Travel within the United States
If you have Original Medicare, you have coverage anywhere in the U.S. and its territories. Most doctors and hospitals take Original Medicare.
If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, your plan may or may not cover care outside of its service area. Some plans may cover providers that are out of network or out of your service area, but with higher cost-sharing (copayments, coinsurances). Your plan may also impose other rules or restrictions (like prior authorization). Contact your local Medicare Insurance Advisor to see what rules and costs apply when you travel within the U.S.
*Medicare Advantage Plans are required to cover emergency and urgent care anywhere in the U.S. without imposing additional costs or coverage rules.
Travel outside the United States
Medicare usually does not cover medical care you receive when traveling outside the U.S. and its territories. However, Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans must cover care you receive outside the U.S. in certain circumstances:
- Medicare will pay for emergency services in Canada if you are traveling a direct route, without unreasonable delay, between Alaska and another state, and the closest hospital that can treat you is in Canada.
- Medicare will pay for medical care you get on a cruise ship if you get the care while the ship is in U.S. territorial waters. This means the ship is in a U.S. port or within six hours of arrival at or departure from a U.S. port.
- In limited situations, Medicare may pay for non-emergency inpatient services in a foreign hospital (and any connected provider and ambulance costs). Your care is covered if the hospital is closer to your residence than the nearest available U.S. hospital. This may happen if, for example, you live near the border of Mexico or Canada.
Medicare Advantage Plans may also cover emergency care abroad. Contact your local Medicare Insurance Advisor at 800-233-7714 for more information about its costs and coverage rules.