Obamacare and Travel Ins Costs

[pris993]

Purchased a Travel Guard package yesterday, which was almost double in costs of what we have paid in the past for a similar package. Our TA said Obamacare had changed how insurance companies have designed packages and fee schedules. The primary difference was now packages are "age" based. My DH is 82 and I am 67.

 

Am wondering if anyone else has found Obamacare has changed travel insurance they usually purchase.

 

What I found yesterday, was Travel Guard had a package offering $25,000 in health insurance (Gold Plan), then the next level was $50,000 (Platium), with a option to double it. Even though we are healthy, health care costs can be very expensive if one needs to go through an Emergency Room, etc. So I purchased the higher level plan to play it safe.

 

Am thinking I need to do more research on options before we travel again.

 

I am wondering for seniors what is a reason amount (value) of health insurance and emergency evacuation coverage for an international trip?

 

I don't really care about insuring the trip specific costs, i.e., cruise, air, -- I am primary interested in health and emergency evacuation coverage - since we are older and Medicare does not cover anything outside the US.

 

Any thoughts?

[sirwired]

Your agency may have switched around what packages they offer, but none of it could possibly have anything to do with Obamacare. Non-age-priced policies still exist, your agency simply no longer sells them.

 

What probably happened is that your agent used to sell flat-price (as in, non-age-priced) policies similar to what the cruise lines sell. However, such policies are usually less comprehensive; and they usually (always?) lack a pre-exsisting condition exclusion waiver. For many elderly people, the lack of a pre-ex waiver is a HUGE problem, as it leads to an awful lot of claims being denied. If the agency switched to the more-comprehensive plans (i.e., the ones TravelGuard has always had available, and have always been age-priced), your prices would have gone up quite a bit.

 

I cannot think of a single provision of Obamacare that would effect the insurance benefits provided by trip insurance. Most people buy them to insure expenses out of the country, and Obamacare has precisely bupkis to do with international medical care. (And the parts of the policy that have to do with cancellations, lost luggage, etc. also have absolutely nothing to do with Obamacare.)

[pris993]

Your agency may have switched around what packages they offer, but none of it could possibly have anything to do with Obamacare. Non-age-priced policies still exist, your agency simply no longer sells them.

 

What probably happened is that your agent used to sell flat-price (as in, non-age-priced) policies similar to what the cruise lines sell. However, such policies are usually less comprehensive; and they usually (always?) lack a pre-exsisting condition exclusion waiver. For many elderly people, the lack of a pre-ex waiver is a HUGE problem, as it leads to an awful lot of claims being denied. If the agency switched to the more-comprehensive plans (i.e., the ones TravelGuard has always had available, and have always been age-priced), your prices would have gone up quite a bit.

 

I cannot think of a single provision of Obamacare that would effect the insurance benefits provided by trip insurance. Most people buy them to insure expenses out of the country, and Obamacare has precisely bupkis to do with international medical care. (And the parts of the policy that have to do with cancellations, lost luggage, etc. also have absolutely nothing to do with Obamacare.)

 

Appreciate your thoughts, I am going to call and talk to Travel Guard before I buy another policy, may deal with them direct vs though my travel agent next time.

[GeezerCouple]

Appreciate your thoughts, I am going to call and talk to Travel Guard before I buy another policy, may deal with them direct vs though my travel agent next time.

 

Don't go through your Travel Agent, who is a TRAVEL expert (hopefully!).

 

Use a travel insurance expert, such as

 

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

Call them; don't just browse on the website. They can add so much information, especially regarding what is suitable for *your* situation.

 

They will explain the different types of coverage/policies from a variety of insurers.

 

Steve and his colleagues directed us last year to a policy that was the best coverage for the best price FOR OUR AGES. This will be great for us for a few more years. if things stay the same with the various policies. Then we will probably need to re-assess which is best for us.

 

And NONE of the private insurance terms have anything to do with other coverage, governmental or otherwise. You can tailor your trip insurance to be primary or secondary to whatever other coverage you have. And as mentioned, that's irrelevant for medical insurance in places the primary doesn't even cover (such as overseas for governmental insurance that doesn't cover that in the first place).

 

GeezerCouple

Edited July 13, 2014 by GeezerCouple

[BridgeMates]

Once you hit a certain age (maybe 75), the insurance cost rises. That's why we usually take the cruise line's insurance as they don't charge more because of your age. However, if we aren't cruising, we just take the medical/evacuation insurance depending on what type of air arrangements we've made. Try to fly using FF miles as often as we can so nothing to be covered for except a small fee to restore any miles if we had to cancel. I don't want to be out of the country without medical coverage.

[pris993]

Don't go through your Travel Agent, who is a TRAVEL expert (hopefully!).

 

Use a travel insurance expert, such as

 

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

Call them; don't just browse on the website. They can add so much information, especially regarding what is suitable for *your* situation.

 

They will explain the different types of coverage/policies from a variety of insurers.

 

Steve and his colleagues directed us last year to a policy that was the best coverage for the best price FOR OUR AGES. This will be great for us for a few more years. if things stay the same with the various policies. Then we will probably need to re-assess which is best for us.

 

And NONE of the private insurance terms have anything to do with other coverage, governmental or otherwise. You can tailor your trip insurance to be primary or secondary to whatever other coverage you have. And as mentioned, that's irrelevant for medical insurance in places the primary doesn't even cover (such as overseas for governmental insurance that doesn't cover that in the first place).

 

GeezerCouple

 

Thanks will give them a call. Definitely want to get better info before our next trip.

[pris993]

Once you hit a certain age (maybe 75), the insurance cost rises. That's why we usually take the cruise line's insurance as they don't charge more because of your age. However, if we aren't cruising, we just take the medical/evacuation insurance depending on what type of air arrangements we've made. Try to fly using FF miles as often as we can so nothing to be covered for except a small fee to restore any miles if we had to cancel. I don't want to be out of the country without medical coverage.

 

Interesting, we too use FF miles when we can. Did not know we could just take out the medical/evacuation, based on our FF restore fees, when we do that, as we are really only interested in the medical/evacuation anyway. My DH is 82 and I am 67, so we are both on Medicare, in good health though. But I too don't want to travel out of the US without medical and evacuation coverage.

[sail7seas]

Interesting, we too use FF miles when we can. Did not know we could just take out the medical/evacuation, based on our FF restore fees, when we do that, as we are really only interested in the medical/evacuation anyway. My DH is 82 and I am 67, so we are both on Medicare, in good health though. But I too don't want to travel out of the US without medical and evacuation coverage.

 

 

 

People in the best of health can have accidents. Of course, we all wish safe travel for everyone but one needs to think ahead for 'just in case'.

 

[GeezerCouple]

Interesting, we too use FF miles when we can. Did not know we could just take out the medical/evacuation, based on our FF restore fees, when we do that, as we are really only interested in the medical/evacuation anyway. My DH is 82 and I am 67, so we are both on Medicare, in good health though. But I too don't want to travel out of the US without medical and evacuation coverage.

 

 

Again, please DO check with travel insurance experts who can suggest the best insurance company and the best specific policy type for YOUR needs and preferences.

 

For example, some policies would *require* you to insure ALL non-refundable expenses in order to get coverage that doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions. So that would include airfare (unless you paid for higher fare refundable tickets, I suppose).

 

There are probably policies that can be purchased for ONLY the medical/evacuation costs, should they be needed. We'll be looking into those in the future, but not just yet, as we still want the CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason) option, in case DH's work "beckons", for trip costs. (That allows him to make a lot of reservations, without worrying about "what if" in terms of work.)

 

GeezerCouple

[Guest maddycat]

Don't go through your Travel Agent, who is a TRAVEL expert (hopefully!).

 

Use a travel insurance expert, such as

 

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

Call them; don't just browse on the website. They can add so much information, especially regarding what is suitable for *your* situation.

 

They will explain the different types of coverage/policies from a variety of insurers.

 

Steve and his colleagues directed us last year to a policy that was the best coverage for the best price FOR OUR AGES. This will be great for us for a few more years. if things stay the same with the various policies. Then we will probably need to re-assess which is best for us.

 

And NONE of the private insurance terms have anything to do with other coverage, governmental or otherwise. You can tailor your trip insurance to be primary or secondary to whatever other coverage you have. And as mentioned, that's irrelevant for medical insurance in places the primary doesn't even cover (such as overseas for governmental insurance that doesn't cover that in the first place).

 

GeezerCouple

 

Thanks will give them a call. Definitely want to get better info before our next trip.

 

GeezerCouple gave you excellent advice. I've been buying our travel insurance through the trip insurance store for several years. Their agents are very knowledgeable and will be able to help you decide on the best insurance for you.

[donaldsc]

Purchased a Travel Guard package yesterday, which was almost double in costs of what we have paid in the past for a similar package. Our TA said Obamacare had changed how insurance companies have designed packages and fee schedules. The primary difference was now packages are "age" based. My DH is 82 and I am 67.

 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Although I am obviously not certain, I would suspect that your TA is having a cash flow problem and has switched to an insurance company that gives them a bigger kickback. I suspect that the TA makes more money from addons such as insurance than they do from the cruise company commission which is why they push their own insurance package. I do not see how Obama Care can have any effect on medical costs for overseas travel.

 

If your TA is lying to you as I suspect, I would switch to a new TA and make it clear to your old TA exact why he is being fired. Perhaps you can even switch the current cruise.

 

Have you checked on the cost from places like InsureMyTrip? Have you also considered what you really need from your policy and purchased a policy that only covers that or or are you paying for stuff that you really do not need.

 

As I have said many times on CC, I cover only medical and evacuation and I have a couple of hundred thousand coverage. I also buy a policy that covers my wife and I for a full year regardless of how many times we travel or where we travel. It costs me maybe $500 per year for the 2 of us and we are 73 and 71. I realize that if I have to cancel a trip, I am out the money I paid for the trip and I accept it.

 

DON

Edited July 21, 2014 by donaldsc

[ghstudio]

As I have said many times on CC, I cover only medical and evacuation and I have a couple of hundred thousand coverage. I also buy a policy that covers my wife and I for a full year regardless of how many times we travel or where we travel. It costs me maybe $500 per year for the 2 of us and we are 73 and 71. I realize that if I have to cancel a trip, I am out the money I paid for the trip and I accept it.

 

DON

 

We have Medjet Assist for evacuation (annual policy) however that only covers evacuation from the hospital to wherever we want to go....it doesn't cover costs from the ship to the hospital. We have a medigap policy that covers up to $50K of medical outside the US. I still buy TA to cover that first evacuation and other misc stuff, but that's on a per trip basis.

 

What policy do you have that covers all trips on an annual basis? (We are in the US).

Edited July 22, 2014 by ghstudio

[sirwired]

I'm pretty sure you do not need to purchase insurance of any sort to get you off of the ship. If the service is available at all, (and that doesn't cover very much ocean), makes sense (it rarely does), and safe, it will generally be done free of charge by the Coast Guard (or local equivalent, if available.) In practice, this means waters near the US/US Territories/UK Territories, Western Europe, and some Pacific countries.

[pris993]

I'm pretty sure you do not need to purchase insurance of any sort to get you off of the ship. If the service is available at all, (and that doesn't cover very much ocean), makes sense (it rarely does), and safe, it will generally be done free of charge by the Coast Guard (or local equivalent, if available.) In practice, this means waters near the US/US Territories/UK Territories, Western Europe, and some Pacific countries.

 

I am still exploring options, since my DH is 80+... so am checking back to this tread that I started. I don't believe evacuations from a ship by US coast guard are free, do believe folks that need this receive a bill for the service which can be $10,000 or more. This is based on hearsay and local news reports in California. All federal agencies have limited funds ( I use to work for the US Forest Service) so do believe we would be expected to pay a bill for Coast Guard Services.

[GeezerCouple]

I am still exploring options, since my DH is 80+... so am checking back to this tread that I started. I don't believe evacuations from a ship by US coast guard are free, do believe folks that need this receive a bill for the service which can be $10,000 or more. This is based on hearsay and local news reports in California. All federal agencies have limited funds ( I use to work for the US Forest Service) so do believe we would be expected to pay a bill for Coast Guard Services.

 

Did you contact a trip insurance broker like TripInsuranceStore.com ?

 

What other information would be useful?

 

There are travelers here who have had first hand experience with actual claims, and that's probably useful.

But the main thing is to be sure you understand what your policy does or doesn't cover. Many of the complaints are because the "event/situation" wasn't actually insured, although a few people have reported delays in processing claims.

 

Travel insurance costs often (always?) do get higher as one gets older, but there are different types of policies.

 

GeezerCouple

[PennyAgain]

Yes insurance does go up with age. My husband is a few months older than I am. When he passes a significant birthday, his travel insurance was more than mine. We carry an annual travel evac policy and purchase ins for each trip. Likely more than we need, but we feel better with this practice.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[jimw]

We are scuba divers and have evac. coverage thru a DAN (Divers Alert Network) membership. I also have via my Medicare Advantage plan, some coverage outside the US. The family DAN membership is about $60. per year. Many Medicare Advantage plans costs nothing additional to the premium paid via social security. afaik, DAN membership is available to all, google; dan.org..............

[CantanaLobo]

... I don't believe evacuations from a ship by US coast guard are free, do believe folks that need this receive a bill for the service which can be $10,000 or more. This is based on hearsay and local news reports in California....

My understanding is that the Coast Guard is forbidden by law from charging for rescues. However, that just gets you to land. After that, it's your dime.

 

I can't find a specific USCG web page that says this. I did find this

[6rugrats]

Well, we already pay for the Coast Guard with our taxes, so it makes sense there would be no charge for a rescue.

 

The only time there's a charge is if the call is a hoax.

Edited November 17, 2014 by 6rugrats

[BullDawg91]

Often people are removed from the ship at the closest port with a hospital and have to be medically transported back to the U.S. You can't count on the Coast Guard picking you up for free from the ship.

[BullDawg91]

Oh, and I agree that the Obamacare excuse is just that - an excuse.

[Hlitner]

We would never recommend buying a trip policy from a travel agent. Our reason is that nearly all TAs sell a very limited number of policies (often from a single insurer) that may or may not meet your specific needs. It makes more sense to go onto a web site like insuremytrip.com or squarmouth.com where they offer many types of policies from multiple companies. You can compare the costs and benefits and find what best fits your circumstances.

 

Hank

[zaos]

Are there any policies that doesn't cover health related costs, or have a low (3k? 5k?) max benefit? Health costs are already covered by our health insurance policies.

 

IMO, coverage for trip costs only should be quite cheap since it's for relatively low amounts, eg. under 10k.

[GeezerCouple]

Are there any policies that doesn't cover health related costs, or have a low (3k? 5k?) max benefit? Health costs are already covered by our health insurance policies.

 

IMO, coverage for trip costs only should be quite cheap since it's for relatively low amounts, eg. under 10k.

 

You'll get more - and probably better - responses if you start a new topic titled something like "trip insurance without medical coverage".

 

This topic is headed "Obamacare...."

 

Also, be SURE you don't want information or coverage for things like medical evacuation, if you don't want any info about that.

Your "regular medical insurance" might not cover all possible needs when traveling.

 

You might try phoning an insurance agent like Steve and his crew at

TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But CALL them, don't just read the summaries online.

You have specific questions and needs, so ask them in detail.

 

GeezerCouple

[donaldsc]

Why would Obama Care affect the costs of medical care overseas? That is what you are buying insurance for, not for medical coverage in the states.

 

Ask your TA if he knows what he is talking about or if he is using this as a reason to buy insurance from him instead of elsewhere.

 

DON