Insurance, Insurance, Insurance

I’ve been sitting here with a phone, computer, printed out papers, and the contents of my purse scattered all over my office floor today. I’m not even kidding when I say I’ve got, like, nervous sweats from trying to figure all this stuff out. I’m talking insurance, people. This shit ain’t easy or fun - especially not for Americans, but don’t get me started on our healthcare system.

Me comparing all of our insurance options and needs.

The problem is we need health insurance at home. I don’t want a lapse in coverage because god only knows what we might come back to in Trumplandia in 2021. (Yeah, sad to say, I think he’s gonna win again…blerg. Also don’t get me started on that.) We’ve been very lucky to be a healthy family overall so far, but we know that luck can run out anytime. I don’t want to give up our medical coverage and then have something happen while we’re gone, only to come back to the States with a “pre-existing condition” that makes us ineligible for new coverage. Yes, non-Americans, that is something that can happen here. As it is, we’ll be paying over $15,000 for the most basic package our insurance company offers, for the 14-months we’ll be gone. God bless America.

But anyway, I’m thankful we can afford it, and we do like the system we’re in quite a bit, which is rare. So, decision one was made today, after a lot of research and multiple phone calls - we’re keeping our same usual coverage and will make use of it the best we can. This will mean I’ll schedule all the annual checkups for right before we leave/during our brief visit back in the middle of the trip/right when we get back. I’ll still have to figure out how we can get prescriptions filled overseas or early, but I’ll talk to the doctor and pharmacist about that. Again, thankfully we don’t have a lot of them to deal with, so I’m not overly concerned. We’ll also have the option of phone appointments or online doctor “visits” via video chat for minor stuff that comes up, and emergency/urgent care is covered. We’d just have to pay the costs up front and be reimbursed, but otherwise the coverage should be the same wherever we are.

Adding to all that, we have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which includes pretty extensive travel insurance. Trip cancellation, lost baggage, etc. but more importantly there’s a hefty allowance for emergency evacuation. As I’ve learned from many other traveling families, that can be the one expense that costs a ton of money and isn’t typically covered by any of your usual health/home/auto/umbrella insurances. There’s a little confusion/gray area that I’m struggling with, relating to the length of our trip. In my mind, this isn’t all one trip but rather a series of shorter trips/stays in various places. Chase covers you for trips that are 5-60 days, presumably so you don’t move to another place for a year and expect them to cover all your insurance needs. We won’t be anywhere for even close to 60 days, as far as we’re planning for now. And we’ll be paying for each separate leg with the Sapphire card, which is all you need to do to be considered covered. So am I crazy, or shouldn’t that mean we’d be covered for each segment without having to physically return to our home (which won’t be our home then)? This isn’t a rhetorical question (well, the “crazy” part might be). If you have any knowledge on this topic, please email me anytime to educate me. I’m not trying to cheat any system, but it seems like a pretty substantial loophole on their part that we’d need to travel round trip to/from a particular house, and they don’t have to specify that in their fine print(?).

But to get back to the bigger picture, we will definitely have our regular health insurance. We will also have whatever Chase will cover. It’s looking like we will also have some supplemental travel insurance, for at least some stretches of our travel (details TBD). And I’m still waiting to hear back from our insurance agent here about any changes we should make in our homeowners (we’ll be landlords to tenants), auto (we’ll be selling both cars but might need to rent cars here or there), or other miscellaneous insurances. Insuranci? Gooses?

My head is tired.

Oh! And I didn’t even include the hour long conversation I had with a travel clinic about immunizations we’re getting before the trip, so that was a whole ‘nother big data dump right into my brain today. But I’ll save that for a separate post. If you shouldn’t get me going on Trump or healthcare, just wait till I start talking about anti-vaxxers.

So for those of you who find yourself envious of our upcoming adventure, keep in mind that there are mind-numbing days like this, more and more often lately, in order to make it happen. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns.