GeoBlue question

[Ashland]

Will my annual GeoBlue Trekker policy cover me onboard a cruise ship for a medical issue that may arise?

[klfrodo]

What do you mean by "cover me"?

Are you asking will they reimburse you after you file a claim? Or are you asking if cruise ships have an agreement with GeoBlue for direct pay?

Edited February 20 by klfrodo

[Ashland]

Sorry. After I file a claim.

Thank you for trying to answer my lack of details question.

[klfrodo]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Sorry. After I file a claim.

Thank you for trying to answer my lack of details question.

As with most travel insurance, the answer is Maybe.

Travel insurance, to include GeoBlue, is an indemnity type of insurance. In exchange for you paying a premium to them, they promise to make you whole for covered events.

 

So, you go on the ship, you have a medical event, they treat your medical event, and you pay for those services either cash or credit. Then, you gather all the notes/receipts, submit a claim for the amount it cost you out of pocket, then they review/investigate and if they determine the event was a covered event, they reimburse you.

 

One of the nice things about GeoBlue is that they claim to have a worldwide network of hospitals where they will direct pay, so no out of pocket expenses. The problem with this is that in a case of emergency, there is no way for you the patient to decide which hospital is going to treat you for this possible life saving event if you even know which hospital may be part of the network in the region of the world you are in.

 

Some policies, and I can't answer for GeoBlue, will offer some type of guarantee of payment or provide payment upfront, but this is at the discretion of the insurance provider and even at the discretion of the hospital as to if they will accept this upfront payment from a 3rd party provider.

Edited February 20 by klfrodo

[klfrodo]

Forgot to add. GeoBlue Trekker is a "Secondary" plan. This means that they pay second. When filing the claim, you MUST file with your primary medical insurance company first. Then after they reimburse you or even if they deny any of the claim, then you file with GeoBlue and include any records of reimbursement or the denial letter along with your receipts/documentation.

For example:

You have a $3000 medical claim.

You file with your Aetna plan. They reimburse you $1000. You then file with GeoBlue for the remaining $2000.

Or, you have Medicare. You know that Medicare will not reimburse you for medical care outside the US. When I did this, when I submitted my claim, I asked them to expedite the denial and return immediately. When I did finally file the claim with my travel insurance provider, I included the denial letter.

[Ashland]

Yes...we have a Medicare plan with Aetna and the GeoBlue Trekker Choice.

I know my Aetna plan won't pay out of US. Just trying to understand how this works. I used to purchase a 3rd party policy but at our age it's getting very expensive. Your thought if I should start considering a cruiseline policy in addition to my GB?

 

Thank you so much for your help.

[klfrodo]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Your thought if I should start considering a cruiseline policy in addition to my GB?

 

I would have to ask why. What coverage are you currently missing that you are concerned about that a cruise line policy can alleviate?

 

Any insurance is a risk management tool in my opinion. What can I assume full risk on? And what do I need to share risk on that could potentially cause me financial hardship or worse, bankruptcy. Cruise line policies are also secondary. They max out at about $20K on medical. The only advantage they have that I'm aware of is they include CFAR and the pricing is not based on age.

 

Myself. My wife and I are retired. Both on Medicare. Most of our travels are 10 to 14 days. We can absorb the cost of losing a cruise. (If we were to take a world cruise on Cunard, I'd readjust my strategy). I cannot absorb a major medical event. I use a high limit card from Chase Sapphire Reserve that has some level of cancellation, baggage loss, etc. I buy an individual trip policy from Steve at TripInsuranceStore to share risk for the that portion of my trip that includes primary medical and a limited amount of Trip Deay and Trip Interruption.

 

Steve is the expert I count on. You might want to consider giving him a call.

[Ashland]

24 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I would have to ask why. What coverage are you currently missing that you are concerned about that a cruise line policy can alleviate?

 

Any insurance is a risk management tool in my opinion. What can I assume full risk on? And what do I need to share risk on that could potentially cause me financial hardship or worse, bankruptcy. Cruise line policies are also secondary. They max out at about $20K on medical. The only advantage they have that I'm aware of is they include CFAR and the pricing is not based on age.

 

Myself. My wife and I are retired. Both on Medicare. Most of our travels are 10 to 14 days. We can absorb the cost of losing a cruise. (If we were to take a world cruise on Cunard, I'd readjust my strategy). I cannot absorb a major medical event. I use a high limit card from Chase Sapphire Reserve that has some level of cancellation, baggage loss, etc. I buy an individual trip policy from Steve at TripInsuranceStore to share risk for the that portion of my trip that includes primary medical and a limited amount of Trip Deay and Trip Interruption.

 

Steve is the expert I count on. You might want to consider giving him a call.

Yes...Thanks, I believe you've answered my question. Appreciate the time you've taken.