Health Insurance for Extensive Travel Inside and Outside US?
I am investigating for my son, 27 years old as of January, who travels extensively for his job. He is currently out of the country without Internet access.
He is about to take a new job that does not offer health coverage / benefits.
Here are his questions:
1- He is only in Texas for a few weeks during the year.
– Do the different categories provide different levels of coverage for a Texas resident that is in-state for only limited periods of time?
2- He has considerable travel outside of the US for his job – possibly multiple months in multiple countries and multiple cities in those countries.
– What type of coverage is available to him: health – general, including emergency room and physical rehab, vision and dental.
3- Once he leaves his current job, how long does he have to enroll in a plan to ensure he does not have a penalty?
– Does the timeframe change if he pays for COBRA?
4- Since I have legal power of attorney, can I enroll him?
Answer
If someone travels often inside and outside the US, but lives in the US they still need health insurance. We suggest a multi-state plan, that will cover the person no matter which state they travel in. BCBS offers multi-state plans for example. The person should also get some sort of travelers insurance for when they travel outside of the US (although that part isn't required by law). The only way to get around the requirement to have coverage is to be outside of the country for more than 330 days. Not sure on the exact legality of this when you have power of attorney, but as a rule of thumb unless you are on a family plan, you should not enroll him and he should enroll himself. This will help him avoid any complications down the road. He should simply choose his primary residence as the place to get coverage, and since it will be a multi-state plan he will be able to use it as he travels. For cost assistance (if that is an option due to an employer not offering coverage and income) he will need to be aware of how he will file taxes (jointly or on his own) as this will effect tax credit eligibility.
Lastly, unless one qualifies for a special enrollment period coverage must be purchased during open enrollment. Travelers insurance can be purchased outside of open enrollment, but not the multi-state plan.
Think this covers all the bases. Please comment below with any further questions.