Using Medicare A as part of travel back to US insurance

I have been away from the forum for over 16 years! But something came up that got me thinking. When I got to retirement age, I visited the SS office in my old US hometown and signed me and DH on (as he had lived with me in the US). He gets half my SS, etc etc.  We declined Part B,  Medicare, but Part A is 'built in' .  This last trip I tried to find out two things. 1) Why I cannot get London FBU to send us the new Part A Medicare Cards with the unique identifier numbers and 2) If we needed to use the ER whilst on the visit there, would Medicare Part A apply, and for any part of an in-hospital stay. That came about because our travel insurance has gone through the roof since I turned 70 a few years ago and he turned 80 this year. I looked back at past years and it is age 65 that causes the biggest jump.

So does anyone know if Part A helps for emergency treatment?  If so then next time I am going to get a cheaper travel policy.  Also, I left a written letter at my local SS office about my Part A cards. If we can use Part A at hospital there if needed on a trip, then I want a card that a hospital will recognise as current. I did not try to leave my query about using Part A over a travel policy.  I seem to recall that Medicare gets applied first to all bills, but that was when I handled my dad's stuff in 2006.

Thanks for any help.   

Part A is supposed to cover all hospital treatment - once admitted.  I think Part B covers hospital outpatient care (ER visits, etc.). So, once admitted, Medicare part A would kick in.

https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/what-part-a-covers



There is a deductible, etc. (sorry these numbers are a bit out of date - but you can get more info at Medicare.gov)

What are my Medicare Part A costs?

Many people get Medicare Part A without a premium if they’ve worked the required amount of time under Medicare-covered employment, generally 10 years or 40 quarters and paid Medicare taxes while working (see below for more information). However, your Part A coverage may still include other costs, even after Medicare has paid its share. This may include deductibles, copayments, and/or coinsurance, which can all change from year to year. Your costs may depend on the type of service you’re getting and how often.

Medicare Part A cost-sharing amounts (for 2021) are listed below.

Inpatient hospital care:

    Medicare Part A deductible: $1,484 for each benefit period
    Medicare Part A coinsurance:
        $0 coinsurance for the first 60 days of each benefit period
        $371 a day for the 61st to 90th days of each benefit period
        $742 a day for days 91 and beyond per each lifetime reserve day of each benefit period (you get up to 60 lifetime reserve days)
        After lifetime reserve days are used up: You pay all costs

Skilled nursing facility care:

    $0 for days 1 to 20 for each benefit period
    $185.50 a day for the 21st to 100th days (skilled nursing facility coinsurance of each benefit period)
    Days 101 and beyond: all costs


Medicare would be the first payer, yes.

Ah, I see... I forgot about Part B being for other than Dr visits.
 Thanks for the reply, it makes sense now. 

My wife and I applied for Medicare Part A through the FBU at the US London embassy when we were 65 and received our Medicare cards some weeks/months later.

My wife and I applied for Medicare Part A through the FBU at the US London embassy when we were 65 and received our Medicare cards some weeks/months later.

Thanks for your update. I applied for the replacement ones in 2019... even with Covid that's a bit of lag.  That said, I haven't gotten the 'dead or alive' letter since before Covid as well. They must have a massive backlog both at embassies and in the US for expat stuff.

Thanks for your update. I applied for the replacement ones in 2019... even with Covid that's a bit of lag.  That said, I haven't gotten the 'dead or alive' letter since before Covid as well. They must have a massive backlog both at embassies and in the US for expat stuff.

That is quite a delay but not surprising. I applied for mine in the summer of 2020 and my wife about 6 months later. My wife applied for her SS in April 2021 and that took 7 months to go through which was a similar time to get our Medicare cards