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The rules say that plans must pay for a medical service or item if regular Medicare would pay for it in this case. 
You can find this rule at 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 422.101. 
 
The rules say that items and services furnished outside the United States are excluded from coverage except for 
the following services, and certain services rendered on board a ship: 
- Emergency inpatient hospital services where the emergency occurred:           ~ While the beneficiary was physically present in the United States; or 
          ~ In Canada while the beneficiary was traveling without reasonable delay and by the most direct 
route between Alaska and another State. 
- Emergency or nonemergency inpatient hospital services furnished by a hospital located outside the 
United States, if the hospital was closer to, or substantially more accessible from, the beneficiary's United 
States residence than the nearest participating United States hospital which was adequately equipped to deal 
with and available to provide treatment of the illness or injury; 
- Physician and ambulance services furnished in connection with a covered foreign hospitalization. 
Program payment may not be made for any other Part B medical and other health services, including outpatient 
services furnished outside the United States; 
- Services rendered on board a ship in a United States port, or within 6 hours of when the ship arrived at, 
or departed from, a United States port, are considered to have been furnished in United States territorial waters. 
Services not furnished in a United States port, or within 6 hours of when the ship arrived at, or departed from, a 
United States port, are considered to have been furnished outside United States territorial waters, even if the 
ship is of United States registry; and 
 
The term "United States" means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and, for purposes of services rendered 
on a ship, includes the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the United States. You can find these rules 
in Medicare Benefit Policy Manual Chapter 16, Section 60. 
 
The rules say that Medicare Part B generally does not pay for drugs that are usually self-administered by the 
patients who take them. Examples of self-administered drugs are drugs in pill form and those used for self-
injection. The only exceptions are: 
 
1. blood-clotting factors;  
2. drugs used in immunosuppressive therapy; 
3. erythropoietin for dialysis patients;  
4. osteoporosis drugs for certain homebound patients; 
5. certain oral cancer drugs;  
6. oral anti-emetics used in certain situations;  
7. drugs treated as supplies during an outpatient hospital procedure; and  
8. drugs required for the effective use of durable medical equipment. 
You can find this rule in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Internet Only Manual, Publication 
100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15, Sections 50, 50.2, 50.5, and 110.3. 
 
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com. 
 
The Plan contract says that the Plan covers items and services in accordance with Medicare rules. The contract 
says the Plan provides a $100,000 benefit for emergency, urgent care, and emergency transportation received 
outside the United States. Services are covered worldwide under the same conditions of medical necessity and 
appropriateness that would have applied if the same services were provided within the United States. The Plan 
contract says you must first pay for medical care received, obtain a discharge summary or equivalent medical 
documentation and proof of payment, preferably in English and U.S. dollars. Submit the reimbursement request 
with all supporting documentation to the Plan and it will be reviewed for medical necessity and appropriateness 
before reimbursement is made. You can find this information on page 63 of the Plan's 2022 Evidence of 
Coverage.