Wondering about onboard medical services

We recently had an experience onboard a ship that has left me wondering about the variation in adequacy of the medical services onboard a ship. I know that some cruise lines have contracts with top quality medical centers located on land that they can send data to and consult with if need arises. Some ships have some minimal xray equipment onboard and some do not,

Does anyone know how I might obtain this info? We like to take longer cruises to remote locales but I no longer feel quite as confident as previously.

I would appreciate any help or direction I can get. Thanks I advance for any help.

I would think you can call guest relations or ship services and find out some of this information.

I can tell you from personal experience on two different occasions on two different HAL ships I had impeccable medical service.

One of those times I was badly injured and had to be flown home for surgery. The other was my DH with a bad ear infection.

Both cases were treated very professionally.

http://book.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/media/factsheets/OnboardMedicalServices_FactSheet.pdf

Everyone should take out travel insurance. In the event that you need an air ambulance to get home this can cost thousands of dollars.

You may or may not get correct answers from Ship Services as they are not always up to date on exactly what each ship has.

I have had to use the infirmary twice and had excellent service. Even had to have them x-ray my leg the one time after a bad fall.

Supposedly the Dr and nurses have ER experiences and cater to senior citizen problems. I have seen cardiac patient taken off the ships with cardiac monitors from the shipped going with them. This happened in Greece and the ambulance that came to pick up the ships patient had no equipment at all A nurse plus the monitor went with the patient and we picked the nurse and monitor up the next port. Another nurse and another monitor stayed on the ship with the dr. HAL is equipped to treat senior falls, faints, stomach problems, etc. but also knows when someone must head to a hospital.

check on your travel insurance. I found out after a problem that the ship's doctor could have called the insurance company who had consulting doctors available. This may have avoided a wrong diagnosis. However they did make the necessary arrangements for us to return home the next day.

http://book.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/media/factsheets/OnboardMedicalServices_FactSheet.pdf

 

Everyone should take out travel insurance. In the event that you need an air ambulance to get home this can cost thousands of dollars.

This is somewhat of a generalization. While we agree that every traveler should have some type of coverage for medical evacuation, this does not necessarily mean you need to buy "travel insurance" One should review their own medical insurance coverage (which might actually include med evacuation) and make an informed decision as to what (if any) extra insurance meets their needs. For example, DW and I travel internationally about 6 months a year. "Travel Insurance" is not a great option for us because we think it is usually an overpriced product. On the other hand, having spend over 30 years in the Medical Insurance industry, we do see a personal need for good international "Medical Insurance." Our travel med policy (which is not a trip cancellation policy) covers all of our trips for an entire year and provides $250,000 of medical insurance and $500,000 of medical evacuation (this is overkill). This policy costs $349 a year which is the total cost for DW and myself....and this covers every trip we take over an entire year.

When it comes to trip cancellation (and the related costs) we simply choose to self-insure that risk. Over the years we have saved over $100,000 by NOT purchasing cancellation insurance, so if we do have to cancel a trip we will still be way ahead of the game.

But now I get to the real point of this post. As a general rule, the travel policies sold by the cruise lines (including HAL) provide woefully inadequate medical insurance. Those policies focus on helping with trip cancellation costs (which are a known and limited liability) without providing high enough limits on medical costs where a person's liability is virtually unlimited. IMHO any policy that does not include at least $100,000 in medical coverage is just not a good product. HAL's Platinum Trip Insurance program only provides $10,000 of medical coverage which, in many cases, will not even cover a single day in a hospital! Many HAL cruisers are on Medicare and lack any other medical insurance. Selling them a $10,000 medical policy would be considered woefully inadequate by any measure.

Hank

Why post this on several boards? Isn't one detailed reply sufficient?

Our neighbor who owns a home in Aruba became seriously ill while on the island last month. After several days of hospitalization he was put on a medevac aircraft and flown home to Illinois. Cost: $75,000.00

I don't think HAL ships have onboard dental services. You'll be OK if your dental need is generally in the "medical" realm. If you lose a crown, broken tooth, etc, while on board ship you'll probably have to deal with it until you reach a port. Because of this, I've always made a visit to my dentist before we cruised so he could give my mouth a onceover to see if there are any emerging problems before we departed.

Our travel med policy (which is not a trip cancellation policy) covers all of our trips for an entire year and provides $250,000 of medical insurance and $500,000 of medical evacuation (this is overkill). This policy costs $349 a year which is the total cost for DW and myself....and this covers every trip we take over an entire year.

 

Hank

We would love to have this insurance with such high limits for such a low premium. Can you tell us the name of the insurer or at least the insurance agency where we could inquire. We have always bought the cruise lines best (platinum) policy because we never found another policy that would cover us for less.

they took me to clinic and ran a battery of tests and determined that I was just dehydrated but the bill was $500+. Medicare wouldn't cover it even though we were still docked in FLL. My travel insurance reimbursed me but it took several months since we needed rejections from Medicare and supplimental carrier before they would pay.

We would love to have this insurance with such high limits for such a low premium. Can you tell us the name of the insurer or at least the insurance agency where we could inquire. We have always bought the cruise lines best (platinum) policy because we never found another policy that would cover us for less.

I second this request. Does not appear it would be a violation of C.C. rules as it's not a travel agency.

We would love to have this insurance with such high limits for such a low premium. Can you tell us the name of the insurer or at least the insurance agency where we could inquire. We have always bought the cruise lines best (platinum) policy because we never found another policy that would cover us for less.

We used TravelGuard's med-evac insurance last November. VERY reasonable and covered costs 100%. Others use Med-Jet, which is also reasonable but a little more expensive than Travel Guard's policy.

Thanks for all the helpful info. We are most appreciative of the time people took to answer my question. It will help us decide what cruise lines are acceptable to us.

I posted the question on several boards because I wanted to know the specific information for the cruise lines we travel on. Not all cruise lines offer the same services and equipment. Not all cruise lines have the same quality of medical professionals.

We would love to have this insurance with such high limits for such a low premium. Can you tell us the name of the insurer or at least the insurance agency where we could inquire. We have always bought the cruise lines best (platinum) policy because we never found another policy that would cover us for less.

I want to be very careful to keep you (and others) fully informed so please read carefully. My prior post was referring ONLY to travel medical insurance and DOES NOT include any kind of trip cancellation coverage. That begin said, there are several companies that issue single trip and annual travel med policies with pretty high limits. AMEX has an annual policy available to its card holders, although we had problems with their previous 60 day limit per trip policy.

Our current policy was obtained through HTH Insurance, but HTH recently turned their underwriting over to GeoBlue (part of the Blue Shield family). So I am giving you the line to GeoBlue's direct web site:

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/products/multi-trip/trekker-5-overview.cfm

And I will issue a general heads-up/caution to all of our fellow cruisers/travelers. As painful as it may be, do yourself a favor and take the time to read all the fine print of any trip cancellation or travel med policy. Not all policies are the same, and the difference is often in the fine print. If anything sounds strange or not understandable, pick up the phone and call the insurance company (they always have a toll free number) and ask for an explanation. But also keep in mind they are bound only by the written policy and if they give you incorrect info on the phone and do not confirm it in writing it can be near worthless.

Hank

they took me to clinic and ran a battery of tests and determined that I was just dehydrated but the bill was $500+. Medicare wouldn't cover it even though we were still docked in FLL. My travel insurance reimbursed me but it took several months since we needed rejections from Medicare and supplimental carrier before they would pay.

Thanks for posting. Interesting to note.

All of HAL's on board MD's are board certified in Emergency Medicine. So they are the same docs you would see if you went to the emergency room at home.

My mother dislocated her hip on board an Alaska cruise several years ago and she was treated faster and better than she had been at home in her local ER for the same problem a few months earlier (for half the cost I might add!!). We jokingly said she saved enough in medical costs to pay for the cruise. They are well equipped for many levels of care until transport can be arranged for more serious issues.

Why post this on several boards? Isn't one detailed reply sufficient?

Thing is ... the OP is asking about various cruise lines. Just seems to be trying to find which would be best in case medical services were needed so needed to post on several boards.

LuLu

~~~

Thanks OCruiser for explaining my motivation for the multiple requests. The answers will figure into whether we continue to cruise with the cruise line that caused the questioning to occur or will choose one we used to cruise with.

they took me to clinic and ran a battery of tests and determined that I was just dehydrated but the bill was $500+. Medicare wouldn't cover it even though we were still docked in FLL. My travel insurance reimbursed me but it took several months since we needed rejections from Medicare and supplimental carrier before they would pay.

As one who worked in the industry for over thirty years we find your post very interesting. We would be interested in knowing why Medicare would reject your claim? There is certainly no shortage of providers in Ft Lauderdale who accept Medicare. Would be nice to know in case we are even in the same "boat."

Hank

As one who worked in the industry for over thirty years we find your post very interesting. We would be interested in knowing why Medicare would reject your claim? There is certainly no shortage of providers in Ft Lauderdale who accept Medicare. Would be nice to know in case we are even in the same "boat."

 

Hank

I believe Medicare rejects the claims because even though the ship is docked in FLL, the ship itself is considered not US. And we all know Medicare will not pay out of the US.

We had a similar situation when we were docked in San Francisco. The Medical Center offered us the opportunity to get treatment off the ship at a San Francisco facility, but we had no desire to wait in an emergency room when we could receive service immediately in the Med Center aboard ship. We were eventually reimbursed by our travel insurance plan.

I believe Medicare rejects the claims because even though the ship is docked in FLL, the ship itself is considered not US. And we all know Medicare will not pay out of the US.

 

We had a similar situation when we were docked in San Francisco. The Medical Center offered us the opportunity to get treatment off the ship at a San Francisco facility, but we had no desire to wait in an emergency room when we could receive service immediately in the Med Center aboard ship. We were eventually reimbursed by our travel insurance plan.

ahhh, au contraire mon ami. Medicare actually will cover medical claims that occur while the ship is in the USA or within 6 hours away from a US Port whether or not the services are an emergency. In fact, a lot of cruisers have probably never filed claims because they were not aware of the long-standing 6 hour rule. It will even cover medically necessary services delivered on the ship if it meets those parameters. And if the services are delivered on the ship Medicare does prefer that the physician submit the claim. But if the physician/ship refuses to file the claim then Medicare will accept a documented claim from the recipient.

It can even more interesting if the claims processor (who works for a fiscal intermediary) is not aware of the rule (and this can happen). One might have to appeal and remind Medicare of their own rules :)

Hank

It is my understanding that doctors on board HAL ships to treat passengers are licensed either in U.S. or Canada. There is also a crew doctor and certainly when necessary there is crossover between the doctors as to treating both crew and pax.

HAL has lead nurse/medical officer and depending upon size of ship other nurses.

We used TravelGuard's med-evac insurance last November. VERY reasonable and covered costs 100%. Others use Med-Jet, which is also reasonable but a little more expensive than Travel Guard's policy.

Our quote from TravelGuard for mec/evac was over $1400.00 which we do not consider reasonable.:eek:

We will look at Med-Jet.

Hlitner... thank you for the link and as someone who spent over 40 years in the field of liability insurance I second your caution to read every word of the policy.:p

It appears from a quick reading of the highlights of geoblue travel insurance we would not be eligible because we have a Medicare H.M.O. instead of a Group Health Insurance.