"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
news:e96tlr024jc@news2.newsguy.com...
>
>
> Marc wrote:
>
>> I have Kaiser Permeanente medical insurance. I consider it to be very
>> good. They will reimburse for "urgent or emergency medical treatment
>> outside of the USA. However, I could not get a clear answer from their
>> customer service department as to what would be covered if I needed it
>> while I was in Europe. My wife got the worst cold I have ever seen in
>> Munchen. $80 for Dr. and similar amount for prescriptions. Kaiser would
>> not reimburse for that.
>
> Kaiser is not what it once was (back when Henry J. was instrumental in
> starting it during WW2). Being a Medicare recipient whose Medgap
> insurance does not cover me outside the U.S., I have a travel medical
> policy from American Express. Because it only kicks in after my primarly
> coverage (although in my case, that obviously means everything overseas)
> it is quite inexpensive - I'm over seventy and it only costs me $136 a
> year. I've used it several times (enough to recover my premiums, anyway)
> and they reimbursed everything I sent them bills for. (In fact, they
> initially paid me too much for one claim, because they failed to notice
> that one doctor was in Zurich and the other in Vienna, so paid me the
> same - higher - exchange rate for both, and I had to call it to their
> attention.)
>
Just for information...
KP really go its start prior to WWII. This, the first "staff" model HMO
(although the term and legal definition came much later), get its start in
the building of what is now called Hoover Dam.
A bad cold -- even a very bad cold -- would not be considered either
emergency or urgent. Coughing, sneezing and feeling blah is not something a
reasonable layperson would consider life or health threatening. The trick is
to write the complaint and diagnosis "correctly." Lose the "cold" and
replace with "severe respiratory" illness with symptoms of influenza (Grippe
in Zurich ).
Paul
|