Medical Evacuation - Experiences

[rdillon2]

Hello, my mother and I are cruising 10/9 from Baltimore to Bermuda. She has COPD and requires O2 which we will be taking with us. She has been having more hospitalizations recently but her doctor has okayed her to go - but she is a little worried about what might happen if she gets into trouble on the ship.

 

We have been on several cruises and on one a passenger was air lifted off due to a medical problem, on a different cruise we were returning to port and a passager was having a problem so they increased our speed so we would get back sooner so they could get medical attention.

 

I was wondering if anyone has experianced this and if so, what was the procedure. She's at the stage where she knows she doesn't have much time so she wants to go out and do as much as she can but if something happens she is afraid of being taken off the ship and being alone in a strange place.

 

Anything you can tell me to ease her mind would be apprciated.

 

Thanks

[Queenie2]

I have no personal experience with this, but have had input from a lot of readers. I'm not real sure what you are asking, but I will say that medical evac is very expensive (50-100k) and that if you think this may be a possibility then you should carry special insurance for it. There are special companies that do this -- it's not just a matter of changing an airline reservation. Of course you have to be careful with most standard insurance products to make sure they do not exclude pre-exisiting conditions. The bottom line is, if the ship's medical officer feels you health is in danger, he is the one who decides if you go home. Of course by that time you may very well want to go home because you need medical care. So if you don't have it now, look into getting med evac insurance. Actually it's a good idea for everyone to have this coverage, as you never know when you can have an accident. My hubby and I have the coverage and it's like $150/year for both of us.

 

Candy

[CaptData]

Here are my questions... Did you buy insurance as soon as you booked? How old is mom? You may not be able to get insurance if she is very old unless it is very expensive.

 

 

Now the good news most health insurance companies will allow next of (one) kin to go with them if the doctor recomends it. This is to aid in recovery and to give medical permission for what to do.

 

Ensure before you go that you have the right to make medical and financial decisions for your mom. This will also help the ship's doctor if she/he must make a life and death decision.

 

She should carry these papers with her now and on the cruise. The living will is respected by most places now. Good luck

 

I hope you can go and enjoy this possibly last trip with mom.

[DEL67]

My husband had a heart attack aboard the Celebrity Infinity several years ago. We were in port in Colon, Panama at the time so I can not give you information about being airlifted off, but I can tell you that Celebrity made all the arrangements for the ambulance and the hospital. In addition, their shore agent found me a room at a nearby hotel, translated for us, took us to a TA to make arrangemnts for a flight home, etc, etc, etc. Of course, we had to pay for everything, but my husband's insurance reimpbursed us for the ambulance and hospitalization.

 

Candy is right. It is very important to take out travel insurance. Luckily my husband could be treated in Panama because I later found out that it would have cost us at least $80,000 to get him medivaced back to Miami. I had not bought travel insurance since I thought that it did not cover pre-existing conditions and my husband had multiple health issues due to MS (note: most plans do if you purchase the plan within 2 weeks of your booking.) Ironically, it was not a pre-existing condition. Any sign of heart disease had been masked by MS symptoms prior to my husband's attack.

[rdillon2]

We did buy insurance at the same time we purchased the cruise, so it's supposed to cover pre-existing conditions. We learned that lesson, we were two weeks from an Alaskan cruise when she was first diagnosed and everything was reimbursed.

 

I am going to go back and double check all the insurance and make sure we take all her other paperwork with us. It's all on file at the hospital but I think that's a great suggestion to take it with us.

 

Thanks again

[Queenie2]

I talked to these folks last week at a conference. Supposidly they are marketing to PWDs and they have no pre-exisiting condition exclusion. It's a membership thing -- you buy coverage for the whole year. It's not medical insurance, but air evac. You might want to check them out. I don't know of anybody who has tried them.

http://www.airambulancecard.com/

 

We have med-evac and supplemental health coverage through our Amex Gold Card. As I said, for my hubby and myself, it is $150 per year, with no pre-exisiting exclusion. The med-evac coverage is excellent and the health insurance pays after our primary plan pays (so there is no copayment). I know several people who have had to use this service and it all worked like clockwork.

 

Shop around -- maybe your insurance agent can direct you. But don't go without med-evac insurance.

 

Candy

[SHINEMAN]

$150 each is a great deal if you are sure it is comprehensive and covers all travel for a year.

[Queenie2]

No, that is $150 for the two of us (total).

It's good coverage -- med evac plus secondary coverage on hospital/med. And I expect if you don't have primary coverage, then it would be primary.

 

Candy