@kevin Thank you, Kevin. This is very helpful. I have been quiet for a few weeks because, following receipt of my Stamp 0 acceptance letter, I made a quick trip to Dublin to put things into order.
I have requested the PPSN and reached out to VHI for a quote. My understanding is that I need to have a residential address in place before VHI will proceed with a private health policy. (I now have a property under contract.) In my discussions with Medicare, I learned that I can keep Part A, release Part B, keep Part D (prescriptions) as long as I have either Part A or Part B, and release my supplemental plan. I had a discussion with a firm that provides health insurance plans for people who are truly multinational; the premiums run $4600+ per year. If we are only traveling to the US to visit, not to spend part of the year in US and part in IE, travelers insurance should provide basic coverage should there be a need. At least this is what I have been told.
All the comments and suggestions on this discussion thread are very, very helpful. THANK YOU - everyone - for posting from your experience.
Kind regards
Pat
Patricia Egan, MBA, MS
Thank you, Kevin. This is very important information, and I appreciate your sharing. I am 70 years old with a nasty Medicare situation. Bottom line: Have you ever heard of IRMAA? Neither had I. Don't ask. Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff had EVERYTHING worked out . . . I thought. Anyway, I will withdraw from Part B, Part D, and Supplemental Plan F, retaining Part A. Due to timing issues around extricating myself from IRMAA and starting IE insurance, I am going with Cigna Global. My sister has an insurance broker's license in CA. She said just get something in place and switch to something less expensive once I get to IE. If the US government were to try to encourage people to leave the country, the IRMAA would surely be effective.
Many have written editorials about health care in the US. It seems to me that we can do better in IE and probably other countries. Medicare advocacy efforts to add dental, vision, hearing, and compression garments for lymphedema patients have gone up/down but, most recent attempt, only hearing made it to the bill passed by the House. We shall see what happens in the Senate.
THANK YOU for your message. I truly appreciate reading about some light at the end of the Medicare tunnel.
Onward!
Pat Egan
Patricia Egan, MBA, MS