[Longwell]

There has been a discussion in the past about Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield not being a valid coverage in South Dakota. Apparently some of the groups in the Life on Wheels class were told that the above coverages would not be available in South Dakota, even if brought in there from some other state.
Since my wife and I have such coverage, will continue to have it after my wife's retirement in Pennsylvania AND plan on having SD as our "home" address while fulltiming, we were concerned enough to get an answer from our provider in writing, as follows, from a Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield benefits administrator:

"Highmark send me the letter you sent to them regarding your planned retirement.

You will have no problem with your plan once you retire and move to South Dakota. There are many annuitants who live out of state and have no problem with their Highmark coverage.

Highmark coverage is worldwide so you should have no problem with your coverage anywhere you might travel."

This answers our specific needs' questions.

I would suggest anyone with similar concerns and planning on changing their residence contact their healthcare provider and check the status of their coverage based on their particular circumstances and plans.

Again, this is what we did to ensure our continued coverage and is not meant to be a blanket endorsement or guideline; just a suggestion based on previous posts on the MOC forum.

Larry