Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > HAVE MOC WILL TRAVEL > The Medic
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-28-2016, 02:08 PM   #1
wannabervin
Established Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Arlington
Posts: 15
M.O.C. #19242
Full timing and HMO

Hello. Has anyone had experience full timing while keeping their membership in a Health Maintenance Organization, e.g. Kaiser Permanente, which limits its services to a geographic area?
 
wannabervin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-28-2016, 02:34 PM   #2
stengels
Montana Master
 
stengels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Sioux Falls
Posts: 505
M.O.C. #14162
Send a message via AIM to stengels
Most health providers have a nationwide directory of physicians, hospitals and specialists. I would think that an approved provider would be OK anywhere n the states. I know that is how it works with BCBS. I'm with BCBS of LA through my employer, but we have never had a problem locating a provider in 3.5 years of full-timing.
__________________
Steve & Sheryl Engels
2018 Montana 3790RD
stengels is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2016, 02:24 AM   #3
kdeiss
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Englewood
Posts: 3,095
M.O.C. #164
We have United Health Care HMO they have a feature called Pass Port you need to call them in advance of travel you are covered anywhere in the country for EMERGENCY ONLY! Their is in network coverage across the Country depends on state and County.We spend the Summers in the Pittsburgh Area we are in network with United Health Care their!
kdeiss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 02:37 AM   #4
JandC
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Frostproof, FL USA
Posts: 2,362
M.O.C. #13272
When we were full time (2012-2014) we had a type of HMO. We kept our permanent address in the same area as our house we sold. We did this by using our eldest son's address as our new address for mail. Since we returned for a month or more in the summer to schedule regular Doctor visits in the same area nothing really changed. The rest of the year we were simply "traveling". Mail order 90 day scripts could be sent to wherever we were located.

Of course all that changed when we purchased a home in Florida.
__________________
Previous: 2008 Montana 3400RL & 2014 3725RL
Current: Full Time 2022 SOB TT Toy Hauler
JandC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 03:25 AM   #5
wannabervin
Established Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Arlington
Posts: 15
M.O.C. #19242
Glad to hear that worked for you, because that is what we have in mind. We don't have any relatives in our area, but we plan to use one of the mail services--KOA or maybe UPS--to provide a street address within the HMO's boundaries. We'll use walk in urgent care facilities as needed for routine illnesses, and get reimbursed after the fact. We'll have med refills mailed, and come back to the HMO if we need anything more specific.
wannabervin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 04:19 AM   #6
kdeiss
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Englewood
Posts: 3,095
M.O.C. #164
I suggest you take a look at their PPO And compare with the HMO.I think the PPO IS a better choice for travel.
kdeiss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 05:47 AM   #7
drknapp
Montana Fan
 
drknapp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Redlands
Posts: 460
M.O.C. #9135
Kaiser does contract with some hospitals in some areas where there aren't any Kaiser facilities. We had a medical emergency in Seattle and were directed to a Charter hospital for treatment by Kaiser. They took good care of the situation and we had a pleasant surprise of no copayment for the treatment. :-)
__________________
2011 3150RL
drknapp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 06:51 AM   #8
Carl n Susan
Site Team
 
Carl n Susan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Carmichael - CA
Posts: 7,323
M.O.C. #4831
Being a long time Kaiser customer, I can't comment on other HMOs. But I am very familiar with Kaiser as a long time (not full time) traveler. To be a customer of Kaiser, you must live in one of the geographical areas for at least 6 months out of the year. Verifying your address is easy for them but I have no idea how, of if, they monitor how often you are there.

Kaiser covers you for emergency services when you are out of the area of a Kaiser facility. Usually the out of area provider will bill Kaiser directly which avoids you paying and then seeking reimbursement (which works) from Kaiser.

I used to have Kaiser mail my prescription refills to where I would be at the time. I have used the addresses of RV Parks, friends and even the Postal Services General Delivery service. Prescription meds are now an issue due to a recent change (allegedly due a fed requirement that no one can cite). They now only mail meds to the state were you reside *OR* the states where they do business (California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin). However you must arrange directly with the pharmacy in the non-resident state to have them mail to you when you are there. I suspect your mail service eliminates this problem but does introduce some delay in receiving replacement meds.

Health care coverage is a complex issue when full timing. HMO v. PPO. v. Medicare v. ACA v. potential ACA changes need to be understood and evaluated before making a decision. Escapees, RV Dreams and other web based services catering to full timers are excellent places to learn.

__________________
Carl (n Susan)
There is more to life than fuel mileage.
2012 Montana 3700RL Big Sky Package towed by a 2015 Ford F350 6.7L PSD 4WD CC LWB

Carl n Susan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2016, 03:14 PM   #9
wannabervin
Established Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Arlington
Posts: 15
M.O.C. #19242
So, you're saying that you have to be in your home state or a "Kaiser state" to have prescriptions mailed to you? That could be a deal breaker for a full timer or a long timer. I'm going to call Kaiser's Member Services tomorrow to investigate further. Thanks for the heads up!
wannabervin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 06:30 AM   #10
Carl n Susan
Site Team
 
Carl n Susan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Carmichael - CA
Posts: 7,323
M.O.C. #4831
Here is what it says on the Kaiser web site:
Note: you probably have to be logged into the Kaiser web site to view this.

Mail Order Prescription Delivery Policy has Changed


We will only be able to mail prescriptions to California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. We will no longer be able to mail to any other states within the U.S. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause for you.

Ref: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org...nager/pharmacy

There is also a link to the PDF of the letter sent to all members last summer which further describes the change.

Carl n Susan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 08:52 AM   #11
wannabervin
Established Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Arlington
Posts: 15
M.O.C. #19242
Thanks, I found it. It does say that this is a temporary solution, and thy might be able to resume service to all states in the future. So, there's hope!?
wannabervin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2016, 09:32 AM   #12
bigskyjimmy
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Washington Coast
Posts: 2,688
M.O.C. #10696
In 6 years of fulltiming we have had Medicare Advantage /Humana and it is a PPO plan and has been PERFECT for us and we have been to many Clinics and a Hospital once in many States and have never received a Bill from Humana except for a small co pay upon admission to the clinic,so in our experience a PPO is the only way to go for full timing
__________________
[
bigskyjimmy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FULL TIMING R US cjohnson 2015 Annual North American Fall Rally 8 09-03-2015 05:57 AM
Full timing Dulcimer717 Member News 13 11-02-2014 02:36 PM
Long-timing and Full-timing boylanag Sitting around the Campfire 8 09-25-2007 03:42 PM
Full Timing ????? Capindad Full Timing in your Montana 7 05-16-2007 04:33 PM
Full Timing rrheik Full Timing in your Montana 5 11-09-2006 04:35 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:10 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.