RJS 7-5-25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning to all. Craig Shillig here and this is
Safe Money. I'm here every Saturday to talk with our
listeners about financial strategies we use to manage and protect
assets safely. I've been an insurance agent for over twenty
four years. During that time, I've learned a few insurance strategies,
like using annuities as safe money harbors, or using cash

(00:23):
value life insurance to supplement retirement income. Just a reminder,
you can call our office at five six three three
three two two two zero zero if you'd like to
enroll in one of my virtual Medicare community meetings I
give two every month via zoom, or you can email

(00:43):
me at Craig at Craigshillig dot com. And that's my name,
c r Ai G at cr Ai G sch i
l l ig dot com. It's July. It's summertime, so

(01:04):
today I'd like to discuss international travel medical insurance known
as Geoblue. I've talked about this before and want to
review what geoblue offers. Yes, you need travel medical insurance.
Why do I recommend geoblue? You ask? Because this policy

(01:24):
pays for jet fuel. Several travel insurance policies out there
that you'd purchase from the airlines or the travel agency's
policies won't pay the jet fuel bill. A couple of
the companies are Alliance USAA. I think even the State
Department has a plan that you can buy too. Keep

(01:46):
this in mind, you can't just leave the hospital in
a full body cast and go back to the airport
and get on a commercial aircraft. The airline won't let
you on the plane. That's why this jet fuel piece
is so important. If you need to be medically evacuated
from an area and return to the US, that's what

(02:07):
this policy is designed for. Most of us don't have
a line of credit or a credit card limit on
our Visa American Express card that's going to cover a
one hundred thousand dollars fuel bill. You would need that
to fly back to the United States from typically that'd
be at least from Europe. Most health insurance companies plans

(02:30):
will say that you have an emergency coverage worldwide. The
under sixty five policies and current Medicare policies will all
say something to that effect. Then in the fine print
it will say something to the effect of you need
to pay for everything, and then when you get back home,

(02:50):
you can submit your receipts for reasonable and customary reimbursement.
Good luck doing that when the receipts are in a
different way language and or in a different currency. Does
that clinic or hospital location accept credit cards? Good luck
going to a foreign ATM and with drawing a couple

(03:12):
thousand dollars from medical services. I know you've seen some
stories from Mexico where the resort, the local police, and
the healthcare provider or hospital network are all in a
current health scam together. A lot of locations of Mexico
won't take credit cards. They want US cold hard currency.

(03:36):
You may have great medical coverage in the US, but
most of those benefits don't extend overseas. If you need
medical attention when you're traveling, it could be difficult to
find the right care, and you may have no coverage
and face unexpected medical bills. So why take the chance?
International healthcare coverage from Geo Blue is designed to make

(03:59):
it easy for you to access care while traveling the world.
These health insurance plans are specifically designed for international travel.
They cover important needs like medically necessary evacuations, which can
cut which can cost you tens if not hundreds of
thousands of dollars out of pocket, and those jet fuel

(04:20):
bills are typically not covered by your US health insurance plan.
Repatriation of remains and import export issues also come up
if you were to decease outside of the continental United States.
That's another item that this policy would cover. The in

(04:42):
house medical assistance team is always just a click on
the app or a phone call away. Twenty four to seven,
three hundred and sixty five days a year. The Geoblue
mobile app helps you locate care anywhere in the world,
offers access to unlimited telem medicine visits, provides medicine equivalents,

(05:04):
alerts you to local security and health issues, and much
much more. I've had clients use this service at three
am and Geoblue sent a doctor to the room. Some
have also used the telemedicine app and they were able
to do everything from the privacy of the room they

(05:25):
were staying in. The service then had at Concierge deliver
the medication that was ordered for them at a local
location nearby. Coverage with Geoblue is simple, convenient, and comprehensive,
and much more affordable than you may think. Plans started

(05:46):
less than two to fourteen dollars a day based on age,
and that's for one million dollars of coverage. Take Geoblue
with you and travel with confidence. The most popular plans
with options that cover pre existing medical conditions as well.

(06:07):
Individuals and families traveling for summer vacations, spring breaks, or
national holidays like the fourth of July. Students are teachers
going abroad for a semester, business travelers taking a single
trip to their work or a out of country client site.

(06:30):
If you're a missionary, you can even do educational and
service work the last few months overseas. Geoblus policies for
you too. I'll share with you some client examples. I
have a client age thirty five that was gone from
mid December to the beginning of March for both a

(06:54):
work and family visit. Went to Thailand, India, Dubai, Doa,
and Paris. His trip had a total premium cost a
two hundred and six dollars that covered him for one
million dollars of coverage for the entire trip. He would
probably pay more than that just for his baggage, transfer

(07:17):
fees and charges than he would with Joe Blue. I
had some current clients. They went to a timeshare in
Port of all Art in Mexico. Every year. They usually
go from January to April. They're both seniors, they're in
their early seventies. For a three month trip, their total

(07:41):
premium was less than eleven hundred bucks. They bought that
policy basically for peace of mind. I've had a family
that did a three week trip in Europe. They went
to France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. For six adults
and a three week trip, their total Geoblue premium costs

(08:02):
some less than three hundred bucks. Price to the plan
is garnered by zip code and age, but I can
tell you, especially for the under seventy crowd, it's pretty affordable.
Another set of clients actually had to use this policy
while they're in Mexico. They were convinced that their drinks

(08:24):
were spiked. They managed to make it back to the
room and got medical assistance through Geo Blue. The medical
team sent an independent doctor to the room and treated
them for what they think was rufees. They even requested
a blood draw and analysis and learned that they had
They learned after they had returned to the US that

(08:47):
their drinks had been spiked. They didn't have to pay
anything for that service or for the medication. Geo Blue
handled everything you can easily access quality health care the US,
from unlimited telemedicine to hospitalization to evacuation. All travel medical
plans provide essential health coverage that most domestic plans don't cover,

(09:14):
especially when you're outside the US, including medical evacuation and repatriation.
Coverage of medically necessary COVID testing and treatment, twenty four
to seven, three hundred and sixty five day a year,
telemedicine consult consult whether through the app or over the phone,

(09:36):
at no additional costs. You have access to doctors and hospitals,
and over one hundred and ninety countries. You can get
this policy up to age ninety five. Planned options include
coverage for if you do have pre existing conditions. There

(09:56):
is no medical underwriting generally as long as you have
current health insurance. Now there are discounts. If there's five
or more of you traveling together, there's protection for dollars
a day and as little as five to ten minutes.
So let's cover some of the plans and benefits the
Geo Blue offers. There's two types of travel medical plans.

(10:20):
There's the voyager and the Trekker. So the Voyager that's
the one that I do the most. The Trekker is
really for someone who needs coverage over a six month
trip or more than one hundred and eighty days. I've
only done a few of these. Most people are going
to be under that six month window because oh, that's right,

(10:43):
they're working and they have to go back to work.
But I've done a few Trekker plans for someone who's
maybe doing a digital nomad thing or something like that.
In order to be eligible, need to know the length
of the trip if you currently have health insurance. Some

(11:12):
plans depend on that, some don't. Sometimes that will come
into play. Now if you have a pending surgery treatment
or something you've delayed that you're going to do later,
that will be a factor in there. They may ask
you a future general health questions about that. You can't
have any type of medical treatment scheduled ninety days prior

(11:35):
or ninety days in the future. Okay, if you do,
they're not going to cover you. Family coverage is available,
and again there's discounts for five or more people. I
did do a group of nine, and you basically get
almost four people free maximum benefit per insured per person

(11:57):
per policy period. Some of the benefit options are maximum
benefit of fifty thousand, one hundred thousand and a half million,
or a million. Most of the policies I've done have
been a million or a half million. I don't recommend
the fifty thousand dollars benefit choice because that may not

(12:19):
be enough money for jet fuel, depending on where you're going.
Jet fuel is expensive these days. It's more than three
dollars a gallon deductibles per insured, per person per policy period.
You can get a deductible of zero, which a lot
of my clients do, but if you want to make
the premium a little lower, you can take a deductible

(12:41):
of one hundred dollars, a two to fifty deductible, or
a five hundred dollars deductible. Again, most of my clients
go with the zero, but when I send you the link,
you can play with the calculators in the toolbar and
change the deductible, which then will change their premium amount.

(13:02):
You'll be able to see that right right from the
palm of your hand, on your smartphone or on a
tablet or on your computer screen. UH in patient and
outpatient benefits. The benefits are paid for covered expenses up
to the medical limit the insurer would pay after your

(13:24):
deductible is met. Surgery, anesthesia, in hospital doctor visits, diagnostic
X ray and labs are all covered at one hundred percent.
Office visits including X rays lab work build by the
attending physician that's also covered at in patient hospital services.

(13:46):
These are also all covered at one hundred percent. If
you need surgery X rays, if you have an in
hospital doctor visit, in patient medical urgency, if you happen
to go to an ambulatory surgical center, if you need

(14:08):
ambulance service and non medical evacuations, that's also covered. The
ambulance bill is going to be covered up to one
thousand bucks. Prescriptions, dental care, and physical therapy, those are
all covered subject to your deductible. Outpatient prescription drugs and

(14:34):
reasonable charges are covered up to five thousand dollars. Daniel
dental care due to a If you need dental care
due to an injury to your mouth, that would be
covered in one hundred percent, but the maximum they're going
to pay out on that is only five hundred bucks.

(14:55):
So remember, if you have a cavity root canal or
you need teeth replaced. That's not going to be covered
under this unless it was caused by an injury on
the trip anesthesia for dental cares covered, physical and occupational therapy.

(15:17):
You'd get up to six visits per period of insurance
up to a maximum of one hundred bucks. Travel assistance
benefits outside your deductible there is a built in accidental
death and dismemberment. The maximum benefit principles some would be

(15:41):
fifty thousand dollars. They would pay for re patriation of remains.
That's very expensive. You have to pay for fees for
customs and repatriation. They have to also prove the Euro's citizens.
Does get expensive, but they will pay up to twenty

(16:03):
five thousand dollars for those expenses. Emergency medical transportation you
get a maximum benefit per trip period for all evacuations
up to a half million bucks. They will also schedule
or arrange emergency travel arrangements for your family. This is

(16:24):
per trip period up to twenty five hundred bucks for
the cost of one economy round trip air for a
ticket to the place of the hospital confinement location for
one person. They also have a lost bag and personal
effects coverage up to five hundred bucks per trip, and
it's limited to one hundred dollars per bag or personal effect.

(16:51):
There's also a post departure trip interruption coverage that's up
to one thousand dollars per trip. Post departure trip interruption
quarantine coverage for lodging incidentals. Maximum benefit is fifty dollars
a day up to ten days, so that could be
five hundred dollars depending on your quarantine period. There are

(17:17):
hazardous activities, so benefits from claims resulting from downhill alpine skiing,
scuba diving at a depth of twenty meters or less
by a PADDY certified diver or ANAIU required, or diving
under the supervision of a certified instructor. The insurer would

(17:39):
pay after the deductible has met a maximum benefit of
up to twenty five thousand dollars. Additional services with all
plans you get telemedicine via whether it by audio or video.
They're global service center support teams open twenty four hours
a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty

(18:01):
five days a year. They have digital tools for medical translations,
health and safety and alerts and more, and you can
always contact the Global Service Center Critical Assessment team if
you need help with something, so why would somebody choose Geoblue? Generally,
it's for peace of mind. Even if you're already enrolled

(18:23):
in a domestic health plan, your coverage is limited when
you travel abroad. Your plan may not pay to have
you safely evacuated if you're critically ill. In addition to
the administrative and logistical challenges, these situations can cost an
unprotected traveler hundreds of thousands of dollars. With Geoblue plans,

(18:46):
you can travel with peace of mind knowing you're covered
no matter where you go. Support is just a phone
call or a click away. There are flexible plan options.
There's plans to cover every international need, from leisure travel
and expatriot to mission and workplace options, and you might

(19:08):
be surprised by how affordable the coverage can be. The
Geoblue mobile app puts access to comprehensive coverage right in
the palm of your hand. You can get detailed profiles
of carefully selected primary care physicians and specialists, as well
as a broadway range of hospitals, pharmacies and dennis in

(19:32):
your local area. You can look up medical translations and
medicine equivalents, and you can get directions all just from
the Geoblue app. With Geoblue, you'd have access to quality
care if you leave the US. That doesn't mean you're
leaving behind familiar medical care if you need it. While

(19:58):
their Global Medical net network includes hand selected providers in
one hundred and ninety countries, many of whom are Western
trained and English speaking, you also have freedom to choose
any international doctor or facility for services rendered at your discretion.
You can also talk with a doctor from anywhere in

(20:18):
the world from your mobile phone, tablet, or the Telemedicine
Services number, and the Global Services Center is available twenty
four hours a day, seven days a week three hundred
and sixty five days a year to answer questions about
accessing care or health concerns, or coordinate medic medication, evacuation

(20:42):
and or repatriation. Understand Like all insurance products, some exclusions
and disclaimers do apply. You can become a Gelblue member
simply buy, call or email me with your contact info.
I need your data, birth dates, you're traveling for the

(21:02):
trip and the destination. Most of my regular clients call
me after they purchase their plane tickets. However, I can
sell you a policy, I can't sell you a policy
more than six months in the future. So if your
departure dates more than six months out, I'll pencil my

(21:23):
calendar and call you. When we get closer to that,
I can email you an estimate. They'll lets you change
the deductible or benefit amount that fits your current budget.
You can pick the plan and the deductible right online.
The whole application process will take less than fifteen minutes.
You can handle payment information and signature authorization. Then you

(21:47):
download the app and geoblue will email you the policy,
the cards, the app information, etc. Remember this coverage is
for out out side of the US only. If you're
cruising to Alaska. This will only be valid if you
were to step into port in Canada. If your current

(22:11):
health insurance policy would trump this coverage if you're still
on most of them are going to trump if you're
still in US soil. Geo Blue has a disclaimer. If
you're still in the US, your primary health insurance has
to be used first. Another example, if you're on a

(22:32):
sailboat in the US Virgin Islands, this would only apply
when you're outside of US jurisdiction. I've had clients use
these services in Mexico, Europe, and the Far East. The
Bahamas would count. But if you were in the shores
of the US Virgin Islands or just off the coast

(22:53):
East Coast, I'm gonna say that's US jurisdiction. I do
get questions all the time about people or going to Hawaii.
Hawaii is a US state. Your current insurance will cover
you there. Geo Blue well not now, if you're going
to continue on to Guam. You're going to go to Japan, Australia,
New Zealand or this southeast part of the global area,

(23:21):
that's fine. The Far East is simple. That's outside of
where your current health insurance coverage would cover you. So
remember Geo Blue goes along with your passport. If you're
taking your passport, then you should take Geo Blue with you.

(23:42):
Don't forget. I give monthly virtual meetings regarding Medicare. I
give talks on two different companies every month. In one meeting,
I will cover the Medicare supplement plan with a standalone
drug plan. That meeting is normally sponsored by well Mark
United Healthcare as a sponsor. For my other virtual meeting,

(24:03):
I focus on the Medicare Advantage Plan also known as
Medicare Parts C, and I'll cover the benefits of that
platform plus the four parts of Medicare. Some of my
upcoming Medicare meeting dates are July fifteenth and July seventeenth,

(24:23):
August fourteenth and August nineteenth, and in September, I'll give
talks on September sixteenth and September eighteenth. You can call
our office at five six three three three two two
two zero zero for the zoom meeting codes and additional

(24:45):
dates and times. You're also welcome to email me at
Craigatcraigchilig dot com. And that's my name, cr Aig at
Craig scchi I L l I G dot com. I'd
be happy to send you the virtual zoom link meeting codes.

(25:08):
This is Craig Chillig with saved Money.