Parents are retired and they need health insurance?

Jimmy C

Are they not covererd under the German system? If they spend even one day less than six months in the US, they are still German residents, so they should be covered by the German system. Anything over six months and they are US residents.

Judy

Any other insurance would cost more

Flower

They can enroll in Part B again but there is a 10% monthly penalty added to the premium for enrolling late. Their income does not matter for Medicare unless it is very high but it is so low that they might apply for Medicaid instead if they can prove U.S. residence for 5 years. And they dont want Part A? You should read the Medicare site.

RICK

The cheapest would be medicare but because they cancelled it and want to sign up again there will be a penalty. Not sure of the specifics

thegreatone

Their option is to buy insurance.

lucy

When you age at 65, then automatically on Medicare which is cheap vs traditional health insurance. At age 64, my health insurance premium was about $700 with a $6,500 deductible. It would have jumped to almost $1,000 per month, but lucky since I turned 65 in January,(premium increases in Jan of each year of renewal) thus paid $130 for Part B with a $175 deductible. But guessing that your parents when they moved to Germany was unsure it they planned on living there or not, thus kept Part B, but after time realized (why) are we paying for this when we don't plan on going back to the US. But, I an not "sure" since they cancelled the Part B, if they would be penalized for (every) year, like when you sign up late for Part B after age 65. Maybe one of the good agents out there will post if I am wrong or not. But may want to check out if they could get traveler's insurance or if Germany would cover them in the US and if so like one poster stated the time frame of less than 6 months.? Let me guess, your parents will be staying with you, thus helping them out to find the best options.

ibu guru

Medicare is their cheapest option if they return to US. If they can earn that much (plus their Social Security), they need to look at relocating to a country with a lower cost of living. E.g. Ecuador, Panama, Belize & Malaysia offer retiree visas. Panama has excellent medical care (Johns Hopkins has a hospital in Panama which is renowned as an international facility, and offers medical tourism services, too). If they cannot get back on Medicare & afford the premiums, they need to look at relocating abroad - in a country with a lower cost of living & much lower health care costs such as Ecuador or Panama. They apparently don't have enough money to qualify for retiree visa programs in Belize or Malaysia.

Beverly S

Nothing cheaper than medicare.

Trivial One

They should be able to buy traveler's health insurance in Germany before they leave that country.