Community Forums

WheelingIt · 09-01-2014, 10:17 PM

Just FYI, for those who are domiciled or thinking of domiciling in SD and are NOT YET on Medicare, it looks like health insurance options are dwindling rapidly.

Avera, the only guy on the SD Exchange with a nationwide network, just announced that they are no longer supporting fulltime RVers in 2015.
http://rverhealthinsurance.com/avera...ng-rvers-2015/

Aaaand....

Coventry (our current insurer) is withdrawing from SD in 2015.
http://rverhealthinsurance.com/coven...-south-dakota/

As a result there is NO-ONE left on the SD Exchange who has a nationwide network & will support RVers. Off exchange there is only ONE guy left (Assurant) who is very expensive.

Sadly, unless something changes in open enrollment this means that SD is no longer a viable choice for pre-Medicare RVers who need to buy health insurance. We will likely be forced to switch our domicile end of this year.

powderman · 09-02-2014, 09:10 AM

Maybe this will help. Federal Health Care Reform in South Dakota

WheelingIt · 09-02-2014, 09:35 AM

Believe me I've been following the SD health care topic since Obamacare was introduced. Up to this year there was ONE guy (Avera) on the SD healthcare exchange (which runs through the federal website healthcare.gov) who supported fulltime RVers. As of 2015 there will be NONE.

This is a big deal for younger fulltimers, and basically means SD is no longer a realistic domicile option for anyone who needs to buy health insurance.

Flanz · 09-03-2014, 08:27 AM

Well, that's NOT exactly what we wanted to read since our plans are still to retire and go fulltime next year. Time to ramp-up the Texas/FLA investigation on health insurance as well as other cost for owning an RV.

Anybody got any good sites for investigating Texas and FLA as fulltime domicile locations?

-paul

nothermark · 09-03-2014, 08:32 AM

Isn't Escapees a Texas outfit? They should have a handle on the problem.

Flanz · 09-03-2014, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

Isn't Escapees a Texas outfit? They should have a handle on the problem.

They R and not sure where they stand on a lot of this. I'll be reading a lot of the Escapees form over the next few months. There are still things I don't like about being a fulltimer in Texas - License and inspections. But I suppose we'll have to bite the bullet if things don't change for fulltime RVers. Hate the idea of working more just for health insurance.

JMonroe · 09-03-2014, 08:45 AM

Thanks for the heads up.

Thankfully both my wife and I qualify for our employer's early retiree group plans, mine through Blue Cross, hers through United Health.

As we've not needed to I've not kept abreast of what's going on with the "exchanges". Do you not have the option to go outside the exchange to buy something privately, or is this the option you describe as being too expensive?

I suspect this does not only affect states popular with full-timers, but many others. The availability of healthcare (or lack there of) prior to Medicare eligibility has kept thousands from retiring prior to age 65 in the past, sounds like even many of those prepared to take on that expense privately are going to be forced to stay in the workforce longer than intended.

WheelingIt · 09-03-2014, 09:35 AM

For TX I recommend talking to Escapees. They also recently opened up a mail outfit in FL.

In FL there are also other guys like St.Brendan's Isle and MyRVmail etc. our buddies Technomadia wrote a good blog post about their experience setting up domicile in FL here:
http://www.technomadia.com/2013/02/s...ull-time-rver/

Specifically for health insurance options I recommend Kyle at
http://rverhealthinsurance.com
He keeps up with all the latest news and has helped lots of fulltime RVers work through the insurance options under the new laws (tell him wheelingit sent you).

You definitely want to weigh the costs in your chosen states of health insurance, car insurance, registration fees, registration procedures etc. it's a balancing deal. In TX for example we will need a special license (Class B) for our size rig, but insurance costs are somewhat lower there than in FL.

As for off-exchange options there is only ONE left in SD who are both nationwide and will support fulltime RVers (Assurant) and they're extremely expensive (last time I looked they were running ~$300 more per month than the exchange options...and since they are off-exchange there is no chance at all for subsidies). The other private options are either not nationwide and/or they won't support fulltime RVers.

JMonroe · 09-03-2014, 09:59 AM

When you say "won't support full-timers", what do you mean?

WheelingIt · 09-03-2014, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMonroe

When you say "won't support full-timers", what do you mean?

They either black-out mail forwarding addresses and/or require you to spend minimum 6 months per year in state. I suppose there are means and ways to sneak around these requirements, but I consider it too risky.

When we originally signed up for health insurance in 2010 in SD many of these restrictions were already in place. For example we attempted to get BCBS, but they rejected us based on our mail forwarding address and told us directly on the phone that they would not sign fulltime RVers unless we could prove we spend 6 months in-state. We could not. Dakotacare and Sanford require the same.

Sky_Boss · 09-03-2014, 12:18 PM

OH MY...Not good.

I'm hoping that we are not going to have that problem. My wife is retired and insured by the State of IL - OAP that is "administered" by Coventry Health Care of IL. Yep...I might need a score card to follow this. LOL

We double cover each other so we both use "low" options. We can at least fall back on my Federal retirement (FEHB) insurance and go to my "high" option. We also have until July of next year to watch this unfold.

JMonroe · 09-03-2014, 01:27 PM

Interesting. Guess I should count our blessings, although I am upset with the post health care law changes to our plans. We no longer have options, at any price (one size fits all and all have large deductibles and co-pays, and my company no longer provides the Medicare suppliment ins, we're on our own).

twogypsies · 09-03-2014, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flanz

They R and not sure where they stand on a lot of this. I'll be reading a lot of the Escapees form over the next few months. There are still things I don't like about being a fulltimer in Texas - License and inspections. But I suppose we'll have to bite the bullet if things don't change for fulltime RVers. Hate the idea of working more just for health insurance.

The inspection change to begin in March that had a lot of Texans concerned has been resolved for full-timers - especially if you deal with Escapees RV Club in Livingston, TX. Livingston has already stated to the Escapees RV Club that you don't have to have an yearly inspection unless you return to Texas after a year so unless you really want to return you have no worries. So that shouldn't be an issue for you. Livingston also doesn't require emissions checks as would say, Houston or Dallas. Every agency in Livingston is very familiar with full-timers and you can get everything done in a couple hours for a new domicile - registration, license and setting up a great mail forwarding service while you're staying at the Escapees headquarters. We would highly recommend joining the Club and through October they are running a special prices of $29.95 in honor of their 35th anniversary. They've been around a long time.

Davdeb1 · 09-03-2014, 02:48 PM

I can only share what I know. Domicile addresses in Florida are easy, and registration for your vehicles is inexpensive. There is no state income tax, but I'm not sure how much car insurance runs in that state. I seem to remember that Paul visits Florida at least once a year, it could be a good match.