GeoBlue Trekker

[mlsetc]

Hi all, I am considering buying GeoBlue for a couple of upcoming cruises. What has been the experience when making a claim. Does it pay as primary insurance? My cruises are both out of Europe, do hospitals and doctors file claim with GeoBlue, or do I pay out of pocket, and file the claim myself? Any/all advice is appreciated.

[Jersey42]

36 minutes ago, mlsetc said:

Hi all, I am considering buying GeoBlue for a couple of upcoming cruises. What has been the experience when making a claim. Does it pay as primary insurance? My cruises are both out of Europe, do hospitals and doctors file claim with GeoBlue, or do I pay out of pocket, and file the claim myself? Any/all advice is appreciated.

GeoBlue will pay as primary.  No need to file first with your home health insurance.  The fine print on the annual plans says they may later coordinate benefits with your other insurance, but Steve at tripinsurancestore.com (TIS) says he has never seen that happen.

 

In most cases you pay out of pocket and file for reimbursement.  All trip insurance works this way.  Exceptions are:

• You use a provider in the GeoBlue network. Their website and app give you a list based on location. Ship medical centers are not included.
• In the rare case of a serious and expensive problem, they may wire money in advance.  

 

I would not count on either of these exceptions.  If you have more specific questions, call TIS. They will be happy to answer other questions and walk you through any of your what ifs. The premium is the same, no matter where you buy it. Plus TIS is pretty good at helping you with big claims if you need it.

[Sebbiesgrammy]

20 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

GeoBlue will pay as primary.  No need to file first with your home health insurance.  The fine print on the annual plans says they may later coordinate benefits with your other insurance, but Steve at tripinsurancestore.com (TIS) says he has never seen that happen.

 

In most cases you pay out of pocket and file for reimbursement.  All trip insurance works this way.  Exceptions are:

• You use a provider in the GeoBlue network. Their website and app give you a list based on location. Ship medical centers are not included.
• In the rare case of a serious and expensive problem, they may wire money in advance.  

 

I would not count on either of these exceptions.  If you have more specific questions, call TIS. They will be happy to answer other questions and walk you through any of your what ifs. The premium is the same, no matter where you buy it. Plus TIS is pretty good at helping you with big claims if you need it.

Although our experience with GeoBlue goes back to 2018, I will tell you that, based upon that alone, we would never leave the USA without it.  We have Medicare and AARP at home and never pay anything extra for our medical services. We are both over 75 and still very healthy. In summer 2018 we were forced to disembark in Alesund, Norway after only 2 days aboard . Husband had a life threatening case of sepsis which kept him under hospital care for 11 days.  I made one phone call to GeoBlue in the taxi on the way to emergency room, found out this small local hospital was in their network as are dozens and dozens of others globally, and never saw a bill.  Everything was coordinated between hospital and insurer.  The only bills I had to pay and submit after the fact were for ship physician , which as you likely know is always an out of country medical bill, and pharmacy for antibiotics for the remainder of our time away from home.  GeoBlue or Chase Sapphire Reserve paid both promptly but I don't remember who paid which bill.

[Hlitner]

We are also long time Geoblue customers and pretty big fans of their coverage.  A few years ago we had to file a major claim which involved medical care in Asia and emergency evacuation back to the USA from Japan.  We involved Geoblue very early in the process, they quickly reimbursed our medical bills (once we filed a written claim with all the back-up attachments) and actually handled booking DW's medical evacuation (done on a commercial airline).    

 

My advice to everyone, when there is a potential claim, is to get the insurance company involved at the earliest possible time (a phone call or e-mail works) so a claim file is opened and a they have an opportunity to assign a case manager to help with the process.   Also be careful to document everything (regarding the situation) and get copies of all medical records (best done before you leave a hospital or clinic).  If there is a fee to get copies of medical records (this is becoming too common) than pay the fee and get the records.  In most cases the insurer will ultimately reimburse you for that type of fee.  Not having all the detailed medical records can jeopardize your claim.

 

Hank