Originally Posted by
Litespeedlouie
I don't qualify for one yet, but when taking care of my elderly dad, I had scans of all his medical cards/info on my phone. This was acceptable at several normal and ER visits - they just verify it all on their computer anyway.
I alway carry my full wallet on rides anyway, in a ziplock, but tend to have scan copies on my phone, too (front and backs of cards). The phone comes on rides too, of course.
Pretty much the chain of ID verification is your photo ID to insure you are you, then they take card ID's and check eligibility on-line and pretty much immediate these days. It wasn't long ago that realtime response was a dream.
Administration gets really laborious in cases where a couple or family has coverage under two employers, just short of a nightmare! There are different rules based on the employer to determine who's coverage is primary and who's is secondary. It might, or was in some cases, gender based and in some cases it was birth date. The administrative costs associated with our current healthcare system is staggering.