Crusising with Medicare

Check out Med Jet.

so, what would work best for my parents?

67 and 69 at the time of the cruise. Cruise is 7 nights. Both have Medicare and the usual age related health problems.

I was thinking GeoBlue Voyager Choice Single Trip for $100K or $1M medical. Both of these also have $500K medical evacuation, which I am assuming is different from the $100K or $1M medical expenses.

I don't know whether MedJetAssist is needed on top of GeoBlue. I can't tell what's different about what it offers.

I have cancellation insurance through my Visa upto $5K. So do my parents.

My family has regular UHC group plan through my work. Do I need travel insurance (we never bought one, but now I am getting paranoid)? Should I just contact my UHC provider and see what it offers in terms of international medical treatment coverage/evac services?

For a 7 day cruise maybe buy the cruise company Insurance.

For a 7 day cruise maybe buy the cruise company Insurance.

I just talked with Allianz and they told me the annual policy only covers trips 45 days in length. I have decided to pay for each trip as some of my trips last overs 45 days at a time. Watch what you buy as I found out GEO Blue will not cover you on a cruise ship. Allianz will also cover you on travels in the US when you are more then 100 miles from home. Allianz does have a look back of 120 days for pre-existing conditions.

. Watch what you buy as I found out GEO Blue will not cover you on a cruise ship. .

That's too bad. GeoBlue covers us on cruise ships on trips of 70 days or less.

We have an annual policy.

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Watch what you buy as I found out GEO Blue will not cover you on a cruise ship.

According to GEO Blue since NCL is based in the US they will not cover cruise ships regardless of where the cruise ship is located. They told me if I left the cruise ship they would cover it. Just found that out after I purchased it for an upcoming cruise.

According to GEO Blue since NCL is based in the US they will not cover cruise ships regardless of where the cruise ship is located. They told me if I left the cruise ship they would cover it. Just found that out after I purchased it for an upcoming cruise.

Which ship are you sailing on or where is your itinerary?

I have a suspicion that you are on the POA.

The POA is indeed a US flagged vessel.

However, it is also true that your US based health insurance should be in effect if you are on the ship, and definitely in port.

The POA never visits a foreign port, which is a condition for GeoBlue to be in effect.

Which ship are you sailing on or where is your itinerary?

I have a suspicion that you are on the POA.

The POA is indeed a US flagged vessel.

However, it is also true that your US based health insurance should be in effect if you are on the ship, and definitely in port.

The POA never visits a foreign port, which is a condition for GeoBlue to be in effect.

so, since we are on Princess, and besides the embarkation port, the rest of the ports are foreign, we should be ok with the GeoBlue?

so, since we are on Princess, and besides the embarkation port, the rest of the ports are foreign, we should be ok with the GeoBlue?

My personal experience is that I took some quiet time and called GeoBlue. It was very cordial, informative and helpful.

I was especially interested in the requirement for having an active healthcare provision in place in the US. Medicare satisfies this requirement as GeoBlue only pays for non-US treatment. Also, even tho the online description was in error, there is no deductible for their offshore coverage.

Strongly suggest that you call them before you commit.

Check out Med Jet.

Med Jet does no pay medicla bills. tthey cover evacuuation and repatriation but do not pay medical bills.

I checked with my credit cards, Visa only covers $3000.00 trip cancellation per person, and MasterCard covers accident, but I have to call and find out if that's only for trips that have started. My concern is if we cannot start our trip, due to an unforeseen illness, that I lose would lose my entire cost of the trip. The $800, that I paid for the insurance, covers me for everything, I have had claims 3 times, the last was in July when my SIL had a heart attack in Seattle prior and to us boarding the ship. I recouped my cruise, my Daughter and SIL cruise, and she was covered for her out of pocket, hospital, doctors, ambulance and change of airline tickets. I never travel without a good policy, you just neve know.

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I called GEO Blue for clarification about coverage onboard a ship. I was told the information I received was inaccurate and there is coverage on my NCL cruise leaving Valpariso and ending in Miami. Obviously coverage will cease upon disembarking in Miami. I suspect first person was confused about POA. Strongly suggest you call Geo Blue before purchasing.

I used square mouth to help me find an annual plan with medical and evacuation....I did like squaremouth better than insuremytrip. I think they did better quality control and had a better selection of plans.

In the past, I always bought individual policies for each cruise through InsureMyTrip, but saved alot of money this year by using SquareMouth and buying a year long policy that covered all 3 cruises.

I used square mouth to help me find an annual plan with medical and evacuation to supplement my chase sapphire reserve card whic already covers almost everything I want including up to $10k of trip cancellation per person for all the normal reasons if any of your trip is charged to them. I ended up with a group called April. Get Blue had some disclaimers that didn't work for me. I don't remember. Maybe the maximum length of trips covered. Anyhow, I chose April because it's medical and evacuation were primary so I don't have to fruitlessly try to bill my home medical before they will pay for it. Anyhow as you can read in this post it is a very personal thing. I did a lot of research on credit cards. I now have a grid of all the benefits of all my cards. I also used a few search engines to check out plans. I did like squaremouth better than insuremytrip. I think they did better quality control and had a better selection of plans.

 

 

 

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I did exactly the same thing with my Chase Reserve and used April because it was a primary insurance. They had a good annual plan. I loved never having to call to let anyone know I was leaving. It just activated every time I was a certain number of miles away form home. I forget how many but it would have covered me if I had travelled to my kids in Oregon or Minnesota. Also I talked to the Chase people numerous times and you don't have to charge the entire trip on their card to have their insurance activated. Just a part of it. I never have had to test that, however. I have seen glowing reviews by people that had to use their travel protections.

so, what would work best for my parents?

67 and 69 at the time of the cruise. Cruise is 7 nights. Both have Medicare and the usual age related health problems.

I was thinking GeoBlue Voyager Choice Single Trip for $100K or $1M medical. Both of these also have $500K medical evacuation, which I am assuming is different from the $100K or $1M medical expenses.

I don't know whether MedJetAssist is needed on top of GeoBlue. I can't tell what's different about what it offers.

 

I have cancellation insurance through my Visa upto $5K. So do my parents.

 

My family has regular UHC group plan through my work. Do I need travel insurance (we never bought one, but now I am getting paranoid)? Should I just contact my UHC provider and see what it offers in terms of international medical treatment coverage/evac services?

Call your medical insurer. I found out that my medical with BCBS covered overseas medical as well. Some was even in their network. This varies greatly by policy and by insurer.

My employer based insurance covers overseas- but I get travel insurance for medical evacuation. Also even though covered overseas, I will usually have to pay upfront and get reimbursed.

Anyone who believes they home health insurance covers them on a cruise beware. I thought the same thing until I learned it will cover you but only at medicare rates in the US. If the cruise line or anyone charges anything over approved rates you will pay the difference. I learned this the hard way and now always have travel health insurance.

We have universal health insurance but it is essentially meaningless when we travel. So we out of country medical insurance.

Last time we used it was when my spouse broke her back in Kuala Lumpur. Our universal health plan paid $50 for the one day hospital stay/xrays/mri/consult. The took 60 days to pay. Our travel insurance paid the remaining balance of $700. within ten days of submission. No questions ask.

Our advice.....if you are travelling outside the country buy travel medical insurance and make certain it includes emergency evacuation.

One issue I haven't seen discussed is coverage for preexisting medical conditions. This usually means anything for which you have been treated within a specified time period, e.g., 6 months. I am healthy enough to travel but have a couple of medical issues that are under control but that could flare up enough to require immediate medical care and/or transportation to an appropriate medical facility. In the past I've bought insurance for each cruise and the preexisting condition coverage requires buying the insurance within a certain time (usually 10-14 days) of your first payment including deposit. If you jump on a good fare the premium is usually pretty high even though the amount at risk is low, and you could cancel the cruise without any loss--except the insurance premium.

Has anyone found a way of getting preexisting coverage that can be canceled and the buyer gets some rebate?

By the way, some of the "free" insurances, such as through credit card or from the cruise line may not include preexisting conditions. Check before counting on that coverage.

One issue I haven't seen discussed is coverage for preexisting medical conditions. This usually means anything for which you have been treated within a specified time period, e.g., 6 months. I am healthy enough to travel but have a couple of medical issues that are under control but that could flare up enough to require immediate medical care and/or transportation to an appropriate medical facility. In the past I've bought insurance for each cruise and the preexisting condition coverage requires buying the insurance within a certain time (usually 10-14 days) of your first payment including deposit. If you jump on a good fare the premium is usually pretty high even though the amount at risk is low, and you could cancel the cruise without any loss--except the insurance premium.

 

One of the Geo-blue Trekker policies might be something for you to consider.

OK, if you use the moniker I'll also call you thinfool. Thanks for the suggestion. The premium for one year is about what I paid for one cruise. It wasn't clear to me, however, whether Medicare counts as primary care for this coverage or Medicare with a comprehensive secondary insurance policy. I will certainly look into Geoblue for our next cruise.

Our experience is that there are huge differences in coverage, prices, and the medical questions that are asked prior to securing the policy.

Our view is that travel medicalexpenses can quickly translate into high risk financial situations.

Understand your coverage and the limitations. We would never buy travel medical insurance through a travel provider/cruise line or a TA. A very experienced TA gave us this advice years ago. Besides, mant TA's really don't have a clue when it comes to the attributes of travel medical insurance. The sell it from a drawers statement that lists a few benefits bur seldom the downside risks.

You mean cruising WITHOUT Medicare. Medicare only good in US. You do not want to mislead any new cruisers.

True for Medicare Part 'B' ("original Medicare").

Not necessarily true for Medicare Part 'C' ("Medicare Advantage").

Edit ---v

Part 'C' varies by county; my county has 8 choices, and the one we chose

covers emergency room and urgent care worldwide. Same price as

"original Medicare and throws in Part 'D', too.

Edit ---^

Something to check out next open enrollment.