Alabama Cruisers/Blue Cross/Blue Shield

[Magic City Cruiser]

Okay, I've searched here and googled and I'm more confused than ever!

Regarding Travel Insurance, my primary concern is medical care. I don't care about "trip cancellation" issues.

If you have first hand experience with emergency medical care in Mexico, please comment.

I've read that even if you have Travel Insurance that covers medical care, Mexico won't treat you unless you pay "upfront" and then have insurance reimburse you. I find that hard to believe. I mean, are they going to let you die in the street in an emergency because you can't cough up $60,000?

I'm calling BC/BS today to make sure I have coverage while in Mexico, specifically Progresso and Cozumel but would love to hear from someone who had medical emergencies while on the ship or in these two ports and had Private insurance that "covered" them while in Mexico or that had Travel insurance.

Thanks, all!

[Carolin]

i have blue cross blue shield. my health insurance does not cover outside of the US. That's pretty much standard.

 

I did pick up travel insurance and it has medical coverage for exactly this reason. Yes they expect to be paid right away and you have to submit the bills back to the travel insurance company to get your money back.

[AmberTeka]

You can buy medical insurance very cheaply over the internet at Insuremytrip. com.

 

they are very reputable. I am from North Albama..born in Jasper....and I would not travel without it.

MEDICARE is not good outside of the USA..unless you have a Medicare supplement, as I do, that covers it after a $250 deductible. Blue cross/blue shield does..go to their web site and read under foreign travel. We buy the Medical on line insurance..which costs us about $35 pp for $500,000 evacuation expenses...if you have a heart attack or such and need to be airlifted.....some life insurance...other medical costs..emergency dental costs...

 

I sail much easier..sleep much better knowing I have it. Because the first time I don't...I will wish I did.

 

look at it this way...It is little more than the cost of 3 Martinis. Or Pina Coladas. One bingo game.

[Essiesmom]

I think the only BC/BS that pays out of country is Federal BC/BS. EM

[SadieN]

Travelguard used to have a Worldwide Health plan. They just got rid of it but I was able to put together a plan by choosing what I wanted.

It wasn't that expensive and DD needs it for a 5 month period.

 

It is cheaper to have medical travel insurance as secondary. Even though your Blue Cross won't be valid out of the country you will still have to submit a claim then submit the denial and other paperwork to the travel insurance company.

[Magic City Cruiser]

Thanks, all, I appreciate your replies.

I would love to hear from people that have used the Travel medical insurance. I know what travel insurance is "supposed" to do but in researching, I have read horror stories about people that were denied coverage for some reason or other that was in the 80 pages of fine print.

And, it's not an issue of expense, I would like to know exactly what happens when you need emergency medical care. It's all well and good to say you have to pay upfront and then the Travel insurance will reimburse you but I am not going to be able to pay $30,000 up front, no matter what kind of "reimbursement" I'm looking at!

My question is specific to Mexico.

Thanks!

[pe4all]

While I can't help you specifically with Mexico, we had an experience in Belize with dd. I WILL tell you that they wanted $500 before they began treating dd, and another $1500 when they admitted her for 3 days. Luckily, we had cleared our credit card for out of the country charges before we left. HOWEVER - I will also tell you that Travelguard said they would have "worked something out" with the hospital if we did not have the funds to pay for dd's admittance. ALSO - I will tell you that our NY BC/BS DID cover our hospital bills - in fact, I had to put it thru them first, then Travelguard kicked in and covered everything else. It took around 2 months, but we got back every penny.

[SadieN]

The only time she's used her insurance was in Marrakesh. They were able to locate doctors for her. She was helped with OTC medicine and sent on her way.

[Magic City Cruiser]

Thanks, PE and Sadie. For instance, I've just went to insuremytrip and they have a policy that looks pretty good but it says, under exclusions and limitations:

"Charges for Treatment which exceeds Reasonable and Customary charges."

Those are the kind of things I am worried about. How does one know that Mexican hospital charges are "reasonable and customary". It's not that I don't trust Mexico, per se, I just don't know how their medical system works compared to the U.S.

[pe4all]

Thanks, PE and Sadie. For instance, I've just went to insuremytrip and they have a policy that looks pretty good but it says, under exclusions and limitations:

"Charges for Treatment which exceeds Reasonable and Customary charges."

Those are the kind of things I am worried about. How does one know that Mexican hospital charges are "reasonable and customary". It's not that I don't trust Mexico, per se, I just don't know how their medical system works compared to the U.S.

Well - considering many American doctors are trained there....:p:D Also remember - every port has someone employed by the cruise line to "help" passengers with medical emergencies. They take cruise ship passengers to certain hospitals only - the "good" hospitals!! They act as a go between for the passengers and hospital/doctors. As far as charges go - I would never travel without "extra" travel insurance. Between my private insurance and travel insurance, I feel I am covered for any problem that may occur. The extra $60 pp I lay out for TravelGuard Gold is well worth it for my peace of mind.

[Ken076]

Okay, I've searched here and googled and I'm more confused than ever!

Regarding Travel Insurance, my primary concern is medical care. I don't care about "trip cancellation" issues.

If you have first hand experience with emergency medical care in Mexico, please comment.

I've read that even if you have Travel Insurance that covers medical care, Mexico won't treat you unless you pay "upfront" and then have insurance reimburse you. I find that hard to believe. I mean, are they going to let you die in the street in an emergency because you can't cough up $60,000?

I'm calling BC/BS today to make sure I have coverage while in Mexico, specifically Progresso and Cozumel but would love to hear from someone who had medical emergencies while on the ship or in these two ports and had Private insurance that "covered" them while in Mexico or that had Travel insurance.

Thanks, all!

 

Depending on your specific BCBS Policy, you may well be very well covered out of country. BCBS FEP has that coverage. I believe they have arangements with at least local hospitals for admittance, in which case the Hospital Emergency Room might be the better approach.

 

BCBS has network of participating hospitals overseas that will file claims without an advance payment. they don't have a network of "professionals" but will direct you to a physician but you will have to pay and file your own claim.

a number of Insurers include a $1000 Provider Guarantee and/or a $5000 Hospital Admittance guarantee where they will give the provider a MasterCard to charge to (or some other means of immediate payment). The downer here is that some providers apparently even refuse to take these guarantees.

Post if you find that your BCBS has Out-Of-Country coverage. There's a web page for same that gives all this info. I printout the BCBS Providers & Hospitals for each Port that we visit and carry with me.

ken

[Ken076]

Thanks, all, I appreciate your replies.

I would love to hear from people that have used the Travel medical insurance. I know what travel insurance is "supposed" to do but in researching, I have read horror stories about people that were denied coverage for some reason or other that was in the 80 pages of fine print.

And, it's not an issue of expense, I would like to know exactly what happens when you need emergency medical care. It's all well and good to say you have to pay upfront and then the Travel insurance will reimburse you but I am not going to be able to pay $30,000 up front, no matter what kind of "reimbursement" I'm looking at!

My question is specific to Mexico.

Thanks!

 

You'll get "happy" stories and you'll get "sad" stories - many "Sad" stories I've looked at turned out to be the person having no iea what was going on.

 

I did research one situation where an insured tried to get treatment in Nassau (not Mexico), where the first Hospital refused to treat without payment and would not accept the Insurance Guarantee, and the person had to go to another Hospital, front the bill and file a claim. I contacted an Administrator at the first Hospital, and with much hemming and hawing, she said the minimum they would accept would be Cash from the Insurer (?) or a Credit Card charge from the insurer with the CC in the patient's name (????) - they basically wanted cash up front.

 

When you get done researching, I think your best shot is an Insurer that has a Network of Providers (in Mexico) that the Insurer claims will take the Insurer's "admission Guarantee" or "Treatment Guarantee" advances, and will accept the insurance as payment and file a claim for you. You might even call the "network" Providers and verify how they work with that Insurance. I'd check CSA who claims to have a Network. Usually the "Network of Participants" are Hospitals (with Emergency Rooms) - not individual Physicians.

 

If you call the 800 Emergency Service Number for the insurers you're checking, you'll find that for Emergency Evacuation you HAVE to contact them first, and they coordinate services and payment from the Insurer to the transport service. You should not have to pay in advance for this - if you DID without contacting the 800 number, you might not get reimbursed.

 

Also be aware that the shipboard infirmary does not file claims (even for Carnival's Policy) and you do have to pay up front and file a claim on return.

 

Out of Country coverage/reimbursement is definitely a murky area and you could easily get "burned".

 

ken

[ratherbcrzn75]

I worked for BCBS for almost a decade as a claims processor, customer service rep and finally management. All BCBS plans should cover you for care outside of the USA. Take out your ID card and there should be a picture of a little suitcase on it showing that your care is portable. BCBS also has worldwide provider network and a pretty broad network in Mexico. There are quite a few BCBS members who live in Mexico , but work in the USA (especially in the TX area) and receive their benefits through US companies. When you are searching on their website , there is an option to locate providers world wide. There is also a number you can call to help you coordinate your care while traveling, much like when you pre-cert a hospital stay. For non-emergency care, I would work with them to make sure you receive in-network care. Obviously, for emergency care you just need to receive prompt care. Please call the customer service # on the back of your card. I can't tell you the number of irate callers I spoke to who never inquired and just assumed they didn't have coverage and then were upset because their non-emergency care was covered out of network. FYI , the medical care you receive on ship is considered dosmetic care (services provided inside the US) and is always out of network unless the diagnosis reads emergency. As always, check with your customer service number because policies vary so much by employer and you could have a self-funded plan who makes their own rules about what is and is not covered.

[Magic City Cruiser]

Thanks, again, PE and Ken.

Ken, I'll follow through with your advice. Heck, I'm only talking about less than $30 coverage...this isn't a big ticket cruise but my concern, again, is medical issues. I worry about things like broken bones, serious injuries and illness. And, even if it's just treatment of a bad fracture....if you can't make it back to the boat on time, what then? Something else to keep in mind is I will be cruising with girlfriends so I'd rather find out BEFORE what to expect than to have them have to make a lot of phone calls for me.

As I get older I guess I feel less "immortal" and I like to know what the plan is IF something does happen. Peace of mind is great, when you don't need the coverage but as Ken says...you can easily get burned by choosing the wrong coverage. Most of the coverage looks pretty good...until you try to use it, it seems.

I'll keep you posted, thanks for helping with a most def gray area!

Funny thing about those travel insurance sites a lot of CC peeps recommend...100 "reviews" posted on each plan, 98 comment that the coverage was great...though they never used it, 2 comment on trip cancellation or loss of a camera...nobody said I had to have emergency surgery and the coverage came through with flying colors..lol.

[Magic City Cruiser]

Thanks so much, Ratherbe...again, just the info I was looking for!

Thanks, all...now I know what to ask and who to ask!:D

[ratherbcrzn75]

it has all kinds of info. As a CS rep I always advised members traveling to go here.

https://international.allianzassistance.com/bcbsa/index.asp?page=login

 

You'll need to enter the 3 letter alpha prefix in front of your member ID .

[BamaCruiser20]

Excellent info!!

 

I always purchased travel insurance "just in case", but I'll admit, I've never really thought what would actually happen if I had to use it. :o

 

Thanks so much for the info on BC/BS worldwide coverage.

 

Also, a good tip to go ahead and look up the BC/BS providers in the ports of call.

[Monalis]

it has all kinds of info. As a CS rep I always advised members traveling to go here.

https://international.allianzassistance.com/bcbsa/index.asp?page=login

 

You'll need to enter the 3 letter alpha prefix in front of your member ID .

 

I had contacted BCBS of AL before you had posted this to check on our worldwide coverage, and got the email back saying basically what you said and pointing me to that website. It is full of so much info, I am going to print out all of the providers for our ports of call, as well as the shots that are recommended, embassy info and so much more. Hopefully we won't need it, but if we do, I'll have it. :)

[Magic City Cruiser]

Excellent info!!

 

I always purchased travel insurance "just in case", but I'll admit, I've never really thought what would actually happen if I had to use it. :o

 

Thanks so much for the info on BC/BS worldwide coverage.

 

Also, a good tip to go ahead and look up the BC/BS providers in the ports of call.

 

Exactly, Bama. I don't know why it's taken me so long to start thinking about "okay, what IF?!".

I went to the site Ratherbe directed us do and printed out my "destination" information page. I couldn't find anything that told me what kind of coverage I had...compared to stateside "In Network and out of Network" but I'm going to call Blue Cross and see if they can give me that information.

Thanks, all, again!

[BenjiRodney]

I work for a Blues Plan and see many out of country claims for both FEP and commercial accounts. Including claims from Mexico and the cruise lines themselves.

[Love PalmTrees]

We have BCBS (not AL) and they provided us with a letter to take with us showing the international coverage. Also, be sure to get a non-800 phone number to contact from outside of USA. 800 phone numbers may not work from other countries. Same applies to credit/debit card and bank phone numbers. I have a spreadsheet with all pertinent phone numbers including the Carnival hotline and carry printed sheet with us whenever we go ashore. I do this for all land travels as well, except I don't need Carnival number then, of course. :D