DDRIDER

I know everyone needs cruise insurance just in case one needs to be air lifted off the ship and brought to a hospital or back home.<BR><BR>But, if one does not have insurance, do just they let the person die?<BR><BR>I have insurance, but was just wondering what happens in an emergency to someone with no insurance and no large amounts of money.

Anna

My guess is they get airlifted, they get a really big bill, and they either pay it off over time or declare bankruptcy. If you can afford to cruise, you're stupid not to buy cruise insurance.

Real

Same thing that happens in real life every day, thousands of times a day, across the US. <BR><BR>A patient comes into ER in critical conditon, no insurance, they get taken care of and the hospital and MD eats the bill. Happens all the time.<BR><BR>If you are on a ship and you develop a life threatening situation that requires air lift and you don't have insurance, you're going to fly my man and face a large bill from the helicopter folks down the road. <BR><BR>That is assuming you survive the episode.

icu

Nothing is free. Somewhere the cost is absorbed, passed on, etc.<BR>Real is partialy correct--the bill is not "eaten" by Drs. and hospital, just passed on to those who have ins. and can pay.<BR>Then we all pay through higher premiums and so it goes around and around.

Paul Therault

Granted you will be airlifted but once you get to a foreign hospital and you have no means of payment you will be hard-pressed to find a foreign doctor who will work free-of-charge. You will probably be dead before you receive medical care.<BR><BR>You will have to work out a payment schedule with the med-vac company.<BR><BR>Ships will alter their intinerary to get to an area where a helicopter company with U.S. interests will fly.<BR><BR>Paul

xxxx

I am in the midst of this very exact situation right now, although we were not on a cruise.<BR>My stepfather had a cardiac arrest while in Canada. Medivac took him to the nearest hospital which in turn flew him to the closest big hospital.<BR>He had medicare and we were under the false assumption he was covered anywhere.<BR>The Canadian hospitals were wonderful and never pressed us for money but being in a vegetative state we were stuck in Canada indefinetly since medicare would cover nothing up there and definetly not fly him home to the states.<BR>The Canadian hospital helped us come up with some wild "weekend at Bernies" plan to get coverage. They would take him to the border by ambulance where we'd have to have a US ambulance meet us and then transfer him to a US hospital. But once in the US medicare would cover hospital costs but not the costs of transporting him home.<BR>Fortunately a family member came forward and put $18,000 on a credit card to have him flown back home by air ambulance. We are now in the process of selling things and setting up a trust fund for help to cover this outrageous bill. It's been a nightmare!<BR>The air ambulance would not fly him cross continent without payment up front!<BR>Don't be fooled about airlines and compassion! Since we could not fly on the air ambulance home with my stepfather we had to return to the US city where we flew into, the airlines charged us a change fee which I understood. I just didn't understand why they wouldn't fly us out of the closest canadian city and charge a fee considering. To fly family members up during the crisis the airlines had "compassion" and said they would give us a fare of $1000. Considering the terror of this emergency the airlines were cold.

Paul Therault

Again, it is imperative that one purchase insurance. Not to just say "I have insurance" but to make sure you have the proper insurance coverage and understand it. A travel agent will help you here and I do not care about the ones on this forum that say book over the web and you will have peace-of-mind. People do not realize that insurance covers the un-expected. They say "I'm healthy." Baloney.<BR><BR>A med-vac flight originating in a foreign countrty can cost between $25,000 and $30,000. About $18,000 from the Caribbean. Of course the company is not going to "trust" you for the money. It is too much for "compassion." <BR><BR>For the elderly, make sure you have a supplemental medicare policy that covers medical costs in foreign lands. If you are a frequent traveler money for insurance should be no object.<BR><BR>Cruise line insurance is not worth a hill of beans since many important coverages are not included.<BR><BR>For third party insurance coverage Access America and CSA are fine companies. I just took Travel Guard Insurance off the list since lately they are not paying for some listed coverages. One person had to fly home and they could not get a flight until the following day .... Travel Guard did not pay for the overnight hotel. Another instance is their phone number that one should call "collect" is blocked in the Caribbean. <BR><BR>For the youngsters it should be known that just about all HMO's do not cover ambulance services.<BR><BR>Once you are in a foreign country including the Caribbean it is difficult (especially at time of stress) to find family that will wire you money by floating a loan with a credit card company or putting up their house as collateral.<BR><BR>Going on vacation is not what it used to be many years ago. Planning is of the utmost importance for peace-of-mind.<BR><BR>Paul<BR><BR><BR>

xxxx

paul,<BR>I have learned my lesson. We are not in the business of mooching off family members to "float" us a line of credit. We were in a dire situation. I apologize we were not well prepared.<BR>I also never said i expected the air ambulance to show "compassion" to "trust" us to pay back, I simply said the passenger airlines could have charged us the $100 change fee and let us fly standby from the closest Canadian city (CONSIDERING the circumstances).

Paul Therault

I just used your word "compassion" to prove a point. The airlines could care less about their passengers or travel agents. They do exactly as they wish and no one can do anything about it. The government is behind them 100%.<BR><BR>Paul

remi

If the insurance is offered......take it.<BR>No further explanation needed. You are a fool if you don't!

Anna

No, don't buy the insurance offered by the cruise line. Go to www.insuremytrip.com and compare the features, coverage, and prices from several major insurance companies, and pick the one that works best for your situation.

Jean

Always check with your medical insurance company. I was ready to purchase all kinds of insurance when I found out that my insurance covers emergency evacuation and foriegn health care. It is my responsibility to have all bills translated into English. What it does not cover is if we have to return home or camcel because of an ill relative or a huricane.