Our experience with the onboard Medical Clinic

[BeachBum47]

I often hear people say that it's wonderful there's basically a hospital onboard for any emergencies. This is true. But it's not free, obviously. 

 

My mom got pneumonia on our Mexican Riveria cruise last December onboard the Koningsdam. On our last night onboard, she called 911 from our room (I was out of the room for 15 minutes when she did this!) and a nurse and attendant came and assessed her, then took her to the medical clinic. I came back to the room and she was gone. I was so worried. I looked all over the ship and couldn't find her. Finally, getting more and more worried, I went to the front desk and told them "I can't find my mom" (for reference, I am 54 and she is 82 years old) and they JUMPED to attention and immediately had an officer take me to another area and sat down with me and explained that my mom had been taken to the clinic. She was so nice and very caring. Then she walked me down there to the clinic. 

 

The care she received was top notch, although they didn't seem to realize she had pneumonia, but diagnosed her with influenza. There was one doctor and 2 or 3 nurses. They put mom on an IV and started antibiotics and very high levels of oxygen. They also had her on a heart monitor and hooked up to other machines I know nothing about. She had a very high fever and they were very worried, I could tell. At some point, I went to our room to pack up all our bags, then tried to get an hour's sleep, but they called me down and said you need to be with her NOW. It was really awful, to say the least. I was very worried she wasn't going to make it. 

 

As soon as we docked, firefighters and paramedics boarded the ship and took her to Sharp Coronado Hospital where she stayed for 19 days and they saved her life. She received excellent care. 

 

We are Canadian so we had no family, no support. I stayed in a hotel, knowing full well that insurance wasn't going to cover that. They only cover one day for a "companion." I was so worried about the costs. On the second day of her hospital stay, the bill was already $18,000. I got to know the Accounting lady really well.

 

Anyways, long story short, we had travel insurance - thank GOD I always buy travel insurance! - but I didn't really look at the fine print when I bought it so I didn't realize it was "Pay and Submit". The onboard clinic cost $6400 USD for one night! Of course Holland America had my credit card on file for onboard purchases so they charged my credit card, which maxed it out. Ugh. 

 

The bottom line is that my mom is alive and well 🙂❤️ 

Always, always, always buy travel insurance! 

 

[trickylibrarian]

Thanks for sharing.  She looks like a young 82 yo.

[julia]

Thanks for sharing your story.  If I may ask, (now that it's been four months), has your travel insurance settled all the costs?  Was it an easy process or was it a hassle?

[aliaschief]

A happy ending and a great reminder to purchase some type of cruise insurance. Thanks for sharing.

[boone2]

As a former nurse on cruise ships I was  beyond belief at the number of people who chose to travel without insurance.  Thank you for your reminder to people and good to know the medical centre is still performing well 

[mightycruisequeen]

So glad you had a happy ending, and your mom is okay!  Thanks for sharing your story. 

Thanks, also, for the reminder to always, always, ALWAYS buy travel insurance!

[BetsyS.]

BeachBum47 - I'm glad your mom is doing well. 😊  You both look great in the

picture!  My stepfather and I always have travel insurance. It's money well spent.

[lissie]

4 hours ago, boone2 said:

As a former nurse on cruise ships I was  beyond belief at the number of people who chose to travel without insurance.  Thank you for your reminder to people and good to know the medical centre is still performing well 

We just got full insurance for  our upcoming 25 day cruise which is part of a 2 month trip to mainly Canada - its  about US$3500 (not a typo) for the 2 of us because of my partner's  pre-existing.   For comparison - last year  we did 3 months overseas including 55 days at sea - and the same company  charged us around US$900 (same pre-existing conditions). 

 

The insurance agent told us that insurance has gone through the roof because of the number of Covid claims on cruise ships. Last year we took an option without Covid cover - but that wasn't possible this year.  

 

We are reassessing an upcoming Japan trip with cruises next year. It may be significantly cheaper to just do a land trip - insurance may kill off cruising for some people soon than it does land travel - which is quite odd. 

 

We are lucky to even be able to get insurance - friends who were planning a 1/2 world trip when they are over 80 in a couple of years have just cancelled because they can't get insurance for anything longer than 60 days! (the cruise alone is longer than that) 

 

So once I'm older (I'm 61 he's 70) we will probably not be cruising - which is odd we started cruising because of my partner's health issues made it easier - not so much now. 

[Torquer]

What an interesting story with a wonderful ending.  This is the first I have heard, in this detail, how HAL handled a medical emergency and it sounds very good.

 

It really does show the importance of having good medical insurance when out of the country.  In our case, while I am still working, my employers medical insurance fully covers medical emergencies outside the country (subject to the same deductibles and limits as in the US).  When we retire, we will definitely find a Medicare Advantage plan that has similar emergency coverage when traveling outside the US (hopefully we will do a lot of that).  So the only reason we buy travel insurance now is due to having to cancel the cruise before we leave for a medical reason (especially covid) and for emergency medical transportation back to the US.  We didn't buy it before covid and may stop in the future and take our chances about the medical evacuation, although we have it for our next cruise in June.

[Florida_gal_50]

I don't know why anyone would travel without medical insurance no matter how young and healthy you think you are.  I asked a ton of questions about my insurance through the company I work for just so are no surprises.

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, Torquer said:

 When we retire, we will definitely find a Medicare Advantage plan that has similar emergency coverage when traveling outside the US (hopefully we will do a lot of that).  

Make sure you ask what (if) it covers outside US. You may be surprised. 

[TriumphGuy]

10 hours ago, REOVA said:

Make sure you ask what (if) it covers outside US. You may be surprised. 

Yes, be sure check it out! Our Medicare Advantage plan covers emergency care, urgent care, and air & ground ambulance (co-pays apply) World-wide, but says nothing about hospitalization.
We always buy a travel insurance plan now, because you never know. Back when we were young and invincible we never gave it a thought. But now we don't leave home without it!

[Oakman58]

Thank you for sharing your experience with the medical clinic, and I'm so glad your mom is still around for you to enjoy.

We always buy trip insurance and now my wife and I have 3 cruises and 1 land trip in the upcoming year, so we purchased annual travel insurance for the first time.  I was surprised how affordable it was considering we are both in our 70's.

[Guest ldtr]

13 hours ago, Torquer said:

What an interesting story with a wonderful ending.  This is the first I have heard, in this detail, how HAL handled a medical emergency and it sounds very good.

 

It really does show the importance of having good medical insurance when out of the country.  In our case, while I am still working, my employers medical insurance fully covers medical emergencies outside the country (subject to the same deductibles and limits as in the US).  When we retire, we will definitely find a Medicare Advantage plan that has similar emergency coverage when traveling outside the US (hopefully we will do a lot of that).  So the only reason we buy travel insurance now is due to having to cancel the cruise before we leave for a medical reason (especially covid) and for emergency medical transportation back to the US.  We didn't buy it before covid and may stop in the future and take our chances about the medical evacuation, although we have it for our next cruise in June.

Have not seen a Medicare advantage plan that covers outside the US. There are still a couple of Medicare supplement plans that provide coverage, but the level of coverage is extremely limited.

 

We use an annual policy for about 350 per year with 1000 deductible that will cover any trips in that year, up to a max individual trip length of 70 days. You can do multiple long trips, just not over 70 day on any one trip.

[Torquer]

30 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Have not seen a Medicare advantage plan that covers outside the US.

You need to look harder...unless there is something about your state where insurers don't provide worldwide coverage.  Here is the first one I just looked at for our county in NY (note the statements about "Worldwide Coverage"):

https://medicare.mvphealthcare.com/plans/hudson-valley/mvp-medicare-wellselect-plus/?state=NY&county=Dutchess

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, Torquer said:

You need to look harder...unless there is something about your state where insurers don't provide worldwide coverage.  Here is the first one I just looked at for our county in NY (note the statements about "Worldwide Coverage"):

https://medicare.mvphealthcare.com/plans/hudson-valley/mvp-medicare-wellselect-plus/?state=NY&county=Dutchess

Nothing in the link you posted indicates coverage outside of US.  The link to benefits guide on that page comes up as unreachable.

[Guest ldtr]

 You might get coverage in some emergency situations. The problem is that the carrier defines what is covered and if they were to consider it to be an emergency or not.

 

There are a few situations such as cruise ships on US waters where even standard Medicare provides coverage but they are very limited.

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by ldtr

[alwaysfrantic]

I wish I will look like your mom at 82.  I wish I looked that young at 57!

Edited April 21, 2023 by alwaysfrantic

[Torquer]

5 hours ago, ldtr said:

Nothing in the link you posted indicates coverage outside of US.  The link to benefits guide on that page comes up as unreachable.

Huh?  It seems pretty clear that emergency care is covered anywhere in the world.  I just looked at several other Medicare Advantage plans from other companies and they have similar words.

[syesmar]

@BeachBum47thanks so much for sharing your experience with us! It's very helpful to hear how things are handled during emergencies onboard. So glad your precious Mom is well!

 

All the Best!

Edited April 21, 2023 by syesmar

[lissie]

7 minutes ago, Torquer said:

Huh?  It seems pretty clear that emergency care is covered anywhere in the world.  I just looked at several other Medicare Advantage plans from other companies and they have similar words.

New Zealand has very reasonable costs compared to the USA - and those  limits are not even going to cover the ambulance to the emergency department! 

[cccole]

BeachBum47,  So happy to hear that your mom is good and she had good care. Your Mom looks great at 82!!!!

 

Great news about your mom and it is a reminder to all traveling to get medical insurance.  We have for several years.  I don't care about trip interruption or travel costs, the medical is important.  And we also get it for young adults traveling with us.   I hope you have another adventure in the future for you and your Mom.  Cherie   

Edited April 21, 2023 by cccole

[boone2]

My kids do t even go over the border for a day trip without insurance as I’ve drummed the horror stories I saw on the ships to them 

[Hlitner]

We often discuss these kinds of insurance issues on the CC/Cruise discussion topics/ trip cruise insurance board.  And by the way, some (not all) Medicare Advantage Plans do include some out of the country coverage for Emergency/Urgent Care.  
 

Folks need to be aware that nearly all out of country coverage will require you to pay the bills and later seek reimbursement.  
 

Hank

[shippmates]

I always buy travel/medical insurance when I travel.  My medicare and my supplemental plan cover foreign travel  except for a $250.00 deductible.  I purchased an annual travel plan this year since I have several different trips planned and it was cheaper than individual plans.  

 

Glad you Mom is doing well and hope you get to travel again.