Medical Insurance Requirements

[Titanfan22]

Dear fellow cruise fans,

 

 Unfortunately we failed to book trip insurance for our cruise the end of March.  While we are not concerned about cancelling the trip, we are concerned with having excellent medical coverage in case something happens.

 

I’ve seen many options online and some look like fly by night scams. Can anyone provide a reputable company as well what parameters / coverages / limits, we should require.  

 

Thanks for your help.

[mking8288]

Suggest you start here and skip thru some of the threads and Q&A

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2479-qa-with-insuremytrip/

 

If you go to insuremytrip dot com (read the "Sticky" endorsed/blessed by CC) as it can help you filter and see the various companies, their products, options & pricing, coverage & details, etc.  There is no such thing as being over-insured, only under-insured with inadequate coverage for life's unexpected.  

 

Your residence (home state), financials, health & medical history (as in pre-existing conditions/waivers & exclusions) and where you are planning to travel/cruise to/from - are part of the complex formula.  You can also check and find out, as AAA and/or AARP members in the US, on what's available and offered thru them (if any) as they partner with and endorse affinity with insurance companies.  

 

This is link to an article in Forbes - from 2018, reference a # of travel insurance company ... not an endorsement for any of them.  You will definitely see them among the products offered via InsureMyTrip - look closely at their coverage, then compare prices.  A lifeflight via helicopter and/or air ambulance on a specially equipped jet to fly across coast to coast and T/P or T/A isn't cheap, way more than a pair of First Class seats.  In most instances, being "out of network" when traveling abroad, at sea and half way around the world usually meant that one's medical insurance might have minimal to zero coverage.  

 

P.S.  This isn't really specific to NCL, mod might be moving this to the other forum ... in 3, 2, 1

Edited February 18, 2020 by mking8288

[tallnthensome]

Yea, read through the insurance forum. GeoBlue by Blue Cross is great travel insurance for medical and it’s very reasonable from a reputable company. You do NOT need to have or use Blue Cross as you primary medical insurance to buy GeoBlue.

[ready2cruzagain]

4 hours ago, Titanfan22 said:

Dear fellow cruise fans,

 

 Unfortunately we failed to book trip insurance for our cruise the end of March.  While we are not concerned about cancelling the trip, we are concerned with having excellent medical coverage in case something happens.

 

I’ve seen many options online and some look like fly by night scams. Can anyone provide a reputable company as well what parameters / coverages / limits, we should require.  

 

Thanks for your help.

 

I highly recommend insuremytrip, we have been using them for years. 

[esm54687]

and don't discount looking at Medicare coverage if you qualify........ I never would've thought about it because it's international travel but my mother swears she is covered for her Bermuda trip in May. 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, Titanfan22 said:

Dear fellow cruise fans,

 

 Unfortunately we failed to book trip insurance for our cruise the end of March.  While we are not concerned about cancelling the trip, we are concerned with having excellent medical coverage in case something happens.

 

I’ve seen many options online and some look like fly by night scams. Can anyone provide a reputable company as well what parameters / coverages / limits, we should require.  

 

Thanks for your help.

Make sure that you enter truthful filters. Many/most companies require that you purchase before or at final payment to prevent exactly what you are attempting,,,, waiting until just before your cruise, finding an issue, then trying to get out of the cruise.

(or get extra medical for the cruise). For many/most policies you are too late to purchase. 

[Joanne G.]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

and don't discount looking at Medicare coverage if you qualify........ I never would've thought about it because it's international travel but my mother swears she is covered for her Bermuda trip in May. 

 

This is what  I came across in my own research about Medicare coverage outside the U.S, direct from www.medicare.gov. 

 

https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11037-Medicare-Coverage-Outside-United-Stat.pdf

 

I am curious about where your mother got her information.  I hope she encounters no medical issues in Bermuda, and if she does, I hope her Medicare covers her. 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

and don't discount looking at Medicare coverage if you qualify........ I never would've thought about it because it's international travel but my mother swears she is covered for her Bermuda trip in May. 

Your mother could have an unpleasant and expensive surprise if she falls ill in Bermuda. Original Medicare does not provide coverage in foreign countries. Some Medicare supplements do have a limited amount of coverage. Some Medicare Advantage policies provide some coverage outside the U S.

[esm54687]

@njhorseman and @Joanne G.

 

I don't completely understand my mother's interpretation / supplements and she is such a planner that I'm trusting she understands the whole coverage. Just passing along something that may be worth investigating. 

 

Thanks for your feedback ☺ 

 

[ColeThornton]

FYI, here is a link to the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum of CC.   Lots of good info.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Have used insuremytrip multiple times, both individually and for larger groups. Excellent people to deal with.


Sent from my iPad using Forums

[njhorseman]

Tripinsurancestore.com, insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com are all reputable travel insurance agencies. Tripinsurancestore.com is my favorite of the three because the owner, Steve Dasseos and his staff are very good at matching your needs to a policy.

[ready2cruzagain]

2 hours ago, esm54687 said:

and don't discount looking at Medicare coverage if you qualify........ I never would've thought about it because it's international travel but my mother swears she is covered for her Bermuda trip in May. 

 

Medicare DOES NOT pay out of the country.  You might want to check on that and ask her where she got her information.  We have secondary insurance that pays for coverage out of the country but Medicare does not. Maybe she has secondary insurance that pays for out of the country and that is what she is talking about.

[rhblake]

I use squaremouth.com as it provides, in the plan description, summaries of 1) whether the medical coverage you are purchasing is primary or secondary and 2) the amount of evacuation coverage that is included. No need to go searching for the info.

[Cruisingformetime]

InsureMyTrip is one option. Check through your employer, too. Some employers offer associations with companies for discounts as part of their employee benefit package. I invoked one such and am insured through International SOS, which is turning out to be not just medical insurance, but safety and security assessments as well. Things like "is it safe to drink the tap water / buy off a food cart in X country?" "What immunizations do I need?" "What neighborhoods are at greatest risk of crime?"

[sanger727]

5 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Yea, read through the insurance forum. GeoBlue by Blue Cross is great travel insurance for medical and it’s very reasonable from a reputable company. You do NOT need to have or use Blue Cross as you primary medical insurance to buy GeoBlue.

 

 Second this. This is who I used for a medical only policy. I find that trying to insure medical only through traditional trip insurance is confusing. GeoBlue has super simple pricing. Depending on whether you want it to be your primary insurance or secondary and your age there is a set per day price.

[Joanne G.]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

@njhorseman and @Joanne G.

 

I don't completely understand my mother's interpretation / supplements and she is such a planner that I'm trusting she understands the whole coverage. Just passing along something that may be worth investigating. 

 

Thanks for your feedback ☺ 

 

I hope I didn’t come across like your mother doesn’t know what she is talking about. That wasn’t my intent at all.  As another poster said, the key may be a supplemental or Advantage plan.  Good for her for doing the research!  
 

Everyone should be clear about what coverage they have.  With a lot of cruisers on Medicare, it’s important to know the out-of-country restrictions with basic Medicare parts A and B. 
 

I wish your mother a fun and worry-free visit to Bermuda!   

[esm54687]

10 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

I hope I didn’t come across like your mother doesn’t know what she is talking about. That wasn’t my intent at all.  As another poster said, the key may be a supplemental or Advantage plan.  Good for her for doing the research!  
 

Everyone should be clear about what coverage they have.  With a lot of cruisers on Medicare, it’s important to know the out-of-country restrictions with basic Medicare parts A and B. 
 

I wish your mother a fun and worry-free visit to Bermuda!   

Not at all..... in fact I started getting more curious and called her.  She has: 2020 Medex Bronze with BC/BS

 

Hopefully that helps. 

Edited February 18, 2020 by esm54687

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, esm54687 said:

and don't discount looking at Medicare coverage if you qualify........ I never would've thought about it because it's international travel but my mother swears she is covered for her Bermuda trip in May. 

 

My Medicare Advantage plan covers me outside the country. I don't think that original Medicare does, but many of the supplements do.

Edited February 18, 2020 by zqvol

[ready2cruzagain]

41 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

Not at all..... in fact I started getting more curious and called her.  She has: 2020 Medex Bronze with BC/BS

 

Hopefully that helps. 

 

Okay, that makes sense!  Her supplemental Medicare coverage covers her, not Medicare.  That is the way with our supplemental.

[hoopslover]

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Your mother could have an unpleasant and expensive surprise if she falls ill in Bermuda. Original Medicare does not provide coverage in foreign countries. Some Medicare supplements do have a limited amount of coverage. Some Medicare Advantage policies provide some coverage outside the U S.

When my husband turned 65 our insurance agent for supplemental Medicare and prescription drug told us that Medicare would not cover us for international travel.  She sold us a GeoBlue policy which is a yearly policy costing $235 for both of us.  It had a different name back then but we have kept in in force every year since there. Hopefullly we will never need it.

[julig22]

Medicare itself does not pay for out of the country.  But if you have supplemental insurance, you may or may not be covered, depending on the policy. 

 

Some supplemental plans (those paying the 20% medicare doesn't cover) may have some coverage and, for example, may pay in the neighborhood of 80%, up to a LIFETIME maximum (most likely $50,000).  In this case, the person is still using Medicare, so any out-of-country coverage would be covered by any supplemental policies the person has, depending on the terms of the policy.  Travel within US should be covered as normal.

 

If you have an advantage plan, you are no longer covered by Medicare directly but instead are covered by your plan of choice.  So coverage depends on the terms of the policy, which is usually a HMO model.  Coverage for travel outside your service area (both domestic and international) varies by policy.  I changed my policy last year specifically to get no-limit out-of-network coverage for travel purposes.

 

So yes, you may have travel coverage if you are "on Medicare" - but you have to refer to whatever policy you have. 

 

Also, if you have a travel credit card, there may be some coverage (ambulance, evac but probably not medical) - in addition to travel delays, lost luggage and so forth.

[njhorseman]

11 hours ago, esm54687 said:

Not at all..... in fact I started getting more curious and called her.  She has: 2020 Medex Bronze with BC/BS

 

Hopefully that helps. 

 

10 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

Okay, that makes sense!  Her supplemental Medicare coverage covers her, not Medicare.  That is the way with our supplemental.

With that name, it's almost certainly a Medicare Advantage policy, not a Medicare supplement. Medicare supplements are standardized in all but a couple of states and have simple names like "Plan B" or "Plan F".

 

It's usually not possible to find out exactly what a plan covers from its name because plans with the same name or similar names can vary from state to state and even from zip code to zip code within a state.

 

 

[luvincruising]

  Medical coverage is an important part of travel insurance but not the only part.  Medical evacuation and non-medical evacuation are expensive and may not be covered in full [or at all] by your regular insurance.  As mentioned before, your credit card may have some travel coverage [lost luggage, travel delays, etc.] which can help but it will have coverage limitations.

 

  IMHO, I would review the available policies on insuremytrip and squaremouth [more user friendly] and find one that fits your needs.  If you have questions, call cust.serv and speak to an agent.  I hope you have a great trip.

 

[azdrydock]

If GeoBlue is your secondary and you have medicare you are required to file directly with Medicare or with your carrier first. I have also heard that some flavors of Medicare may pick up a very limited amount such as medications; not significant in a true emergency. You should also check your credit card benefits. A lot of banks recently cut back on  "travel" but maintained the medical. Some of the premium cards still have very good travel benefits. They usually do not cover "cancel for any reason"  but read your ship policy carefully and you may find that if you cancel for a non medical reason you will be be given a credit for all or part of the cost of the cruise toward a future cruise in a limited time. You also paid for a policy that is not recoverable and you may need a new policy for the future cruise. Not all policy's are created equal so make sure you, not your travel agent, understands it

We use GeoBlue and a credit card.