Insurance Question

[Dcpelletier]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks. I purchased insurance through insuremytrip.com and checked with our private insurance(Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and we are covered with them as well. If you have a medical emergency while on the ship are you expected to pay for all the medical costs incurred and then submit to insurance? I can't imagine everyone who sails can pay for everything upfront. Just wondering:confused:

[hugocruiser]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks. I purchased insurance through insuremytrip.com and checked with our private insurance(Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and we are covered with them as well. If you have a medical emergency while on the ship are you expected to pay for all the medical costs incurred and then submit to insurance? I can't imagine everyone who sails can pay for everything upfront. Just wondering:confused:

 

They will bill you. You have to submit that bill to your insurance company at home, let them deny it, and then submit it to your travel insurance for payment. You will not be expected to pay cash on the ship for medical treatment.

[old sole]

They will bill you. You have to submit that bill to your insurance company at home, let them deny it, and then submit it to your travel insurance for payment. You will not be expected to pay cash on the ship for medical treatment.

 

Well, you technically don't pay in cash for anything on the ship. Everything is charged to your onboard account which is settled at the end of the cruise with whatever payment method you set up at embarkation. On our Jan 15 Jade cruise a ship's doctor office visit and treatment costs were added to our onboard account and settled at the end of the cruise just like any other charge. We did receive a detailed statement which we used to file with our primary insurance. We're still waiting for that to be settled and will file with our travel insurance for anything not covered by the primary insurance.

[fshagan]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks. I purchased insurance through insuremytrip.com and checked with our private insurance(Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and we are covered with them as well. If you have a medical emergency while on the ship are you expected to pay for all the medical costs incurred and then submit to insurance? I can't imagine everyone who sails can pay for everything upfront. Just wondering:confused:

 

It depends on your trip insurance.

 

If you purchased primary trip insurance, Anthem may require you to submit to the trip insurance first, then apply your deductible and co-pays to the balance and pay the remainder.

 

If you purchased trip insurance as secondary to any other coverage, you will submit to Anthem first and Anthem will deduct any co-pay or deductible and pay up to the coverage amount. Then, you can submit the co-pay, deductible, and the remaining bill to the trip insurance.

 

See the Trip Insurance Store's explanation here: https://tripinsurancestore.com/how-primary-and-secondary-travel-insurance-medical-coverage-works/

 

I switched to using them instead of Insure My Trip because of the vast amount of information they have on the site, and the quick response I got to a couple of emailed questions.

[easyboy]

It depends on your trip insurance.

 

If you purchased primary trip insurance, Anthem may require you to submit to the trip insurance first, then apply your deductible and co-pays to the balance and pay the remainder.

 

If you purchased trip insurance as secondary to any other coverage, you will submit to Anthem first and Anthem will deduct any co-pay or deductible and pay up to the coverage amount. Then, you can submit the co-pay, deductible, and the remaining bill to the trip insurance.

 

See the Trip Insurance Store's explanation here: https://tripinsurancestore.com/how-primary-and-secondary-travel-insurance-medical-coverage-works/

 

I switched to using them instead of Insure My Trip because of the vast amount of information they have on the site, and the quick response I got to a couple of emailed questions.

I agree. I also use http://www.tripinsurance.com.

[ready2cruzagain]

According to our insurance, we have to pay everything out of pocket then get reimbursed.

 

When we needed to use the ships medical care center, the bill was put on our S & S card. We were told by the ship personnel that they do not bill your insurance company. You have to pay, then you file with your insurance when you get home. This has been the case with a couple of different cruise lines we have sailed on and had to use the medical services.

[negn]

I can't address travel insurance. but if you have commercial health insurance you will be billed by the ship. The charges will be added to your sea and sail account. You then submit to your insurance when you get home. Be sure to have copies and all needed info to get reimbursed,

[pe4all]

When DD had an appendicitis attack a few years ago on Carnival Dream, the ship's medical center charged a fee to our onboard account. ($90) We were then off-loaded to a hospital in Belize. We had to charge everything to our credit card in Belize. When we got home 3 days later, we had to first submit all our bills to BlueCross/BlueShield (that is the way it works with my insurance in NY) and then our Travelguard policy covered all the rest that my personal insurance didn't. (hospital, airfare back to Miami, hotel for overnight in Miami, all food costs) I think we ended up laying out $5 that wasn't re-imbursed. (out of over $5,000) It took about 3 weeks for all the paperwork to be processed, and a check mailed to us.

[LadySpoilt]

We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks. I purchased insurance through insuremytrip.com and checked with our private insurance(Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield) and we are covered with them as well. If you have a medical emergency while on the ship are you expected to pay for all the medical costs incurred and then submit to insurance? I can't imagine everyone who sails can pay for everything upfront. Just wondering:confused:

 

A few years ago I also had Blue Cross Blue Shield ( but no travel insurance) and broke a toe (stupid vacuum cleaner left in hall). Ship medical bill was approximately 500.00. Like the above poster, ship would not file. It was charged to my sign and sail, and we filed upon getting home. Since it was considered "out of network" we got hit with most of bill.

 

Next cruise we wised up and bought travel insurance that paid primary. Good thing we did. Traveling member got very ill, wound up in medical 3 times before doctor insisted we go to hospital in Cozumel before continuing trip (next day was sea day and ship doctor became concerned about that). Travel insurance contacted and stayed in contact with hospital assuring payment, HOWEVER hospital would NOT treat (cat scan) until a 2000.00 charge was paid regardless of what insurance said. We charged it to our credit card and filed when we got home. Insurance company was great to work with and paid bill in full shortly after getting home and submitting claim. Important lesson learned....just because you have travel insurance does not mean that you do not have to cover the bill yourself upfront.

[pe4all]

A few years ago I also had Blue Cross Blue Shield ( but no travel insurance) and broke a toe (stupid vacuum cleaner left in hall). Ship medical bill was approximately 500.00. Like the above poster, ship would not file. It was charged to my sign and sail, and we filed upon getting home. Since it was considered "out of network" we got hit with most of bill.

 

Next cruise we wised up and bought travel insurance that paid primary. Good thing we did. Traveling member got very ill, wound up in medical 3 times before doctor insisted we go to hospital in Cozumel before continuing trip (next day was sea day and ship doctor became concerned about that). Travel insurance contacted and stayed in contact with hospital assuring payment, HOWEVER hospital would NOT treat (cat scan) until a 2000.00 charge was paid regardless of what insurance said. We charged it to our credit card and filed when we got home. Insurance company was great to work with and paid bill in full shortly after getting home and submitting claim. Important lesson learned....just because you have travel insurance does not mean that you do not have to cover the bill yourself upfront.

One thing all travelers should do: clear a credit card for use out of the country. Notify the cc company of exactly what islands/countries you will be visiting. That way they won't shut your card down when they see a wierd charge coming through.

[luvcruzing]

One thing all travelers should do: clear a credit card for use out of the country. Notify the cc company of exactly what islands/countries you will be visiting. That way they won't shut your card down when they see a wierd charge coming through.

 

You don't have to notify American Express in advance of traveling.

[sanger727]

I think it all comes down to the insurance plan you have and where you get treated. It's not unreasonable to believe that a non US hospital will want payment upfront seeing as how difficult it would be for them to pursue u in another country for payment later.

 

I have use geoblue for travel medical insurance before and their policy states that while they are secondary insurance, they will pay the bills upfront until you submit them to your health insurance company for reimbursement. Sure it just depends on the plan. Def need a high limit credit card with you; this is why I gave trouble understanding people who refuse to get a credit card. If you miss the ship, have a medical issue, or need to fly home due to an emergency you will need access to more funds than you can get in cash.

 

 

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[pe4all]

You don't have to notify American Express in advance of traveling.

That's great, but I don't have AmEx! I have to notify my credit cards each time I travel! :)