Your Medicare Coverage

Is your test, item, or service covered?

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How often is it covered?

In general, health care you get while traveling outside the U.S. isn't covered.

In rare cases, Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) may pay for inpatient hospital services you get in a foreign country under the following circumstances:

• You're in the U.S. when a medical emergency occurs, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat the emergency.
• You're traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat the emergency.
• You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your medical condition, regardless of whether an emergency exists.
• In some cases, Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) may cover medically-necessary health care services while on board a cruise ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.

Medicare drug plans don't cover prescription drugs you buy outside the U.S.

Medicare doesn't cover dialysis you get when you travel outside the U.S. unless it's an emergency in which you get dialysis at a hospital.

Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) policies may cover you when you travel outside the U.S.

Your costs in Original Medicare

You pay 100% of the costs, in most cases.

In the situations above, Medicare pays only for services covered under Original Medicare:

• Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital care (care you get when you've been formally admitted with a doctor's order to the foreign hospital as an inpatient).
• Medicare Part B covers emergency and non-emergency ambulance and doctor services you get immediately before and during your covered foreign inpatient hospital stay. Medicare generally won't pay for services (such as return ambulance trips home) if Medicare didn't cover your hospital stay, or you got ambulance and doctor services outside the hospital after your covered hospital stay ended.
• You pay the part of the charge you would normally pay for covered services. This includes any medically necessary doctor and ambulance services you get in a foreign country as part of a covered inpatient hospital stay. You also pay the coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles you'd normally pay if you got these same services or supplies inside the U.S.

Related resources

• Medicare & You: traveling abroad (video)