What kind of coverage??

[mookitty]

This is all Greek to me. Would anyone be willing to help me figure out at least what direction to go with selecting the type of coverage we need based on a little background info?? :confused: Here are some of my concerns...

 

-We are traveling in the south Caribbean in August - aka hurricane season.

 

-Would like some health coverage since I don't think ours is good outside the US, however we are both in our early 30's with no known issues so I guess we don't need anything major?

 

-There is a slight possibility that I may become pregnant between now and August (we've been trying for almost a year - tmi??:eek:) and I'm afraid that if I am, I may be in that wonderful phase of morning sickness. I couldn't imagine being on a rocking ship feeling like that. Would any kind of insurance allow us to cancel for that reason??

 

I would so appreciate anyone's 2 cents on this. Just need to know where to start. :)

[sirwired]

Yes, you are traveling during Hurricane season. Most policies will cover this. Please note that you will not be able to cancel unless you cannot get to your embarkation port because of a hurricane. If a port stop is/will be canceled, that is not a valid reason to cancel the whole trip. Even if your Caribbean trip turns into a New England trip in the middle of the sailing. (Happened a year or two ago... a cruise out of NYC ended up missing most of its port stops, and one of the substitutes was a stop in Providence, RI, I think.)

 

You always should cruise with evac and medical insurance. Don't go any distance from civilization without it. An accident while traveling could end up being very expensive otherwise. If you do not have evac insurance and you need evacuation while on some remote island, you are going to die. It's that simple. The evac companies will not agree to do anything until you have made arrangements to pay.

 

If you may become pregnant between when you purchase insurance and your cruise, you are going to want to get a "Cancel for Any Reason" rider. (If you booked more than 15-30 days ago, you aren't going to be able to purchase this from a 3rd-party company, so cruise-line insurance will be the only way to go there.) If your doctor says you are not fit for travel, you can generally cancel under medical cancellation clauses of 3rd-party insurance. If the doctor says you are fit for travel, even if you may not enjoy it, you can't cancel without that "any reason" rider.

 

(NOTE: If you become pregnant before you purchase insurance, and you don't have a policy with a pre-ex waiver, things could get interesting if you file a claim.)

 

Lastly, read the policy before purchasing: some polices exclude complications due to pregnancy from coverage.

 

SirWired

[mookitty]

Thanks so much for your response sirwired! That definitely gives me a place to start and some things to consider. :)

[cherylandtk]

Couple of things to add:

-Most policies specifically exclude normal pregnancy from coverage, does not matter if you become pregnant before or after purchase.

-If you have parents or grandparents, look into how your policy would cover you if they suddenly became ill or died.

-Make sure you understand the difference in trip delay and trip interruption coverage.

[cruiseco]

Access America has this in their coverage:

 

"Pregnancy

You become pregnant (trip cancellation coverage only)"

 

Just remember that you probably would not be able to wait until the last minute to cancel -- they would probably only cover the penalties in effect when you find out you are pregnant but I'm not 100% sure. You probably want to call them to find out exactly the procedure is.

 

If you decide to cruise while pregnant but have to cancel because of an unforeseeable serious complication you would also be covered -- morning sickness or any other normal side effect of pregnancy would not qualify.

[grandmato4]

Sirwired gave you some good information. :)

 

The only insurance that would allow you to cancel before your cruise if you should be so lucky to be pregnant soon AND be unlucky enough to suffer from normal morning sickness would be cancel for no reason insurance. I'm not overly familiar with RCI insurance so I might not have my numbers perfect but I think under their cancel for any reason coverage you would get 75% returned in the form of a future cruise credit that needs to be used within a year. Check this out for yourself- this might not be the best for you if you do find yourself expecting a new baby you may not wish to cruise yet within that timeframe. You might want to check out Travelex insurance as they have several different policies (we like the Select version and for us we find it a reasonable cost) as if purchased within 21 days of making your first deposit on your trip you would be covered for pre-existing conditions which even if you don't think you need it could be of value and purchased within that timeframe you can add cancel for any reason coverage that would refund 80% your cost to you (via a check) if you cancelled up to 2 days before your cruise for any reason.

 

For what ever insurance you choose to purchase just be sure you understand what is and is not covered and under what conditions before purchasing. Good Luck!!:)

[mookitty]

Thanks so much for all the replies! :)

[hunnypot1]

If she were pregnant and suffering from significant morning sickness, wouldn't a note from her doctor suffice for a medical reason for cancelling?

[grandmato4]

If she were pregnant and suffering from significant morning sickness, wouldn't a note from her doctor suffice for a medical reason for cancelling?

 

The Key word is significant. Pregnancy related claim filings have their own rules for most policies. In most cases in order to be considered significant enough to qualify she would have to hosptialized and it would have to be considered a threat to the life of the mother/and or child all documented by the doctor. Fortunately few woman will ever have morning sickness that would be considered this significant, but unfortunately there is that percent of woman who will suffer from significant morning sickness and feel miserable but not significant enough to qualify for an insurance claim payment.

[sirwired]

The Key word is significant. Pregnancy related claim filings have their own rules for most policies. In most cases in order to be considered significant enough to qualify she would have to hosptialized and it would have to be considered a threat to the life of the mother/and or child all documented by the doctor. Fortunately few woman will ever have morning sickness that would be considered this significant, but unfortunately there is that percent of woman who will suffer from significant morning sickness and feel miserable but not significant enough to qualify for an insurance claim payment.

 

It does not have to be life-threatening under most (any?) policies. The policies I've read merely require a doctor to declare you unfit to travel. If it were otherwise, you couldn't cancel, say, a skiing trip, for a broken leg. (Of course, if the policy excludes pregnancy/complications from coverage entirely, than it doesn't matter what your doctor does or does not say.)

 

Now, lets say you booked a cruise and your daughter (not travelling) gets sick... then that illness would need to be life-threatening, or she would have to have a doctor certify that she requires your care.

 

SirWired

[cruiseco]

The Key word is significant. Pregnancy related claim filings have their own rules for most policies. In most cases in order to be considered significant enough to qualify she would have to hosptialized and it would have to be considered a threat to the life of the mother/and or child all documented by the doctor. Fortunately few woman will ever have morning sickness that would be considered this significant, but unfortunately there is that percent of woman who will suffer from significant morning sickness and feel miserable but not significant enough to qualify for an insurance claim payment.

 

A lot of how the insurers handle pregnancy is that more and more of them are looking at pregnancy as something you choose -- it's not an illness. You don't choose to get pneumonia but you do choose to get pregnant in many cases. So the foreseeable, normal consequences of that choice are often not covered.

 

The insurers all over the place on this. For example, Travel Insured will let you cancel if you get pregnant:

 

"m) Your or Your Traveling Companion's normal pregnancy as long as the pregnancy occurs after Your or Your Traveling Companion's Effective Date of coverage and can be verified by medical records;

 

n) You will be attending a Family Member's childbirth as long as the pregnancy occurs after Your Effective Date of coverage and can be verified by medical records;"

 

But their definition of "Complications of Pregnancy" seems pretty strict:

 

"14) "Complication of Pregnancy" means a condition whose diagnosis is distinct from pregnancy but is adversely affected or caused by pregnancy."

 

So I read that to mean severe morning sickness would not be covered but maybe if there is an onset of diabetes it might. But I could be wrong as it's vague enough to be open to interpretation. My guess is that since they will let you cancel if you get pregnant they're not going to go too far to help you if you choose not to and need medical help during the trip.