View Series

Will Medicare Cover Me If I Travel Outside the United States?

Medicare rarely includes medical care internationally, but exceptions exist

Kimberly Lankford,

Updated July 27, 2026

AARP

Reviewed by

Claire Noël-Miller, MPA, Ph.D.

En español

Updated July 27, 2026

yellow suitcase with medicare card on a beach background

AARP photo collage (Source: Getty Images (3))

Key takeaways

Medicare has limited coverage outside U.S., territories.
But in rare emergencies, you may have some coverage.
Most Medigap plans offer some emergency care outside U.S.
Medicare Advantage, trip policies, Tricare may be options.
Living abroad full-time introduces different challenges.

Medicare generally doesn’t pay for medical services outside the United States or its territories, but it may in very limited circumstances, including if you:

Experience a medical emergency while traveling through Canada — on your way between Alaska and another state — and a Canadian hospital is closest to your location.
Face a medical emergency while you’re in the United States or one of its territories, but the nearest hospital is across the border; for example, in Canada or Mexico.
Live in the United States or one of its territories and need hospital care, regardless of whether it’s an emergency, but the nearest hospital is in a foreign country.
Require ambulance transportation to a foreign hospital before you are admitted for medically necessary covered inpatient services.
Need medical attention while aboard a ship within six hours of a U.S. port.

The key to much of Medicare’s coverage overseas is whether the care is considered an emergency, rather than classified as urgent, routine or elective.

Important: But Medicare does not pay for kidney dialysis treatments or prescription medications outside the country. So try to anticipate your needs before your trip.

Medicare does cover all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What kind of care outside the U.S. will Medicare cover?

In rare situations, Medicare Part A will cover inpatient hospitalization and Part B will cover emergency ambulance and doctor services immediately before and during your stay in a foreign hospital.

The same deductibles, copayments and coinsurance apply as for services in the U.S. But coverage is limited: Medicare won’t pay for ambulance or doctor services in the foreign country after your covered inpatient hospital stay ends.

If you qualify, the foreign hospital may file a claim with Medicare, but it’s not required to do so. In that case, you may need to submit an itemized bill to Medicare.

If you receive care on a cruise ship within six hours of a U.S. port, the attending doctor usually submits the Medicare claim.

Do Medicare supplement plans cover foreign travel?

If you buy a private Medigap plan, the better-known name for Medicare supplement insurance, you may be insured for foreign travel emergencies.

Most Medigap plans — C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M and N — cover emergency health care while traveling outside the country. Only Medigap plans A, B, K and L cover nothing abroad.

But plans C and F are no longer available to new Medicare beneficiaries. Only those eligible for Medicare before 2020 can enroll in plans C and F.

Plans E, H, I and J are no longer sold at all. But if you bought one of these plans before June 1, 2010, you can continue that coverage.

Medigap plans paying a portion of emergency costs during foreign travel cover care that begins in the first 60 days of your trip. They pay 80 percent of the billed charges for specific medically necessary emergency care you receive outside the U.S., but you must first pay a $250 deductible for the year.

Medigap’s foreign travel emergency coverage has a lifetime limit of $50,000.

What other foreign travel emergency coverage is available?

Medicare Advantage. If you’re one of the majority of Medicare enrollees on a private Medicare Advantage plan, some — but not all — do pay toward foreign travel emergency care.

Here, too, coverage is limited. Details vary not only by company but also by plan within each insurer’s offerings.

For your existing plan, check out the plan summary and evidence of coverage documents on your plan’s website. Your specific plan will spell out what is defined as an emergency and your coverage limits. Because the documents can run hundreds of pages, try searching for the word “foreign” or “worldwide.”

You also can get to these documents through Medicare’s Plan Finder even if you’re not shopping for new coverage. But if you’re planning a trip for next year, look at the foreign travel benefits for Medicare Advantage plans available in your area in the plan finder as part of your annual search for plans during open enrollment.

Travel insurance. While some travel insurance policies cover trip cancellations, others also cover emergency medical care in a foreign country and medical evacuation either to a nearby medical facility or back to the U.S.

However, some travel insurance policies exclude preexisting conditions, so find out about exclusions, coverage limits and other details before choosing a policy. An insurance agent or travel agent can provide more information about travel insurance.

Tricare for Life. If you’re a military retiree, you may have foreign-country health care coverage through Tricare for Life after you enroll in Medicare. Tricare for Life typically covers Medicare’s deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, but it also provides additional benefits, such as health care outside the U.S.

It’s the same foreign travel insurance military retirees and dependents have before enrolling in Medicare. You pay any deductibles and copayments for that coverage.

What if I want to live mostly in a foreign country?

If you plan to live abroad or travel back and forth regularly, rather than just vacation out of the country, you can still enroll in Medicare. But you’ll forgo coverage while you’re away and still have to pay the standard monthly Part B premium of $202.90 in 2026.

You’ll also have to pay Part A premiums if you or your spouse haven’t paid Medicare taxes for at least 40 quarters, which is 10 years in total. In 2026, you'll pay $311 a month for Part A if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for 30 to 39 quarters, or $565 a month if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for fewer than 30 quarters.

If you decide to wait to enroll in Medicare until you return to the United States full-time, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty. If you work abroad and receive health insurance from your employer, live in a country with a national health system or volunteer and have health coverage through a sponsor organization, you may have some exemptions.

This includes eligibility for an eight-month special enrollment period after you stop working or lose your insurance; six months if you’re volunteering. Researching your options before making any decisions about health insurance is a good idea.

Join our fight to protect Medicare

AARP is working to keep Medicare strong. Here’s how you can help.

Sign up to become an AARP activist for the latest news and alerts on issues you care about.
Find out more about how we’re fighting for you in Congress and across the country.
See the latest AARP research on Medicare.
AARP is your fierce defender on the issues that matter to people 50-plus. Become a member or renew your membership today.

This story, originally published Sept. 12, 2022, was updated with 2026 information, including on kidney dialysis and prescriptions.

%{postComment}%

About the author

Kimberly Lankford is a contributing writer who covers Medicare and personal finance and now writes about insurance for The Wall Street Journal | Buy Side. She wrote about insurance, Medicare, retirement and taxes for more than 20 years at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and has written for The Washington Post and Boston Globe. She received the personal finance Best in Business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the New York State Society of CPAs’ excellence in financial journalism award for her guide to Medicare.

About the reviewer

Claire Noël-Miller , senior strategic policy adviser for Medicare at the AARP Public Policy Institute, previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher and a research associate at the Center for the Demography of Health and Aging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned her master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University and her doctorate in demography from the University of Pennsylvania.