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Old 06-03-2019, 05:42 AM
 
Location: Central NY
5,945 posts, read 5,085,874 times
Reputation: 16870

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I just read in my local news how a man and his wife went on a cruise only to have him have a heart attack while on the cruise. It's a long article and you can read it if you go to syracuse.com. He had to take an air ambulance to a hospital here in US (I think FL) which required a $36,000 retainer fee. Once all was said and done, his total bill was over $650,000. His medical insurance is refusing payment, as well as any other insurance he may have had for the trip.

Just a bit of food for thought before going on a nice cruise before (or during) retirement.
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Old 06-03-2019, 06:01 AM
 
19,394 posts, read 6,441,090 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYgal1542 View Post
I just read in my local news how a man and his wife went on a cruise only to have him have a heart attack while on the cruise. It's a long article and you can read it if you go to syracuse.com. He had to take an air ambulance to a hospital here in US (I think FL) which required a $36,000 retainer fee. Once all was said and done, his total bill was over $650,000. His medical insurance is refusing payment, as well as any other insurance he may have had for the trip.

Just a bit of food for thought before going on a nice cruise before (or during) retirement.
This is why I always buy special trip insurance when I go on a cruise that includes air evacuation and all medical expenses. Usually costs around $300 for a one-week cruise. You have to be very careful when buying medical trip insurance to make sure this things are included.
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Old 06-03-2019, 06:13 AM
 
Location: Central NY
5,945 posts, read 5,085,874 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachel976 View Post
This is why I always buy special trip insurance when I go on a cruise that includes air evacuation and all medical expenses. Usually costs around $300 for a one-week cruise. You have to be very careful when buying medical trip insurance to make sure this things are included.



He said that he was told the expenses were covered. When he tried to make the claim(s), he was denied.
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Old 06-03-2019, 06:44 AM
 
19,394 posts, read 6,441,090 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYgal1542 View Post
He said that he was told the expenses were covered. When he tried to make the claim(s), he was denied.
I hope he pursues it through legal channels, especially if the one who told him the expenses were covered was the insurance agent. Insurance companies are notorious for weasling out of claims.

That said, when I bought my insurance, I read over the contract. It's a difficult task for a layperson, but with all the money at stake, I did so. Of course, I never made a claim, so who knows what would have happened.
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Old 06-03-2019, 07:42 AM
 
37,451 posts, read 45,651,211 times
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The article is poorly written I think. It states "The air ambulance arrived April 16, four days after his heart attack."
The man did not even have a heart attack.

He definitely was pushing it to fly all the way home though. Not a smart move. Hopefully this will get resolved without him being billed for the 650K.
But certainly worth thinking about and preparing for. I have several more cruises in my future.
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Old 06-03-2019, 08:18 AM
 
2,568 posts, read 2,488,834 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYgal1542 View Post
He said that he was "told" the expenses were covered. When he tried to make the claim(s), he was denied.
Like always, GET IT IN WRITING! Even then be prepared to fight.
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Old 06-03-2019, 08:18 AM
 
Location: Redwood City, CA
15,242 posts, read 12,826,951 times
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Shapiro is a fool to try to stick his insurance company for a ride home on a Learjet. It was completely unnecessary, since he could have been treated in Fort Lauderdale, then continued home to Syracuse on a commercial flight.

(This info is buried in about the 30th paragraph of the article.)

He didn't get away with scamming the insurance company and now he's whining to the media.

Air evac insurance covers your transport to the nearest medical facility that can provide the necessary care. It does not mean that you're taken directly home on a business jet so you can see your own cardiologist and golfing buddy. Even an old Learjet is hugely expensive to operate.

This is a story about a guy who wanted to be part of the 1%, not about cruising.
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Old 06-03-2019, 08:22 AM
 
4,717 posts, read 3,237,151 times
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Does someone have a link? This concerns me because I DO buy trip insurance. For one thing I'm on Medicare, which doesn't cover outside of the US. My Medigap does but has a lifetime limit of $50K and that's medical expenses only, not evacuation, transport to a hospital, cost of changing travel plans, etc. I read one sad story in which a man died suddenly in a country in Central America; his wife was told that cremation was illegal and she had to pay to transport the body home (horribly expensive) or bury him there. She ended up burying him in a country she was unlikely to visit again.

I look at my coverage pretty carefully but would like to know what happened on that claim.
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Old 06-03-2019, 08:41 AM
 
Location: Central NY
5,945 posts, read 5,085,874 times
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athena53: I'm not sure what link you are looking for. But you can read the entire article if you go to syracuse.com.
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Old 06-03-2019, 09:21 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,845 posts, read 30,914,378 times
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At some point, people are going to risk NOT having the insurance if it's $300 or something. The odds of something happening in any one week if you're reasonably healthy are pretty small.
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