Q & A
How does foreign travel affect Social Security and Medicare?
Full Question: I am 75 years old and have the opportunity to travel toFinland this spring. I want to take about two months to visit my Finnish relatives, but I am wondering how this travel will affect my Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits, if at all. I am a U.S. citizen.
Answer: Retirement is the perfect time for foreign travel, but you are wise to consider your benefit programs before you go. You will continue to receive your Social Security retirement benefits while you are gone, but Medicare will not pay for any healthcare costs you may incur while you travel in Finland. If you have a supplemental health insurance policy (also known as a “Medigap” policy or a Medicare C through J supplemental insurance policy), you should check to see if it covers health care costs in foreign countries. If the supplemental policy does not cover health care costs in foreign countries, you can purchase a policy that does.
I will list a few of the common benefit programs and how foreign travel affects a person’s eligibility and/ or receipt of benefits. A wise person will inform every agency that handles their benefits that they intend to be temporarily absent from the country. Read more…
Source: Senior Legal Line Q. and A., via http://www.hometownfocus.us/ - 10/31/2014
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