Anyone get real sick on board the cruise ship and have to go to a hospital?

[zqvol]

On 3/8/2019 at 4:44 PM, librarygal said:

If you read my previous posts about our cruise from hell in January, you may remember that both of us were sick during the majority of the time and did not have a good time.

 

But Mr. Library Gal got very sick about a month after we got home from the cruise.  He had a sudden pulmonary embolism and only lived because he made it to one of the best hospitals in America in a timely manner and they were able to diagnose his health issues quickly and provide quick treatment.  We are always talking about what if this would have happened while we were on the cruise.  Would the medical staff have the skills and equipment to stabilize a very sick patient in time?  What about the hospitals in the Caribean Ports of Call?

 

This is an honest sincere question.  What experiences do you have regarding getting very sick on a cruise ship traveling from one Caribean Island to another?  Would you have peace of mind cruising if you had some type of chronic condition that may involve hospitalization at a moments notice?

 

Something like this would be my greatest fear:

 

https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/cruise-passenger-medevacked-from-ship-denied-medical-service-by-hospital.html

If you are not willing to assume the risk then stay home.

 

Based on your description your husband would have died in 98% of the areas of the US. Medical care in rural areas of the US is no better than in the Caribbean. The only real difference is that the helicopter ride might be shorter.

[MicCanberra]

9 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

 

And perhaps they saw a thread called: "Ask a Cruise Question" and...., well, .....  asked a cruise question.................

 

...............or 2 ..................

....................or 3 .................

 

 

 

Or more.

[Captain Amazing]

In 2017, I was on the NCL Breakaway to Nassau.  When I was on an excursion, I shared feeling ill and went to the infirmiry when I got back to the ship.  Long story short, I had both pneumonia and sepsis from a leg infection.  An ambulance came and took me to Doctors where I stayed for a few days to stabilize, then I was medevaced to Miami, where I was in the hospital for another few weeks. 

 

Obviously, it wasn't the way I wanted to end my vacation, but I don't have major complaints with the way it turned out.  I think the doctor on the ship might have originally misdiagnosed me, but he made sure to get me off to a regular hospital where they could do more tests.  My biggest problem was that, while I had travel insurance and regular health insurance,  Doctors didn't accept my health insurance, so I had to pay up front.  Fortunately, I keep an emergency credit card for vacations, and they took that as a partial payment.  I was able to get reimbursement from my insurance company later (ironically, I had a bigger problem settling hospital bills in Miami...bunch of miscommunication between my insurance and hospital.

 

While, all in all, it wasn't a fun time, I don't have any actual complaints about it.

[Hlitner]

The last post brings up a very important issue for International Travelers.  Very very few insurance policies will directly pay foreign hospitals or physicians.   In nearly all cases (there are a few exceptions) the traveler will be required to pay the bill before being discharged.  In many hospitals they will ask for a credit card upon admission.  If you do not have a credit card and/or sufficient credit on that card the situation can become critical.  Private hospitals in some countries will simply refuse your admission and insist you be transferred to a public hospital.   The "rights" you have in your home country are meaningless when you are in other countries where they have different rules.   For those with credit cards with high limits, this is less of a problem.  For those with relatively low credit limits of only a few thousand dollars, an emergency phone call to your credit card company MAY be able to get that limit temporarily increased.

 

As to "exceptions to the rule"  it can happen for those of us with GEOBLUE since that is part of the US Blue Cross/Blue Shield Network.  They have arrangements with a limited number of hospitals around the world and some physicians.  But "limited" means just that and also is no guarantee.  When DW had outpatient surgery and tests at Osaka General Medical Center there was no arrangement with Geoblue...even though this was the major regional hospital.  Before we could leave the hospital (and return to our cruise ship) I had to pay the entire bill (in our case it was not a problem).  To be honest, I have no clue what would have happened if we did not have the necessary credit limits.

 

Hank

[lenquixote66]

I had a medical insurance plan that covered illness or accidents anywhere on the planet. In 1996 they changed it to only in the US .Prior to 1996 I had not traveled  anywhere other than the US (except for Bermuda) .

[Hlitner]

15 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I had a medical insurance plan that covered illness or accidents anywhere on the planet. In 1996 they changed it to only in the US .Prior to 1996 I had not traveled  anywhere other than the US (except for Bermuda) .

You are not alone with this problem as we are aware of many private health insurance plans that eliminated coverage outside of North America or the USA.  And most Medicare plans (we are talking supplemental and Advantage plans) give little or no International coverage.  Medicare itself has no coverage outside of the USA (with two small exceptions).

 

But we always caution folks that even if your plan does give you International coverage, it is most likely that you will have to pay all the medical bills and later seek reimbursement.  It can be a huge problem for those without the available resources to handle those expenses.

 

Hank