Travel Insurance

[katiel53]

I always buy cruise insurance and I buy it within 14 days of when I book our cruise. I don't buy it through the cruise line as their medivac insurance limit is quite low. I have had to use the insurance a few times.

 

The last time I had to use it was when there was a shooting at the Ft Lauderdale airport. My flight from Upstate NY had a change of planes in Baltimore. I got to Baltimore and was waiting for the 2nd leg of my flight when the shooting info came on the TV. After waiting several hours in BWI, with the FLL airport closed, I was sent to Orlando as was my sister who was on a non-stop from Nashville to FLL.

 

Our flights arrived late at night into Orlando and my luggage didn't get on that flight. The insurance paid for a hotel, cab fare to the hotel, a rental car the next day to drive to FLL, gas and tolls. If I hadn't had the insurance, I would have been out the money I spent.

 

Granted, I did spend money for the insurance, but, to me, it is part of the cruise fare. I wouldn't travel without it. I started buying it thinking that if something happened to my parents while my husband and I were on a trip, how much would it cost us to fly home etc? I continued to buy it after they passed and as I said, I have used it a few times.

 

For those who think "I could cover the loss of the cruise", I can understand that, but the medical insurance for a foreign country and the medivac part would be more than I would want to pay.

[Steelers0854]

Have you used geoblue? I'm asking because their advertising is that they pay upfront like primary insurance and it's not till afterwards that they are secondary and want to be reimbursed by your primary insurance. I just used them so read all the terms; didn't have a need to file a claim though. They are pretty useless otherwise considering my insurance will pay my bills after the fact. It's the upfront coverage that's needed.

 

 

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I have not, just read the website and how I interpreted what they posted. Their single use Essential Plan (seems to offer more coverage than the other plan) says:

 

How do I access participating medical providers outside the U.S. and avoid claim forms?

GeoBlue's Global Health and Safety services help members identify, access, and pay for quality healthcare all over the world. This includes a contracted community of elite providers in 180 countries. Members can access these carefully selected providers and arrange for the bills to be sent directly to GeoBlue. Please note, a member is responsible for their deductible at time of service, if applicable.

 

Direct billing can be requested by calling the assistance telephone number listed on your member ID card, or by emailing globalhealth@geo-blue.com.

 

A claims instruction page is available online and can be accessed by visiting the GeoBlue Voyager Claims page. Claim forms are downloadable from this section of the site.

 

Do I file claims with my primary insurance first?

GeoBlue Voyager plans are secondary insurance. However, GeoBlue will process and pay claims upfront as a primary payor and reserves the right, where applicable, to contact your primary insurance company to coordinate benefits.

 

After reading both of those is what I based my prior comments on. Seems if you go "out of network" then they won't pay upfront.

 

Unless I read something incorrectly? Which could definitely be true especially if you ask DW[emoji41]

[Cruisegirl6]

Sanger727 Thank you, but there is no wording about "secondary insurance" another reason why I chose GeoBlue and they did ask me though whether I have insurance and I told him just medicare and they said thats fine. The contract does say no out of pocket expenses, but should I have to lay it out that will be fine, I will get it back later after filing the claim, hopefully there be none lol. They also gave me a list of hospitals/medical centers 24 hours/doctors that are available to me, this is when they told me that if I choose one of these places on the list for care, there be no out of pocket expenses as they know they have a contract with. GeoBlue...fortunately on the list is the major/primary/best hospital in Aruba and the best medical 24 hour clinic and I checked out the doctor also. They have already emailed me immediately the medical card along with the list of places I can go to that will give me no out of pocket costs...I am waiting for the written contact to be sent to me within 10days they said.

 

Cargo13 that is the exact plan I got!

 

Steelers0854- That is exactly what they told me that will be in m y written contract. I assume your correct you need to go in network and they made me realize the places that are covered and in network and I looked them up as I spoke to the sales agent and they were all wonderful excellent places.

[sefan]

Can anybody recommend and give me any positive/negatives on travel medical insurance?

We were on a New England cruise in Oct. We were to fly home on 10/8, to Savannah. We got a notification that our flights were canceled due to Hurricane Matthew on the 7th! I called the insurance company to see if, even though we had thought we just bought the policy for the cruise, this was covered. YES!! All of our food, lodging, and transportation was covered during our two night stay in NYC!! Worth every penny! Plus, I know of a gentleman that got very ill on the 2nd day of he and his wife's 14 day cruise. He was quarantined and taken to the hospital as soon as they were in port. He was hospitalized for 5 days and the had to fly home. Even though his hospitalization insurance paid, he was reimbursed over 35K!! He didn't even realize he had bought travel insurance until I questioned him and he reviewed his paperwork. Needless to say, he loves me now!

[Port of Tampa]

If you can get insurance through USAA which subs through Travel Insurred International you can get great packages with no issuer for pre existing medical conditions as long as buy within in 30 days of booking. Much better coverage than CCL insurance for less money and CCL is also subbed out.

 

Cheers good luck and happy cruising.

 

Thank you everybody, I meant to say medical insurance for pre-existing conditions, I tried some of them that you all mentioned, there were many exclusions.... I did find GeoBlue International, its Blue Cross/Shield but overseas, wonderful best plan I found yet, 0 deductibles, 1million coverage, all pre-existing conditions, 100 payment and no out of pocket expenses and $52.91.

 

I live with a large amount of medical problems so needed some coverage as medicare won't cover me international thank you everybody for all your help!

[Steelers0854]

Sanger727 Thank you, but there is no wording about "secondary insurance" another reason why I chose GeoBlue and they did ask me though whether I have insurance and I told him just medicare and they said thats fine. .

 

 

 

See my post above, they do say their insurance is secondary and is not primary insurance.

[Cruisegirl6]

Medicare pays nothing for international so GeoBlue becomes primary.

[sanger727]

Medicare pays nothing for international so GeoBlue becomes primary.

 

 

Oh, you'll need to call them then. Think they do offer plans for when you don't have primary insurance. No idea if they'll let you use the 'secondary' plans if your primary insurance doesn't cover you internationally. Mine does, it just won't pay upfront - requires you to submit receipts for reimbursement.

 

 

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