Travel health insurance/medical evacuation insurance

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THarpsCommodore

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2016
Messages
10
Location
USA
Vessel Name
ECHO
Vessel Make
Transtar 50' Trawler
My husband and I are currently in St Thomas but plan to cruise further south to Grenada... we both have health insurance but I was wanting to purchase an additional plan what covers medical evacuation and emergencies, so that the plans overlap. I am having a hard time finding insurance to cover a time period rather than a specific "trip". I have witnessed first hand the difficultly in getting even insured people off island and I don't want any issues should there be an emergency. Any suggestions?
 
THarpsCommodore said:
My husband and I are currently in St Thomas but plan to cruise further south to Grenada... we both have health insurance but I was wanting to purchase an additional plan what covers medical evacuation and emergencies, so that the plans overlap. I am having a hard time finding insurance to cover a time period rather than a specific "trip". I have witnessed first hand the difficultly in getting even insured people off island and I don't want any issues should there be an emergency. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Google "Yacht Medical Insurance". You will get a list of companies, many of whom offer plane travel insurance as well. Some are primarily crew insurance but then you are a crew of two.
 
IMIS has been mentioned often here and they broker such insurance.

IMIS Online Services

Here's a quote page for one of their insurers.

https://purchase.imglobal.com/quote/global_medical/pre-quote?imgac=20258

Even people like Pantaenius offer plans. Theirs is $2808 a year for under 65 (half price if under 20) and $3672 if over 65. I think you'll find others that build on top of your existing policy for less.

Another reason to use good yacht insurance brokers, because any of them would have access to such policies.

A firm specializing in expatriates:

https://www.expatriatehealthcare.com/
 
I have purchased the Medjet Assist contract for medical evacuation for years. It is an annual contract. Covers any trip in which you are more than 150 miles away from home.

Key is you must be in the United States (or Canada if you are Canadian) when the contract goes into effect. I believe St. Thomas is considered the United States for this purpose.

Key thing to look for in these evacuation contracts is whether they will fly you to a hospital of your choice or just to the nearest medical center capable of handling your problem. Medjet Assist flies from hospital (local) to wherever you want to go. It does not provide transportation to the nearest hospital.

We use a separate travel insurance plan for the period of time we are out of the US after the 60 day Medicare coverage ceases. We only buy $50,000 of coverage, enough to get us to a hospital, hopefully stabilized, and then flown back to the US.
Our latest purchase has been with HTH Worldwide.
 
Bay Pelican said:
I have purchased the Medjet Assist contract for medical evacuation for years. It is an annual contract. Covers any trip in which you are more than 150 miles away from home.

Key is you must be in the United States (or Canada if you are Canadian) when the contract goes into effect. I believe St. Thomas is considered the United States for this purpose.

Key thing to look for in these evacuation contracts is whether they will fly you to a hospital of your choice or just to the nearest medical center capable of handling your problem. Medjet Assist flies from hospital (local) to wherever you want to go. It does not provide transportation to the nearest hospital.

We use a separate travel insurance plan for the period of time we are out of the US after the 60 day Medicare coverage ceases. We only buy $50,000 of coverage, enough to get us to a hospital, hopefully stabilized, and then flown back to the US.
Our latest purchase has been with HTH Worldwide.
Click to expand...

Medjet Assist has a good reputation with those who really understand it. First, they are not insurance. They are a membership service. Think of it as a tow membership for your body. Second, they require you to first be admitted to a foreign hospital. As long as you are an inpatient, they don't then require any medical necessity. You're an inpatient in hospital, you're eligible to be flown to any hospital in your home country you choose. Also, no limit on flight costs. That's important as a medical evacuation can run over $100k.

What Bay Pelican is doing makes a lot of sense. Get a Medicare Supplement plan, if on Medicare, with travel benefit or otherwise a limited travel plan. Use it for hospital in foreign country but get flown home before exceeding it's benefit.
 
I have not tried them, but have heard recommendations for DAN, Divers Alert Network.
 
DAN has their Divers Alert Network and now has DANBoater. I would verify they will do what you want. We really like DAN and their services.

For us, we had an accident in Grenada in 2013, and DAN assisted with getting us off the island. Unfortunately after 2 nights in the local hospital that at times we difficult and scary.
 
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