Medical Insurance Only

[troutcatcher]

My in-laws Christmas gift to us was a cruise to Bermuda. Since we didn't purchase the cruise, cruise interruption insurance doesn't make sense but we would like to purchase medical insurance.

 

Any suggestions out there? The website for Insuremytrip.com directed me to policies that included trip interruption. My guess is that there are many other such sites that enable comparison shopping.

 

 

[cruiseco]

My in-laws Christmas gift to us was a cruise to Bermuda. Since we didn't purchase the cruise, cruise interruption insurance doesn't make sense but we would like to purchase medical insurance.

 

Any suggestions out there? The website for Insuremytrip.com directed me to policies that included trip interruption. My guess is that there are many other such sites that enable comparison shopping.

 

 

 

Don't discount an included trip interruption benefit. Say you are injured in Bermuda seriously enough to return home but not serious enough to require an emergency evacuation. The trip interruption benefit would pick up the cost of the airfare home. Same if you get a phone call saying your mother-in-law went into the hospital and you need to return right away. A last-minute, one-way ticket can be very expensive.

[sirwired]

I believe TravelGuard sells medical-only policies. You can also purchase a comprehensive policy with a "Trip Cost" of $1 if you like. This will cause you to essentially not be charged for the Cancellation/Interruption benefits that are based on trip cost. But you get the advantage of still receiving benefits like lost/delayed luggage, trip delay, etc. vs. a Medical-only policy.

 

Don't get a $0 Trip Cost policy. Why? Because with some providers it changes the effective date of the policy to the day of your departure instead of the day you bought the policy. This, in turn, changes the pre-ex lookback date, which can effect your medical coverage.

 

However, you may want to consider insuring the whole amount. (If the in-laws will provide you with the invoice...) Because if you don't insure it, it sure would be a real bummer to not get any funds to replace the vacation if you cancel for a covered reason... The fact that you, personally, did not pay for the vacation is not an obstacle to insuring it. (If you want a pre-ex waiver on your policy, CSA has policies that will work.)

 

SirWired

[HNLGAL]

I believe TravelGuard sells medical-only policies. You can also purchase a comprehensive policy with a "Trip Cost" of $1 if you like. This will cause you to essentially not be charged for the Cancellation/Interruption benefits that are based on trip cost. But you get the advantage of still receiving benefits like lost/delayed luggage, trip delay, etc. vs. a Medical-only policy.

 

Don't get a $0 Trip Cost policy. Why? Because with some providers it changes the effective date of the policy to the day of your departure instead of the day you bought the policy. This, in turn, changes the pre-ex lookback date, which can effect your medical coverage.

 

However, you may want to consider insuring the whole amount. (If the in-laws will provide you with the invoice...) Because if you don't insure it, it sure would be a real bummer to not get any funds to replace the vacation if you cancel for a covered reason... The fact that you, personally, did not pay for the vacation is not an obstacle to insuring it. (If you want a pre-ex waiver on your policy, CSA has policies that will work.)

 

SirWired

 

Sorry SW, I have read and reread that paragraph about the $0 Trip Cost vs $1 Trip Cost and I am sorry but I don't understand it. Is there anywhere you can direct me to where it has it spelled out for a 5th grader (I never win on that Are you smarter than a 5th grader show)?

Thank you

[cherylandtk]

Insuring a low, low trip cost means you only get the medical part of the policy and only while on the trip; and if you cancel (before) or interrupt (during) your trip, you are only covered for the low, low amount ($1 or $0) of trip expenses.

 

If you insure for $0 trip cost, your policy does not start until the start date of your trip. If you insure for $1 trip cost, your policy starts the day after you buy it. That $1 is a safety net that includes any new medical issue that occurs between now and the start of your cruise.

 

Was that simple enough? If not, LMK and I will try again.

[sirwired]

Sorry I missed this earlier...

 

Most policies exclude pre-existing conditions from medical coverage. A pre-existing condition is one that required treatment (or, in the case of a chronic condition, one that exhibited new symptoms or required a change in treatment regimen) during some period prior to the effective date of the policy. (This is usually 60 days.)

 

If you insure the trip for $1 or more, the effective date of the policy is the day after you pay for the policy. To figure out your excluded conditions, you simply look backwards from the policy purchase date to determine the pre-ex lookback period.

 

If you insure the trip for $0, the effective date of the policy often is changed to the departure date (instead of the insurance purchase date). This changes the "look-back" period to the future! This means that if you purchase the insurance now, months before your trip, yet develop a pre-existing condition say, two weeks before departure, you'll lose medical coverage on a condition that hasn't happened yet, and you couldn't have possibly predicted.

 

Why is this the case? The insurance company quite rightly figures that if the trip isn't worth anything, and you develop a pre-exisiting condition before departure, you can just cancel.

 

SirWired

[galipemi]

Make sure you read and clearly understand your policy. Call the insurer and ask questions.

 

For example, the policy I take includes both a medical and non-medical component. Even though it is one policy, it contains 2 pre-ex condition exclusions. For Medical: any condition which was not stable in the 90 days prior to your departure is not covered. For Non-Medical (trip interruption/delay) they do not cover if your claim is related to a medical condition which was not stable in the 90 days prior to purchasing the policy.

 

Watch out for what your sum insured does as well. Some policies will limit your trip interruption benefits after departure. On some of my policy options, a person can choose a maximum of $500, $800, $1500 or unlimited after departure.

 

Trip insurance is a lot to take in and no two policies are identical. Even though you didn't pay for the trip, a cancellation policy may make sense. If you have to cancel, at least your in-laws aren't losing their money and can book you another trip using those funds. If it's not insured and you wind up having to cancel, then your in-laws just wasted money on a trip to nowhere for you

[HNLGAL]

Make sure you read and clearly understand your policy. Call the insurer and ask questions.

 

For example, the policy I take includes both a medical and non-medical component. Even though it is one policy, it contains 2 pre-ex condition exclusions. For Medical: any condition which was not stable in the 90 days prior to your departure is not covered. For Non-Medical (trip interruption/delay) they do not cover if your claim is related to a medical condition which was not stable in the 90 days prior to purchasing the policy.

 

Watch out for what your sum insured does as well. Some policies will limit your trip interruption benefits after departure. On some of my policy options, a person can choose a maximum of $500, $800, $1500 or unlimited after departure.

 

Trip insurance is a lot to take in and no two policies are identical. Even though you didn't pay for the trip, a cancellation policy may make sense. If you have to cancel, at least your in-laws aren't losing their money and can book you another trip using those funds. If it's not insured and you wind up having to cancel, then your in-laws just wasted money on a trip to nowhere for you

 

Galipemi,

Are you able to email me the name of the company you use for the above policy (combination) please? And if so, can you also tell me what maximum dollar amount you choose for the maximum after departure?

I want to get insurance both for medical (including a pre-existing (high blood pressure) condition) and trip interruption/delay/cancellation. My email address is honolulugal@telus.net.

Thank you!

[HNLGAL]

Sorry I missed this earlier...

 

Most policies exclude pre-existing conditions from medical coverage. A pre-existing condition is one that required treatment (or, in the case of a chronic condition, one that exhibited new symptoms or required a change in treatment regimen) during some period prior to the effective date of the policy. (This is usually 60 days.)

 

If you insure the trip for $1 or more, the effective date of the policy is the day after you pay for the policy. To figure out your excluded conditions, you simply look backwards from the policy purchase date to determine the pre-ex lookback period.

 

If you insure the trip for $0, the effective date of the policy often is changed to the departure date (instead of the insurance purchase date). This changes the "look-back" period to the future! This means that if you purchase the insurance now, months before your trip, yet develop a pre-existing condition say, two weeks before departure, you'll lose medical coverage on a condition that hasn't happened yet, and you couldn't have possibly predicted.

 

Why is this the case? The insurance company quite rightly figures that if the trip isn't worth anything, and you develop a pre-exisiting condition before departure, you can just cancel.

 

SirWired

 

Hi there and thanks for getting back to me. I tried to buy insurance through my TA when I put my trip deposit down saying I had read somewhere that one had to. She said no, not necessary til I pay for the whole trip at the end of this month (June) for our trip in Sept. Now I have read even more about the purchase requirements re pre-existing conditions, called her and told her what I had found ON HER COMPANY'S WEBSITE about Pre-Existing Condition I was told they would cover me as I was misinformed. When I asked for that in writing I got this response:

 

A pre-existing medical condition that has been controlled by your doctor in the last 60 days preceding the purchase of your cruise coverage, would generally be covered if it later caused a claim.

 

I immediately emailed them back asking:

 

Who determines which conditions are the generally covered and which isn’t please?

 

but have yet to hear back from them. Do you think this is acceptable? This is why I asked Michelle who she uses. I am very annoyed with my TA because of this. You know Murhpy's Law.... as they are stressing generally I felt that left them too much wriggle room, something thanks to Murphy I feel should be clearly defined.

It appears that you are familiar with insurance policies (perhaps you used to be/are in insurance??? ) ergo I would appreciate your professional opinion ASAP as I must decide today.

Thank you so much!

Catherine

[cruiseco]

Hi there and thanks for getting back to me. I tried to buy insurance through my TA when I put my trip deposit down saying I had read somewhere that one had to. She said no, not necessary til I pay for the whole trip at the end of this month (June) for our trip in Sept. Now I have read even more about the purchase requirements re pre-existing conditions, called her and told her what I had found ON HER COMPANY'S WEBSITE about Pre-Existing Condition I was told they would cover me as I was misinformed. When I asked for that in writing I got this response:

 

A pre-existing medical condition that has been controlled by your doctor in the last 60 days preceding the purchase of your cruise coverage, would generally be covered if it later caused a claim.

 

I immediately emailed them back asking:

 

Who determines which conditions are the generally covered and which isn’t please?

 

but have yet to hear back from them. Do you think this is acceptable? This is why I asked Michelle who she uses. I am very annoyed with my TA because of this. You know Murhpy's Law.... as they are stressing generally I felt that left them too much wriggle room, something thanks to Murphy I feel should be clearly defined.

It appears that you are familiar with insurance policies (perhaps you used to be/are in insurance??? ) ergo I would appreciate your professional opinion ASAP as I must decide today.

Thank you so much!

Catherine

 

No one will ever, ever put in writing that any specific situation definitely will be covered. There are just too many gray areas, exceptions, exclusions, exceptions to the exclusions, and exclusions to the exceptions.

 

"Generally" is probably the best you can hope for.

[HNLGAL]

No one will ever, ever put in writing that any specific situation definitely will be covered. There are just too many gray areas, exceptions, exclusions, exceptions to the exclusions, and exclusions to the exceptions.

 

"Generally" is probably the best you can hope for.

 

Boy, that worries me... it is such a broad spectrum and they have so much leeway. Thanks for your opinion though. I will just wait a bit for SirWired as I emailed him too.

Thx again.

Catherine

[galipemi]

Hi Catherine,

 

I would definitely suggest requesting a copy of the actual policy to verify the exact wording. Possibly also reviewing with your doctor.

 

For the company I work for, in order to be considered stable, there's an actual definition of the word in the policy. It basically breaks down to:

NO new symptom or worse symptoms

NO new medication or dosage (other than certain meds such as insulin & coumadin as they must change routinely to be effective)

NO new test results or pending investigations, treatment or procedures (ie: if you have a stress test planned for the month after you get back, that was booked before leaving, your heart will most likely not be covered)

 

I would suggesting calling any insurer you are considering, get your hands on the actual policy and review the wording. Check to see if there is a definition of stable and ask your doctor if you qualify. If your high blood pressure is controlled and your medication hasn't changed in the last year or so, you'll probably be fine but no one, even your insurer will be able to confirm coverage 100% unless they see your medical history.

[sirwired]

What is and is not covered will be in the policy text. Simply ask the TA to give you a copy of the full policy. Since you are in Canada, the pre-ex policies will almost certainly be different from a "standard" policy here in the US. The ones here in the States anyway are written in fairly plain English, so it should be pretty clear what is going on.

 

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.

 

SirWired