GypsyCare, Part I: Healthcare coverage for full-time RVers

Whatever the adventure, whether it's retiring early and running off to Central America or roaming the roads of North America in a recreational vehicle, the “gating” factor that determines what we can (or cannot) do will always be the ability to access health care without jeopardizing our financial future. I thought it might be helpful to those of you out there who are thinking about full-time RV living to devote the next two blog posts to explaining the patchwork system Leonard and I have set up to assure that we can get the medical and dental care we need when we need it. I call it “GypsyCare.”

[Part I focuses on how GypsyCare pays for services. Part II will address where and how we find medical and dental GC providers. Anyone wanting to skip to the end to see pics of our current doings, please feel free to do so now. Otherwise, read on...]

Those of you who know us know that Leonard and I are not wealthy. Rather, we are dedicated savers who invest and spend conservatively. We've managed to squirrel away enough money over the years to afford a certain amount of out-of-pocket medical expenses should the need arise. This includes premiums for enough medical and long-term care insurance to keep us out of bankruptcy should one of us need treatment for some debilitating condition, like cancer or coronary artery disease.

Because of the age difference between us, we've had to follow two different tracks to obtain coverage since our April return to the U.S.

Leonard, being the older (and, I might add, better-looking) of the two of us, will join the ranks of Medicare recipients in November. Consequently, we just needed to work out a way to bridge the coverage gap to his Medicare start date. As it happens, we were able to use an international travel policy we acquired as legal residents of Costa Rica for that purpose. The only question remaining now concerning his coverage is which Medicare supplement(s) make sense. Once in place, he'll be able to get care regardless of our locale.

My situation is more complex. I won't be Medicare-eligible for another 10 years so needed to get private insurance. I'm in good health, and lots of insurers were willing to issue me a policy. However, once they discovered I was going to travel full time in an RV, well, let's just say their enthusiasm dimmed considerably. The fact is that most insurance companies refuse to write health policies for folks like us.

My options were further limited by our decision to domicile in South Dakota. (One reason we did so was that medical insurance premiums for people with SD zip codes are significantly lower than for other popular RV domicile states, like Texas and Florida.) When all was said and done, only two companies would offer me coverage. Fortunately, both plans met my needs with respect to cost and coverage. I joined the ranks of the insured as soon as we returned to the U.S.

For the curious among you, I have what is known in insurance circles as a “high-deductible policy.” In return for paying what is by U.S. standards a relatively low monthly premium of $205, I could pay as much as $5,000 annually for deductible and co-payments. What's more, that annual cap is for in-network services, meaning that unless I want to pay the annual out-of-network limit of $12,000, I will have to haul my behind to South Dakota to avoid the higher expenses.

Given the amount of diesel fuel we can buy with $7,000, it just might be worth it to make that journey. (If we do, let's just hope it's not in the middle of winter!)

As has always been the case for us, we pay out of pocket for oral care (dental cleanings, exams, fillings, etc.) and eye care (ophthalmologist exams and glasses).

I don't know about you, but reading through all of this is about as much excitement as I care to experience in one day. GypsyCare, Part II will have to wait until next week.

Built in 1914, Green Cove Station is the last remaining original station on the

Virginia Creeper line. We started volunteering there on Aug. 1 and will

stay through the end of October.

The station housed a small general store where locals could find essential food items, medicines, hardware and clothing. When the store closed in 1977, shortly after the railroad ceased its operations, the owner donated the store's contents to the U.S. Forest Service. Too bad nobody bought those jeans. They would have been stylin'!

In addition to the passenger depot and general store, Green Cove Station also featured a telegraph office and notary public. These services make the station a kind of community center where locals came to catch up on the latest gossip and warm themselves by the wood-burning stove. Note the worn floor boards by the bench (left). A lot of feet have rubbed that wood over the last century.

The stationmaster's daughter donated the U.S. flag shown here. It belonged to her husband who was help captive in a Japanese prison camp after his capture during WWII.

Residents of Green Cove came to the station to get their mail. The post office

closed when the U.S. Postal Service initiated rural free delivery in 1963.