Expat trying to decide whether to quit Medicare part B and what the long term consequences are

[maikeru]

I'm 67 years old and joined Medicare parts A and B when I become eligible at 65. I'm also an expat living more than 40 years in Japan, and plan on living here the rest of my life. I signed up because I read about late penalties and I thought maybe Medicare could be used as health insurance during trips to the U.S.

But reading these details in AARP articles makes me think that Medicare is crazy complicated and not worth it. If I got stuck in the U.S. I could use a tiny fraction of my premiums to flee back to Japan, where I'm a permanent resident, and where there are no donut holes, and there are definitely caps on co-payments!

If I leave part B, does part A, which is free, have any value?

If I decide to join part B again for some reason I know there is some penalty to catch up on unpaid months, but will they take into account the nearly 3 years I've paid my premium?

With my national health insurance here - and my premiums being about what I'm also paying for Medicare, I'm feeling like maybe it's just not worth keeping it. For like one-half of one-month's premium I can get trip insurance for visits to the U.S.

Any other expats here? What do you do?

And if I quit Medicare part B it won't affect my Social Security benefits which I'm eligible for and plan to start taking when I turn 70, right?

Thanks.

[expatretiree]

I, too, am an expat living in Japan. Been here 37 years and only visit the States occasionally to see relatives. I'm also a permanent foreign resident, have Medicare Parts A & B, and am also thinking of leaving Part B as I cannot possibly use it in Japan. On my last trip to the US four years ago I got quite sick, as I usually do when traveling to another country. Cold and flu symptoms mostly, and since this was at the start of the covid pandemic it was more than a little concerning for an old immune system compromised individual like me. I went to a hospital emmerg ward and was given good care for what turned out to be some other virus, not covid. But the bill was over $3,000. Not sure what Medicare paid if anything, but it probably wasn't much as it was all out-patient. Fortunately, I had taken out a Japanese travel insurance policy that paid for all treatments and drugs minus the $250 purchase fee. Had I gotten sick in Japan it would have cost me maybe $50 total.

I'm already retired and can seriously use the $165/mo that Medicare is taking out of my SSA benefits. The question is, do I dare break free of the only US Medical insurance program that can pay for hospitalization anywhere in the US (but not Japan) given the fact that I will probably never use it?  My wife is also on SSA. She never signed up for Medicare Part B and has never missed it.

[GailL1]

@maikeru 

You should keep Medicare Part A if it is free to you after working for a US company for years and paying payroll taxes.

As far as Part B or Part D - you will only need these if you come back to the states for perhaps an extended period and want the coverage - if you drop coverage on them, when and IF you ever want to reenroll, you will be assessed a late sign up penalty that stays forever and isn’t a small amount especially if it goes on for years and is cumulative.

Medicare.gov- Avoid Late Enrollment Penalties

But like you said you could make other arrangements for periodic visits.

Medicare is kind of complicated but here all types of health insurance is complicated especially if one does no exert any effort of learning about it.

Happy Travels