible of $8,500 a year for just myself, before I found a plan with just one of those 5 hospitals in the plan.

I didn't even attempt to find a doctor I knew in the plans.

I would be very careful on choosing a plan that meets your needs, nationwide or local.

[Steve-W]

Something interesting I found out is that for a Dr. to do a virtual visit they must be licensed to practice in the state where you are. A national coverage plan would be an absolute must in my opinion.

[TravelSolo]

Originally Posted by carybosse

I looked at ACA plans for myself a few weeks ago. The first 3 pages of plans did not cover hospital systems at any of the 5 main hospital systems in Fort Worth. I truly did not know a hospital to add in the area in an attempt to find a hospital that the insurance accepted - none of them even included the county hospital where most trauma victims are taken. I was up to a plan at over $1K a month plus a deductible of $8,500 a year for just myself, before I found a plan with just one of those 5 hospitals in the plan.

I didn't even attempt to find a doctor I knew in the plans.

I would be very careful on choosing a plan that meets your needs, nationwide or local.

that is odd since ACA plans are required to cover emergency visits, unless you are talking about non-emergency needs the need a hospital

Originally Posted by Steve-W

Something interesting I found out is that for a Dr. to do a virtual visit they must be licensed to practice in the state where you are. A national coverage plan would be an absolute must in my opinion.

Well that sucks if true

[Steve-W]

Well that sucks if true[/QUOTE]

You can find some info on telemed here.

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by TravelSolo

that is odd since ACA plans are required to cover emergency visits, unless you are talking about non-emergency needs the need a hospital



Well that sucks if true

Just checking for hospitals in a plan - so non-emergency.