Make sure you have travel insurance

[JLMcruise]

On 9/7/2024 at 8:28 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 We bought cruise insurance from Celebrity when we booked our cruise.  Hopefully that will be all we need.  The first time we've done it.  

 

Check out GeoBlue yearly policy. Better coverage and the cost is close to the Celebrity one trip policy. 

[verizon]

20 hours ago, billc23 said:

Which insurance company offers medical evacuation that will get you home? The ones that I have looked at say they will get you to the nearest facility that can treat your problem. They transport only if medically necessary. 

The only insurance company offers medical evacuation that will get you home is Medjet.Its from any hospital in the world to your home hospital.

I have used it and is very helpful.

Edited September 10 by verizon

[the penguins]

On 9/8/2024 at 3:09 PM, Bellfree Bat said:

So very important to make sure your medical insurance, esp here in the US, has international/cruise coverage. Not all Medicare Supplemental have international coverage. 

 

Case in point, my BIL fell in Thailand and shattered his shoulder. The hospital in Bangkok would not perform surgery until he paid approx 10K. Luckily, my husband was able to use his credit card to pay up-front as BILs Medical had not kicked in yet.

 

Another case in point: On land travel to Scotland this past June, my husband had a DVT which traveled to his lungs and also had a heart attack. Luckily, I was able to get an ambulance to transport to the best cardiac care hospital in Edinburgh where he had an angioplasty stent insertion and treated for pulmonary embolism. We did have to pay NHS $12,000 for his 5 day hospital stay and his Supplemental reimbursed all but $2500 which we submitted to our Travel Insurance. My advice to anyone treated overseas, make sure you get DETAILED records and Invoices before you leave. Had to jump through hoops for reimbursement...NHS does not give detailed invoices! Good news is that fast and excellant medical intervention saved his life and has NO heart muscle damage. If it all this happened a day later, we would have been in the Highlands and may not have had the same outcome!

glad it all worked out.

For anyone visiting the UK a quick explanation of how the system works differently here compared to the US might help or at least inform and avoid confusion.

In the UK when we call an ambulance we get an ambulance so you can imagine my surprise when we we opened the hotel door to find 4 firefighters. My first reaction was to ask "please don't tell me the hotel is on fire as well as the medical issue I have with my wife" Ok I now know they are the first responders.

Back to the UK:

1) private hospitals do not provide emergency medical care and have no 24 hour critical care.

2) To request an ambulance you call 999 and the nature of the emergency will determine the speed of the response.

3) You will be taken to the nearest NHS Hospital that has the facilities to treat you. For example in my home town the hospital does not have a specialist stroke unit and you will taken to one of 2 hospitals that does which are some 20  miles away.

4) the is also an air emergency ambulance service that covers remote locations and major emergencies.

5) you are not required to have medical insurance to access any of the above services. Nor will you be asked to prove you have a way of paying. It's all simply "free at the point of use"

6) NHS hospitals are legally required to charge non residents for the services provided but, regrettably in my view, many don't and bills are frequently left unpaid.

 

 

[Markanddonna]

For those who need to make a claim: keep very good records and get a letter from the doctor if any extraordinary situations arise. We needed to go home early because of an illness, and the doctor in Poland wrote a letter to recommend it. When I got home, I made a table of the expenses and coded it to match the receipts. THe insurance company sent a check within three weeks for the full amount.

[wrk2cruise]

On 9/10/2024 at 4:19 AM, verizon said:

The only insurance company offers medical evacuation that will get you home is Medjet.Its from any hospital in the world to your home hospital.

I have used it and is very helpful.

 

Yes and to be clear this is not medical insurance.  It's a policy you get over and above medical/evac coverage as it covers hospital to hospital transportation only.

 

[miched]

Don’t be misled by those travel assistance insurance policies.   All they do is make arrangements and you have to pay all of the expenses.   They word and present it to make you think that they cover all of the costs for an emergency.  They don’t cover anything except being the concierge.  
 

Years ago I belonged to the Moose.  Every month I would get a letter for their Travel Assistant policy that would always have the same story about someone that used it.   I called and asked if they covered the expenses.   Answer:  yes we make all of the arrangements.   I asked if they paid for the air fare home?  Answer:  yes we make all of the arrangements.   Do you pay for the medical bills?  Answer:  yes we make all of the arrangements and  Etc.   they kept dancing around the question by answering truthfully but in a misleading way.    They never did say no we don’t pay for the expenses.

 

Happy cruising.  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[billc23]

10 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Yes and to be clear this is not medical insurance.  It's a policy you get over and above medical/evac coverage as it covers hospital to hospital transportation only.

 

I feel that Medjet membership coverage is nearly as important as medical coverage when traveling, particularly abroad. Insurance coverage is very precise and that million dollars of medical evacuation coverage is usually not what an individual think it is. Read the fine print - medical necessity, nearest hospital capable of treatment...

[billc23]

On 9/10/2024 at 4:19 AM, verizon said:

The only insurance company offers medical evacuation that will get you home is Medjet.Its from any hospital in the world to your home hospital.

I have used it and is very helpful.

Medjet is not insurance. The reason I asked what insurance company is because I am not aware of any that provide similar service. Medjet will transport within the US too. 

[Bellfree Bat]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

glad it all worked out.

For anyone visiting the UK a quick explanation of how the system works differently here compared to the US might help or at least inform and avoid confusion.

In the UK when we call an ambulance we get an ambulance so you can imagine my surprise when we we opened the hotel door to find 4 firefighters. My first reaction was to ask "please don't tell me the hotel is on fire as well as the medical issue I have with my wife" Ok I now know they are the first responders.

Back to the UK:

1) private hospitals do not provide emergency medical care and have no 24 hour critical care.

2) To request an ambulance you call 999 and the nature of the emergency will determine the speed of the response.

3) You will be taken to the nearest NHS Hospital that has the facilities to treat you. For example in my home town the hospital does not have a specialist stroke unit and you will taken to one of 2 hospitals that does which are some 20  miles away.

4) the is also an air emergency ambulance service that covers remote locations and major emergencies.

5) you are not required to have medical insurance to access any of the above services. Nor will you be asked to prove you have a way of paying. It's all simply "free at the point of use

6) NHS hospitals are legally required to charge non residents for the services provided but, regrettably in my view, many don't and bills are frequently left unpaid.

 

 

Had superb care in the NHS System. We paid the first invoice in full before we discharged, and final invoice received when we got home and waited to get reimbursement from our US insurance. Best $12K I ever spent! Only $2500 still pending from our travel insurance!

 

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, Bellfree Bat said:

Had superb care in the NHS System. We paid the first invoice in full before we discharged, and final invoice received when we got home and waited to get reimbursement from our US insurance. Best $12K I ever spent! Only $2500 still pending from our travel insurance!

 

wonderful, our NHS gets a lot of criticism but for emergencies it generally works very well. By not charging in full before you leave you can understand why so many bills go unpaid.

A lot different to our experience at the Marina Del Rae hospital in LA which was as follows:

My wife and I were both taken ill and arrived at the hospital in separate ambulances and naturally on separate gurneys/stretchers.

Whilst we were still out in the street on the gurneys a lady with a clip board approached me and we had the following exchange:

Lady: Do you both have medical insurance.

Me: Yes

L: do you have the policy with you?

Me: Yes

L: does your insurance company have an office in the USA

Me: I have no idea, what difference does it make:

L: We only bill in the US, if your Insurance company doesn't have an office here you will have to settle the bill in full before you are discharged.

Me: Ok I still don't know.

L: Ok I will allow you a free phone call to find out.

She then authorised the outer doors to be opened and I was wheeled in to a space like an air lock where there was a phone on the wall (My wife was left outside on her gurney).

I called the Insurance Company who confirmed that they did have have an office in the US at which point the lady authorised both the outer and inner doors to be opened and both my wife and I were admitted.

Once inside the treatment was excellent but the way the admissions process was handled would have been stressful enough if only one of us had been ill but when we were both unwell it was very distressing especially for my wife who had been left out in the street not knowing anything about what was going on.

[billc23]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

A lot different to our experience at the Marina Del Rae hospital in LA which was as follows:

My wife and I were both taken ill and arrived at the hospital in separate ambulances and naturally on separate gurneys/stretchers.

Whilst we were still out in the street on the gurneys a lady with a clip board approached me and we had the following exchange:

Lady: Do you both have medical insurance.

Wow! And they are a non profit. I worked in many non profit Hospitals and have never seen this type of treatment.

[JDPCruisers]

On 9/7/2024 at 2:45 PM, carolina_yankee said:

Some policies state they can advance or verify payment to the provider. The policy I get with Travel Insured through USAA offers that. Also, health care is generally much less expensive outside the US so the total could be potentially be handled with a card.

We have USAA but have purchased trip insurance through others i.e. Generalli and Allianz, so to clarify USAA has plans that will advance or verify payment so you do not have to pay out-of-pocket? What plan would one look for/choose? Thanks.

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, billc23 said:

Wow! And they are a non profit. I worked in many non profit Hospitals and have never seen this type of treatment.

Several of our American friends said our reception was designed to keep us out of the hospital premises until they were certain we were able to pay for treatment as once inside they would be obliged to provide emergency care even if we couldn't pay for it.

For us to both need hospital treatment on days 2 and 3 of a 90 day trip to celebrate our retirement was not exactly how we planned things. However we completed the adventure with no further health issues and a lifetime of memories.

[carolina_yankee]

7 hours ago, JDPCruisers said:

We have USAA but have purchased trip insurance through others i.e. Generalli and Allianz, so to clarify USAA has plans that will advance or verify payment so you do not have to pay out-of-pocket? What plan would one look for/choose? Thanks.

 

Go to the USAA website and look under insurance. There is a listing for “other” or something similar, which will take you to a link for travel insurance, pet insurance, event insurance, etc. They are third party, but if linked from USAA, you get access to better plans than they offer the general public. In the plan documents for the Travel Insured (their partner) plans, it mentions arranging advances if needed. I don’t know how well it works in actuality.

 

Looking at an upcoming Alaska Cruise and a land trip to Europe, I’m tempted to go with one of the GeoBlue policies and possibly a MedJet add-on. For our ages, it will be cheaper, and we really don’t need all the cruise coverages since so much of the trip will be land based and cancellable. 

 

However, Travel Insured (USAA) does offer a medically focused policy for very reasonable premiums that also covered medical or event related cancellations or interruptions that could work, too.

[NASCAR Bubba]

On 9/9/2024 at 11:41 AM, catspaw1 said:

here's the coverage for an upcoming trip we booked with the big box store insurance. trip cancellation 100% of cost, Trip interruption 150% of costs, trip delay 2G, missed connection $1500, bag delay $200, ER medical exp $200,000, ER dental exp $1,000, ER evacuation & repatriation $200,000 & common carrier AD & D $50,000.

 

Premium for 23 days, covering cruise cost only, was $222.

 

So how does that compare with GeoBlue everyone? One of us- me -under 70 & my DH 72.

Is it primary coverage or secondary, that makes a lot of difference.

[catspaw1]

6 hours ago, NASCAR Bubba said:

Is it primary coverage or secondary, that makes a lot of difference.

Nor sure but it should be primary although we do have the added protections under the Chase Sapphire reserve card. We get trip insurance for international trips for the added medical insurance - Evac mostly is what I'm concerned about. 

[JDPCruisers]

14 hours ago, carolina_yankee said:

 

Go to the USAA website and look under insurance. There is a listing for “other” or something similar, which will take you to a link for travel insurance, pet insurance, event insurance, etc. They are third party, but if linked from USAA, you get access to better plans than they offer the general public. In the plan documents for the Travel Insured (their partner) plans, it mentions arranging advances if needed. I don’t know how well it works in actuality.

 

Looking at an upcoming Alaska Cruise and a land trip to Europe, I’m tempted to go with one of the GeoBlue policies and possibly a MedJet add-on. For our ages, it will be cheaper, and we really don’t need all the cruise coverages since so much of the trip will be land based and cancellable. 

 

However, Travel Insured (USAA) does offer a medically focused policy for very reasonable premiums that also covered medical or event related cancellations or interruptions that could work, too.

Thanks for the info. We will look at USAA for our Jan/Feb Panama Canel crossing. 

[billc23]

On 9/12/2024 at 7:38 AM, catspaw1 said:

Nor sure but it should be primary although we do have the added protections under the Chase Sapphire reserve card. We get trip insurance for international trips for the added medical insurance - Evac mostly is what I'm concerned about. 

What are the specifics of the Evac part of the policy?

[Andrea & Bill]

If you are getting refundable airline tickets, do you have to include the price of airline tickets in your total trip price when getting insurance?

[catspaw1]

5 hours ago, Andrea & Bill said:

If you are getting refundable airline tickets, do you have to include the price of airline tickets in your total trip price when getting insurance?

No I don't insure plane tickets if I can get future credit or are redeeming points.

[catspaw1]

11 hours ago, billc23 said:

What are the specifics of the Evac part of the policy?

Not sure as it just says medical evacuation.