⌛ Is it feasable...

to go to Guam every 3 months for a medicare Dr. appt and 3 month Rx to take advantage of your medicare benifits?

 

thanks Devil this question has been on my mind as well, its an hour flight from Cebu isn't it? And medicare is in effect there...why not? I will wait for replies as well

 

If you are retired military you may have a chance of getting seen on base but most of our overseas locations are geared for active duty care only. Even dependents cannot get military dental care at the naval base anyway. I would not hold my breath on getting any kind of VA support and it seems like a lot of trouble for a quarterly trip unless you really like golfing or diving.

If you are talking about off base healthcare, that is another story and someone else will have to help with that info. Since they are an american territory I would hope they provide decent services but then again maybe not worth the paperwork involved.

 

Pedro- I was thinking not of VA care, but more of using my medicare benefits, which I have been paying into for many years. Shame to see that money go to waste. Just asking if it is cost worthy to go to Guam every 3 months and get a 3 month supply of your prescriptions, and let medicare pay its part...

 

I would do a cost to benefit analysis.

How much is round trip airfare to Guam?
Land transportation?
Accommodations?
Food?
Other expenses?

How much does your 3 month supply of meds cost in the Philippines?
How much do your doctor visits cost in the Philippines?

If all your expenses while going to and from Guam exceed your meds and doctors expenses it isn't worth it, right? Even if your meds and doctor associated costs in Guam are free it would not be worth it.

 

I am not using Medicare as of yet but I was curious about some of this...Wouldn't it be possible to get Meds via mail? I see where the AARP offers a discount plan that uses Medicare and sends them in the mail. And in terms of Guam, I was not thinking in terms of regular checkups as much as if someone had something significant to deal with and wanted to utilize their Medicare coverage, Could Guam be an alternative to returning to the States?

 

I need a hip replacement and am strongly considering going to Guam for the operation under medicare. I use a local doc for all my normal care and get my prescriptions mostly from the generic pharm. I can't see that going to Guam for that would pay me.

 

Interesting Kenny, yea that was the sort of thing I was curious about. May I ask if you have any information about the medical care available there, have you visited Guam?

 

I am a 100% Nam Vet. The VA medical clinic will only provide services for what you are service connected for only. Has any 100% Disabled Vet living here in the Philippines been provided services beyond their service connection medical?
Has anyone went to Guam for VA Service connection medical help and recieved it?

 

I haven't been there yet and a half-hearted search on the internet hasn't yielded much. I will probably be going there in June and will let you know what I find out.