Health insurance while cruising

[Guinness1000]

On our last cruise, someone was picked up by ambulance in Roatan. We were later told that that person would be flown home from a military base not too far away from the port. This made me wonder, do you seasoned cruisers buy supplementary insurance when you travel or are you covered by your already existing insurance? If you buy extra insurance, what should it absolutely include? I imagine the bill for something like that in Roatan would be rather big...

 

Thanks for any input on this. :)

[Clarea]

The most important part of the insurance to us is the emergency evacuation part.

[Guinness1000]

The most important part of the insurance to us is the emergency evacuation part.

Ok great. So you get supplementary insurance then? :)

[Clarea]

Ok great. So you get supplementary insurance then? :)

Yes, every cruise.

[Guinness1000]

Thank you! I guess we've been cruising dangerously. :eek::o:)

[time4u2go]

On our last cruise, someone was picked up by ambulance in Roatan. We were later told that that person would be flown home from a military base not too far away from the port. This made me wonder, do you seasoned cruisers buy supplementary insurance when you travel or are you covered by your already existing insurance? If you buy extra insurance, what should it absolutely include? I imagine the bill for something like that in Roatan would be rather big...

 

Thanks for any input on this. :)

I really don't think you should base your decision on other people's answer to this. You should study your own insurance coverage carefully to determine what's covered and what's not. I would guess that many people that buy travel insurance buy too much coverage because their existing insurance covers some of the things they are paying additional for with the travel insurance.

[cruisinfanatic]

Thank you! I guess we've been cruising dangerously. :eek::o:)

Chances are your insurance covers nothing outside of the USA. You should check

[Kamloops50]

I buy an annual for Medical Evacuation. It covers us even when traveling in our home province or state . Me medical coverage only to get to a major trauma center nearest my location. This insurance allows to request a transfer to the hospital in my hometown.

[time4u2go]

Chances are your insurance covers nothing outside of the USA. You should check

I don't know that that's necessarily true:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/do-i-need-to-buy-travel-health-insurance-if-im-going-overseas

 

which includes the statement "Many of the standard plans from big insurance providers, including Aetna, Cigna, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, include provisions for emergency and urgent care abroad."

[swoopy2110]

The amount of people I read about who travel without some form of evac cover / travel cover scares me!

[Kamloops50]

My medical plan whether bought or regular won't pay medical costs until you get house. The evac insurance will pay and request reimbursement after your medical coverage pays out. The medivac isn't billed to the insurance supplier.

 

 

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[Amtrac]

Have bought RCCL insurance for a a number of years. Lately have had to cancel a number of cruises with no problem. It works. Had a travel pair who needed to. Cancel for medical is Sec with no insurance and if full penalty and after 9 months he was able to get a future travel voucher for some of the lost fare. Not the best outcome but better than nothing. There may be better private plans out there but for me I'd rather have it all with one provider[emoji12][emoji12]

 

 

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[Cat54]

We always buy travel insurance that includes emergency evacuation. We have Anthem BC/BS and our policy does not cover outside of the US. Check with your insurance company to see if they cover outside of the US.

[chrisdom3]

Thank you! I guess we've been cruising dangerously. :eek::o:)

 

 

 

I too always traveled dangerously until a family member who fell ill when in Europe needed to be evacuated back to NY. The insurance covered that evacuation (about 100,000) on a private plane with medical staff. It covered the hospital stay in Europe along with all incurred cancellation and rescheduling fees. The only thing not covered was the cell phone bill!

 

I now take out additional coverage no matter where I'm going!

 

 

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[Sue1260]

This is first cruise I'm going to get travel insurance always just took my chances before. I'm defiantly going to get medical evacuation and would like to get something that would cover if I miss the ship due to weather related flight delays. It's first time were cruising in Feb. and being from Pa worried about snow. But will have to way cost hotel to flying in day before cruise vs cost of insurance. Haven't looked at price of insurance yet but every hotel around Miami airport is 100. Or higher

[Baron Barracuda]

There are small risks (cancellation, luggage, illness) that I'm sometimes willing to self insure for. Then there is evacuation which while a remote possibility can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's too risky for me, so for a couple of hundred dollars I buy a travel insurance policy. Read the fine print though. They differ on how coverage works and who the ultimate decision maker is.

 

Am currently thinking about the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. It's expensive with $450 annual fee, but also gives $300 annual travel credit. Lots of benefits Including up to $10k trip cancellation, $3k luggage, $2500 medical/dental, and $100k evacuation.

[cruisinfanatic]

I don't know that that's necessarily true:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/do-i-need-to-buy-travel-health-insurance-if-im-going-overseas

 

which includes the statement "Many of the standard plans from big insurance providers, including Aetna, Cigna, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, include provisions for emergency and urgent care abroad."

You forgot the part that says

"One of the major gaps in coverage from employer sponsored plans is medical evacuations—the dreaded “airlift” scenario that can leave you deep in debt. None of the big managed-care companies cover such transportation costs"

If they don't cover air lift in the US, they sure won't out of the country

[time4u2go]

You forgot the part that says

"One of the major gaps in coverage from employer sponsored plans is medical evacuations—the dreaded “airlift” scenario that can leave you deep in debt. None of the big managed-care companies cover such transportation costs"

If they don't cover air lift in the US, they sure won't out of the country

Oh I understand that it doesn't cover that. I was responding to your statement that "Chances are your insurance covers nothing outside of the USA."

[lauren0309]

We never travel without it. Go to insuremytrip.com to compare plans

[shippmates]

We always purchase travel insurance that includes Medical evacuation and medical coverage. Remember that most foreign countries do not accept our medical insurance. The hospital in Dominican Republic does not take BC/BS but TravelSafe guaranteed coverage up to our limit. The remaining balance had to be paid by us before we left the hospital and the same rule applied to the medical centers on the ship. The helicopter was also paid directly by the travel insurance. If you are on Medicare, most plans do not cover you out the the US.

[tnt10]

We always insure for medical evacuation and cruise costs when cancelled for medical reasons.

Unless you purchase Primary Medical Insurance, the medical insurance aspect of cruise insurance policies is secondary coverage, which means the primary insurer will be responsible first for the reimbursement-then if any left over bills can be submitted to cruise insurance for reimbursement.

Something also to remember-in many instances abroad, payment is required upon provision of services. (I had to pay for a 5 night hospital stay, including ER, ICU and cardiac cath placement, before departing the hospital. Luckily, I was able to charge it to 2 high limits CCs, and was reimbursed by primary insurer after returning home).

So, even when travelling in the Caribbean, we always purchase travel insurance!

[Going Coastal]

Medjet Assist has a reasonable annual fee and will evacuate in or out of country. They also have discounts for various alumni groups and all AARP members. We use them every year.

 

 

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[LadyVol1]

I use Squaremouth to compare policies since I find it has better prices than InsureMyTrip.

 

$50,000 medical coverage cost ~$28 total for two people (53 and 57) for a Feb., 2017 14-day cruise. We don't insure the cruise cost since $10,000 pp trip cancellation and $100,000 pp medical evac is covered via my Chase Sapphire Reserve but we do want $50,000 pp medical coverage. Our high deductible Cigna health insurance policies don't cover us outside the US.

[martyap]

We always buy travel insurance. Be careful when comparing plans......know what coverage is secondary and what is primary. We prefer companies that will be primary payers on claims. There are so many reasons why you might have to interrupt a trip....a sick relative at home or an accident on your trip. Just a good investment and better if you don't have to use it.

[Ahoy2umate]

We always use Travel Guard http://www.travelguard.com [AIG] for our transatlantic cruises. You can tailor what you need. They even have a cruise package.