Important X insurance info

[twincheryl]

20 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We had the annual Global Trek policy from GeoBlue (part of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield network).  But it really would not have mattered because the procedures are pretty much the same with any travel insurance.  Some certainly have nicer case managers then others, but even that is luck of the draw (there are helpful case managers and those who wake up on the wrong side of their bed).    Most of our cruise had also been charged on a Chase Sapphire card which includes $10,000 of trip cancellation/interruption insurance (Chase eventually sent us a check for $10,000).

 

In our case (which was very complex) it all worked-out and we collected most of what we were entitled to from two insurers.  But this was after more then a dozen phone calls (some lasting for at least an hour), dozens of e-mails to insurance companies, credit card companies,  airline, cruise line, etc.  And my hard copy (on real paper) claims to both Chase and Geoblue were about 2 inches thick and took many hours to compile.   DW (who was the patient) asked me "how on earth do most folks do it?"  Her statement was in reference to the fact that I had over thirty years experience in the Medical insurance world and understood how the game is played.  The good news was that buy the time we received our last check (the payment from Chase) my wife was well on the way to a complete recovery.  We were able to celebrate with a nice bottle of Champagne.  And of course we quickly took another cruise :).

 

Hank

P.S.  I actually had the thought that I could start a business being a paid advocate, fixer, consultant, etc.  But the insurance companies even make this difficult by simply imposing the provisions of HIPAA.  

We use the Chase card for travel as well.  While it was just a very minor $300 claim when we had to cancel a trip before we left because I fractured my humerus, it took almost 3 months to get that claim paid.  It was quite an ordeal with only 29 pages of documentation that had to be resent several times for one reason or another that they came up with.  Made me wonder if it would have been much worse if it had been a big claim!

[Baron Barracuda]

15 hours ago, BBsails said:

Heads up!  Some Medicare plans DO cover urgent and/or emergency medical treatment outside the US.  Our Advantage coverage is worldwide. YMMV.

 

 

Can you mention any that are good in NJ?  We turn 65 late this year and need to start shopping medicare advantage plans.

[C-sea]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

   "While some elements of coverage can be resolved after the fact (it took us about 2 months) when it comes to Evacuation...time is often very critical.  Splitting the trip purchase between 2 or more cards does really complicate things (trust me...). " 

Hank

Hi Hank,

Are you referring to the initial cruise purchase or payment for the evacuation being divided between two or more cards?

Edited March 30, 2019 by C-sea

[Quo Vadis?]

Many Credit Cards have insurance coverage until one turns 60 or 65 rarely past 70.

 

We had a friend that had to leave a ship in one of the islands.

Simple things like getting blankets, pillows and food require local relatives....

 

I think many of us rely on good luck to get us through the joys of travel.

 

[Hlitner]

45 minutes ago, C-sea said:

Hi Hank,

Are you referring to the initial cruise purchase or payment for the evacuation being divided between two or more cards?

I am referring to charging the actual cruise payment on more then one major credit card.  It can get you into a situation where the various insurers play games with who should play what?  In the Medical Insurance world (where I worked) this is called coordination of claims (or third party liability) but with travel insurance it becomes a different ball game.  Consider that Chase jerked me around (albeit gently) over a small cruise deposit (initial deposit) that was actually taken from a future cruise credit that was charged on a different card.  As it turned out, when we did the future cruise booking we did not even have that Chase Card!  But even that small amount became one more "hassle" which involved more paperwork, several phone calls to the cruise line, etc.  The fact that we were talking about $100 out of more then $10,000 did not make it any easier.  At times it seems like a game where the insurance claims folks try to wear you down (so perhaps you give up).  My attitude happened to be up to the task (not sure why) and at times (after a long phone call) I would tell DW that "they will eventually pay, but they are hoping we expire from old age before that happens.."   I will admit that the Chase folks were always polite and seemingly helpful, but there was always one more roadblock, one more "issue,"  one more requested document, etc.   Trust me that when you get caught between an airline (where its nearly impossible to get to a human), insurance company, and cruise line....you get more gray hair (if you have any remaining hair).

 

I will toss out one additional comment on behalf of the insurance providers.  They work in a world where fraud is not unusual, folks try to inflate claims, etc.   Claims managers have a very suspicious nature and insist that everything be perfectly documented...even when obtaining certain documentation (such as from airlines) is near impossible.  I should add that our medical insurance provider (GeoBlue) was terrific, quickly paid all of our claims (with one small exception) and went out of their way to assist us with the very complex evacuation phase.  On the other hand, since I had a medical insurance background I had been careful to get extensive documentation from the hospital (in Japan) and cruise ship medical office.  I had several pounds of medical records including tons of documents written in Japanese....not to mention photos of CT Scans, real time photos of surgery, etc.  Unlike many travel insurance companies, Geoblue had no problem accepting documents written in Kanji (Japanese) and handled all the necessary translations.  Many insurance companies will jerk around claimants by demanding that all documentation be translated before submission.  We were fortunate that we only had a single medical insurance policy and that company readily accepted their responsibility as being the "primary" insurer.  If you have more then one valid medical policy you can get yourself into more delays because of the "who pays what" situation (claims coordination).

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

I want to address another post, which referred to Medicare Advantage coverage outside the USA.   With Medicare you should start out with the assumption that Medicare will not pay any claims incurred outside the USA (there are a couple of rare exceptions)!    Some of the Advantage Plans do extend emergency/urgent coverage (in some circumstances) outside the USA.  But that does not mean they will pay anywhere near the cost of your actual medical expenses.  Maybe they will pay it all, maybe they will pay a portion, or maybe they will pay nothing.  Make sure to understand exactly what is covered (and what is not covered) and all their required procedures (such as having detailed medical records in English), etc.  And finally understand that Medicare (and most insurance companies) will often pay what the insurance company thinks is appropriate which is often not the same as the hospital/physician bill.  If a hospital hands you a $20,000 bill (which you must pay before discharge) and your plan later determines that only $10,000 is Usual and Customary....then good luck.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

23 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We are looking at Med Jet Assist for the 1st time for our next cruises.  A 2 year policy will cover 3 cruises.

At the risk of turning this into an insurance blog (we do that in the cruise insurance part of CC) I want to mention something about Med Jet Assist.  Many folks (including me) call them the Cadillac of evacuation companies.  They are good, but do have their own issues which can cause major problems.  If you are being evacuated from a hospital (as an inpatient) to another hospital as an inpatient all should be fine.  But there are times when folks need evacuated and may not actually be an inpatient at the time.  There was such a situation posted on CC a few years ago and MedJet refused to pay.   In our own particular case (last April) my DW was technically not an impatient at the time she was "evacuated."  Our Geoblue policy agreed to cover her evacuation because it was medically necessary (according to two physicians) and it was in the best interests of both the patient and the insurance company.  If we had asked Medjetassist to cover that type of evacuation they would have likely denied the claim on technical grounds.  The difference was that our medical insurance company (which also provided the evacuation coverage) would have been responsible for additional medical bills incurred outside the USA...and those bills could have been very substantial.  For them, paying to evacuate DW back to the USA meant they would no longer need to provide medical coverage (we had other insurance once inside the USA).  Many medical insurance companies will waive their own rules when it is to their own benefit (financially).  

 

The situation we had was eye opening and I realized that there are some advantages to having the medical insurance company also responsible for evacuation.  Since Medjetassist has nothing to do with paying medical bills, they would not have had any incentive to waive their rules regarding inpatient status.  

 

Hank

[C-sea]

Thank you so much Hank! Nothing like first hand experience!

[Baron Barracuda]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

I want to address another post, which referred to Medicare Advantage coverage outside the USA.   With Medicare you should start out with the assumption that Medicare will not pay any claims incurred outside the USA (there are a couple of rare exceptions)!    Some of the Advantage Plans do extend emergency/urgent coverage (in some circumstances) outside the USA.  But that does not mean they will pay anywhere near the cost of your actual medical expenses.  Maybe they will pay it all, maybe they will pay a portion, or maybe they will pay nothing.  Make sure to understand exactly what is covered (and what is not covered) and all their required procedures (such as having detailed medical records in English), etc.  And finally understand that Medicare (and most insurance companies) will often pay what the insurance company thinks is appropriate which is often not the same as the hospital/physician bill.  If a hospital hands you a $20,000 bill (which you must pay before discharge) and your plan later determines that only $10,000 is Usual and Customary....then good luck.

 

Hank

Have that problem here in the US with out of network claims.  Hospital bills you at full price and insurer only reimburses at their scheduled rate leaving you on the hook for difference.  One big hospital in SF is the poster child for this.  Believe they don't even accept medicare.

 

Looks like we'll still be buying travel insurance, even after age 65. 

[ecslady]

Hank - thank you so much for your detailed explanation and expertise in the insurance area. Definitely helps to understand the choices better especially since I'll be retiring soon and then transitioning to Medicare also.