Primary Care Physician Question

[pbahlin]

OK, trying to get ready for hitting the road/retiring. I know I will have to have Medicare and a Medigap plan, but I have a question regarding whether you need to have a Primary Care Physician when you don't have a stick house as a domicile. Or is it not a requirement with Medicare/Medigap plan if it covers you with full time travel? I know there are many doctors who don't take Medicare patients or are not accepting new patients...so how do you deal with this on the road...can I just maintain my relationship with my current physician and come back here annually for physicals or what?

Any and all answers will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by pbahlin

OK, trying to get ready for hitting the road/retiring. I know I will have to have Medicare and a Medigap plan, but I have a question regarding whether you need to have a Primary Care Physician when you don't have a stick house as a domicile. Or is it not a requirement with Medicare/Medigap plan if it covers you with full time travel? I know there are many doctors who don't take Medicare patients or are not accepting new patients...so how do you deal with this on the road...can I just maintain my relationship with my current physician and come back here annually for physicals or what?

Any and all answers will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

We don't have a primary physician. No that's not true. We have a primary care physician in Cedar Rapids, IA, one in New Orleans, LA and one in Palm Desert, CA. There is no requirement for people on Medicare to have a primary care physician. When I had back surgery in CA in 2008 they listed my primary care physician as my surgeon, the one doing the surgery! If someone is telling you that you HAVE to have one, that's wrong. I can attest to that. Our domicile address is Livingston, TX where we vote. We don't live there; we live in our rig wherever it might be. We do get our physicals with our physician in Cedar Rapids because she has our many years of records.

When we do receive medical care elsewhere around the U.S., we have the information sent to our Cedar Rapids doctor just to maintain continuity with our medical care.

Orv

[pbahlin]

Orv:

Thank you so much for the prompt reply....and the great news as well.

I was really worried about the primary care physician situation. Not the I have a medical condition...just that I was curious about what happens when you are traveling full time.

I know we will most likely be coming back here (Mass)to see the kids and grandkids so I can schedule our annual physicals here and will discuss with my doc how to handle the medical records if needed when away.

Of course if we all get stuck with the BummerCare Plan coming down the road it may not matter...we'll get what "they" think we should get, unfortunately and it won't matter where we "live"!

Thanks again....

Betty

[adelmoll]

Betty, one thing to remember is that if you are on Medicare with a Medigap plan, you can not go for a physical.. Medicare does not cover well care.. It has to be called Med Check or something like that to be covered... But like you said above... I don't think it will matter when the new BC plan comes into effect..

Helen

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by adelmoll

Betty, one thing to remember is that if you are on Medicare with a Medigap plan, you can not go for a physical.. Medicare does not cover well care.. It has to be called Med Check or something like that to be covered... But like you said above... I don't think it will matter when the new BC plan comes into effect..

Helen

You're absolutely right. Medicare will not cover annual physicals. However, that has not stopped my doctor from performing the same tests that a physical requires. Very savvy doctor. When I need a complete physical, she tells me so.

Orv

[Imp]

When you first go on Medicare, you are allowed one physical exam. That's it. We essentialy live long time in WA (summer) and TX (winter). We do have someone for routine things in both places, but do not need them to go to a specialist. The specialists by the way are not real good about transferring your records to a primary care doc. You have to fill out a transfer of record form to make it legal etc. I try to get a copy of discharge records or summaries from different specialists to carry with me. It is workable and especially if you are in good health. When you have health issues, you just have to rethink you itinerary and adjust. Keep track of surgeries, diagnoses, medications, tests etc and carry a list in your purse/wallet. Nothing more frustrating then having to fill out forms and try to recall dates!!

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Imp

When you first go on Medicare, you are allowed one physical exam. That's it.

I didn't know that nor did the local Medicare people know that. My first physical upon turning 65 was paid for out of pocket. Medicare was adamant about not covering physicals.

Orv

[c5racer]

Just go to the doctor and tell him or her you have chest pains and you'll get a physical that insurance will cover. It won't be considered a physical even though the doc will check you for everything.

[Imp]

Orv: That is true. The ruling on one physical when going on medicare was made a yr or so ago. Wish It was so when I turned 65.

[Longwell]

This is "slightly" off the main poster's topic, but is certainly closely related.
I was concerned about availability of health records while on the road, especially in an emergency where you don't have your medical history available immediately (it's in the Montana, it's at our "closed for the day" doctor's office, it burned up at the crash site, etc.)
After some research, I learned that carrying a floppy/CD/flashdrive would not work since most healthcare providers would not insert it in their system because of their fear of bugs/trojan horses/spyware, etc.
So, I joined the MedicAlert Gold program. There, you can upload or fax or mail your medical history in detail, with sub-files for different medical areas such as urology, oncology, etc., you can add personal notes from yourself as alerts or cautions, and you can have your physicians fax/upload/mail ongoing reports as you are seen or treated to keep it up to date.
The neat thing about it is that it is available world-wide, 24/7/365, to be accessed by any healthcare person to whom you give your "secret number and password". Thus you can be treated by a medic along the road (who has a laptop), by an emergency room physician, or by any doctor's office that has a computer - and they will have current records of your history.
It is as secure as can be, which you can verify on their web site.
This is the way we are going, which will also cover us when away from home, away from the Montana, (or away from our home country!!)
This posting is meant as a suggestion, not a sales pitch (although we are "sold" - lol).
By the way, it's only $9.95/month, per person.
Larry

[exav8tr]

quote:Originally posted by c5racer

Just go to the doctor and tell him or her you have chest pains and you'll get a physical that insurance will cover. It won't be considered a physical even though the doc will check you for everything.

This is not all together true, they may just do an EKG, Cardiac enzymes test and monitor you for 4-5 hours then send you home at 4 in the morning. Having been a medic for 26 years, I would not recommend doing this unless you truly do have chest pains...

Larry, that is a great idea. For someone with a relevant medical history I would think that would be the perfect solution for "Continuity of Care"...I just carry a list of current and past medical conditions along with a list of medications I am currently taking. I upgrade in my coumputer whenever a change is made and DW knows how to access it. Would not work in an "Emergency" as your solution would. I will be looking into that.....THANKS!!!!!!

Phil

[DonandJudy_12]

Thanks for the brilliant idea to put your medical records on a disc- Now we can put our records on a disc and let the attending use our laptops to help diagnose(sp?) our problem- No more forgotten issues, no more forgotten symtoms(sp? again)- I'm sure our personal physician will be glad to assist us in setting up a file ( helps her too when needed!)- Thank you- Thank you- Thank you- Don

[Longwell]

DonandJudy 12;
I sent you an email. I don't think you got the main idea of my previous posting which was to put your records online at a trusted site, like MedicAlert, so medical personnel don't have to be afraid to access them.
Larry

[bill maietta]

Paul, I am not a full timer but I do travel quite a bit, out of my home area, and have recently gone on medicare. Medicare is certainly a challange to grasp with all the options. I chose an HMO in South Fla and it works for me. My plan allows for emergency room and urgent care visits wherever you are. The possibility of an occasional glitch exists but if one is in reasonably good health they can be overcome. Good luck with your decision and remember, it can be changed in one year. Bill

quote:Originally posted by pbahlin

OK, trying to get ready for hitting the road/retiring. I know I will have to have Medicare and a Medigap plan, but I have a question regarding whether you need to have a Primary Care Physician when you don't have a stick house as a domicile. Or is it not a requirement with Medicare/Medigap plan if it covers you with full time travel? I know there are many doctors who don't take Medicare patients or are not accepting new patients...so how do you deal with this on the road...can I just maintain my relationship with my current physician and come back here annually for physicals or what?

Any and all answers will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[alandaudrey]

Just an added note. We made an extended trip to Alaska last year and were concerned about our Medicare benefits while traveling through Canada. The Medicare Handbook states under "Part B- covered services".
"If you are 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." Then you are covered under your Medicare and Medigap policy.

I figure if you're fulltiming you will eventually make a trip to Alaska. For us it was the trip of a lifetime.