Medical Department Charges

There has been much discussion here about the "outrageous" fees that the ship board medical department charges.

I recently made use of the department on board the Noordam on the way back from Sydney to Honolulu. The cost of the office visit and the antibiotic was $199.60 for the office visit and the antibiotic. This was broken down to $110 for the visit and $89.60 for the antibiotic. While the price for the antibiotic was considerable higher then the cost of a generic version here at home, the overall cost was not unreasonable and they did, after all have to stock it at sea.

Since the cruise ship is basically considered to be an urgent care facility by my insurance company I compared it to a similar local urgent care facility.

A few weeks after I returned I made a similar visit to my local urgent care clinic in Bend Oregon, affiliated with my primary care physician. Similar visit, spent less time with a nurse practitioner. Cost of visit $332.20 list price (reduced to $206.26 due to insurance company agreement). Antibiotic cost $19.25.

As such it does not seem that the medical costs on the cruise ship are out of line (and might even be lower than) US medical costs for similar services.

I have only been for medical services twice over the years and fortunately for minor things.

The cost were very reasonable.

Mostly, I was grateful that kind, knowledgeable doctors and nurses were available.

Sandra

We visited medical on RCIs serenade of the seas, and a generic Zpak was $60. My insurance at the time had zero copay. Now I try to get the doctor to write me a prescription from home. Though, I usually get the doctor onboard or call my doctor if in the US to tell me if it’s a good time to use it. Travel guard refunded it. But if you don’t have the right plan, there may be a $50 copay.

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Captive audience. :)

Quite a few years ago I had to see the doctor on the ship.

He charged me $80 for the visit and $8 for 10 pain pills. That was a bargain.

At home we pay only $5 to see our family doctor and many of our prescriptions costs around $40 for a 90 day supply.

A couple of times we have had to go to Med Express -- cost is $50 and we fill any prescriptions we need at our local drug store.

Emergency room is now $85 and we have to pay even when we are admitted to the hospital. Again any prescriptions we are given we fill at our local drug store.

Thanks for the info

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Quite a few years ago I had to see the doctor on the ship.

He charged me $80 for the visit and $8 for 10 pain pills. That was a bargain.

At home we pay only $5 to see our family doctor and many of our prescriptions costs around $40 for a 90 day supply.

A couple of times we have had to go to Med Express -- cost is $50 and we fill any prescriptions we need at our local drug store.

Emergency room is now $85 and we have to pay even when we are admitted to the hospital. Again any prescriptions we are given we fill at our local drug store.

Doesn't your supplemental policy cover ER? It does in MA

Coverages seem to vary by state. I was not aware of that.

Quite a few years ago I had to see the doctor on the ship.

He charged me $80 for the visit and $8 for 10 pain pills. That was a bargain.

At home we pay only $5 to see our family doctor and many of our prescriptions costs around $40 for a 90 day supply.

A couple of times we have had to go to Med Express -- cost is $50 and we fill any prescriptions we need at our local drug store.

Emergency room is now $85 and we have to pay even when we are admitted to the hospital. Again any prescriptions we are given we fill at our local drug store.

The prices I gave are the list prices prior to any insurance payments. You pay $5 dollars at home because you insurance pays the rest. Look at your actual bill and see what the charge actually was.

Being Canadian, we typically don't see bills for visits to physicians or even full cost for prescriptions (assuming you have coverage).

But, I have had to visit the Medical Centre on HAL once.

I thought the price seemed fair - especially when I compared it to what O charged DH when we were on board. Now, with the current exchange rate, it would have been more painful ;)

Fortunately, my travel insurance took care of the bill when I returned home.

Being Canadian, I have no idea what an office visit would cost here and our prescriptions are 100% covered, too. However, I would not be surprised at the cost of medical care on a ship. Assumed it would actually be higher than what you've reported. Thanks goodness for travel insurance and so far we've never had to use it!

Being Canadian, we typically don't see bills for visits to physicians or even full cost for prescriptions (assuming you have coverage).

 

But, I have had to visit the Medical Centre on HAL once.

I thought the price seemed fair - especially when I compared it to what O charged DH when we were on board. Now, with the current exchange rate, it would have been more painful ;)

 

Fortunately, my travel insurance took care of the bill when I returned home.

Agree, DH had what would be called a late night "medical emergency" pain attack and the visit cost a total of $170 which included a blood test and EKG. We thought the medical response was competent, professional and personally reassuring. DH is also a retired MD so he brought his own unique perspective to the care level that HAL medical provided. From the first call to the later follow-up, we only wish we had such qualified and cost-effective medical services in the US itself. HAL medical gets an A grade from us.

I took a nasty fall on Zaandam in May. A nurse was called to do a preliminary exam, I was then put on a backboard and transported by gurney to the medical center for a more thorough exam. I was pleasantly surprised that the total bill was less than $200. Everyone who helped me were professional, caring, and genuinely concerned. I couldn't have asked for better treatment.

My wife and I both made use of the medical facility on the Noordam recently. When we returned home we filed claims with our travel insurance provider and we were reimbursed every cent.

I took a nasty fall on Zaandam in May. A nurse was called to do a preliminary exam, I was then put on a backboard and transported by gurney to the medical center for a more thorough exam. I was pleasantly surprised that the total bill was less than $200. Everyone who helped me were professional, caring, and genuinely concerned. I couldn't have asked for better treatment.

Actually I'm surprised that you even received a bill. With things like falls, any cruise line is very concerned that it will not be followed by a law suit and cost them much more than a treatment cost

Actually I'm surprised that you even received a bill. With things like falls, any cruise line is very concerned that it will not be followed by a law suit and cost them much more than a treatment cost

Maybe so if fall was on a wet floor with no 'take caution alerts'

nearby.

$110 for the office visit isn't bad at all and good to know. This last flu season, ds had to make a visit to our local walk in clinic and the office visit plus the flu test was $150 after our insurance was done. So right in line with land prices. Non-generic meds if not covered by insurance are always a bear regardless so no shock there.

Actually I'm surprised that you even received a bill. With things like falls, any cruise line is very concerned that it will not be followed by a law suit and cost them much more than a treatment cost

Shouldn't you wait until you learn how and where this fall took place? ....on Zaandam" .... could be during the Zaandam cruise, or on the Zaandam ship itself, or some incident the passenger knew upfront was a result of their own negligence. Let's not immediately scream lawsuit.

Emergency room is now $85 and we have to pay even when we are admitted to the hospital. Again any prescriptions we are given we fill at our local drug store.

I would love to have an $85 co pay for the ER, mine is $500. Believe me, you think long and hard before you go. I try to go to the regular doctor $25. or urgent care $75 first.

As a Canadian I find this very educational. Thanks for all the info about costs and amounts of copay. Does American medical insurance pay for any medical during travel outside your state and/or country or do you have to buy a travel insurance policy?

I have needed to use the services of the Medical Office on ships more than once and have always been extremely pleased with the professional, kind, and friendly service that I have received. My most extensive use was due to an injury on a HAL shore excursion in Egypt. It was many days before we returned to Fort Lauderdale and I needed to visit the Doctor or a Nurse several times during that time. (I helped to exhaust their supply of a particular pain medication.) Bill received at the end of the cruise: $0.00.

During other times, the charges were reasonable, I thought. And, my travel insurance must have thought so as well as my claim for reimbursements were always honored with any quibbles.

As a Canadian I find this very educational. Thanks for all the info about costs and amounts of copay. Does American medical insurance pay for any medical during travel outside your state and/or country or do you have to buy a travel insurance policy?

Depends very much upon the type of insurance you have. Some will cover, some will not.

Mine, for example, is for coverage in their network of providers, so I did not expect it to cover. They actually did cover, minus normal urgent care copay, even though it was out of network due to urgent care classification.

Medicare, usually does not cover for anything out of country.

We do get medical and evacuation coverage for our trips out of country.

As a Canadian I find this very educational. Thanks for all the info about costs and amounts of copay. Does American medical insurance pay for any medical during travel outside your state and/or country or do you have to buy a travel insurance policy?

State, many times yes if they are in-network and most of the larger insurance providers have networks everywhere. I have been sick on vacation and visited an urgent care out of state and it has been covered. Now if it is an emergency (car accident, something catastrophic etc) even if an in network ER facility is not available, they pay. Out of the country, not that I know of unless it was previously authorized but maybe in certain instances, ER or urgent care. We always get travel insurance just because.

Thanks RDC1 and fatcat04

As a Canadian I find this very educational. Thanks for all the info about costs and amounts of copay. Does American medical insurance pay for any medical during travel outside your state and/or country or do you have to buy a travel insurance policy?

Some insurrs and some policies will paY WORLDWID but many others No One has to KNOW their own policies when planning travrel.

Before I went onto Medicare, my medical coverge aid a nywhere in the world. Thankfully I never had to seek care when traveling.

Medicare pays almost no where outside U.S Some SUPPLEMENTaL POLICIES Pay som.e

Most retired people on medicare buy travel insurance to know they have coverage for MEDIClcal when out of the country.