Originally Posted by
KathyWdrf
I believe that is only for emergency care, and "urgently needed" services, not routine care. Of course, emergency/urgent care is mostly what we are talking about in this thread, since it's about cruising/travelling.
My FIL's wife, on Medicare, needed emergency medical services on a cruise a few years ago and IIRC it cost her about $500 out of pocket.
We always buy a medical policy when leaving the country. My employer provided BCBS policy does not cover us when outside the US. It's not a huge expense, maybe $100 a week, but covers the stuff that would be cost prohibitive otherwise. They also throw in a few things you might not think of like helping you find doctors that speak English.