Health Insurance for Cruisers

[Dtm67]

Make sure you read the fine print on anything you buy. We had DAN travel insurance and had a claim denied because we were on an “open ended” trip. Basically we bought a one way air ticket to start our cruising season with a plan to buy a one way return when we were coming home 6 or 7 months later.

Without a round trip purchase for airfare we were disqualified when we had a thankfully minor injury while abroad from the US. And it was in the fine print...I missed it

But if we needed something big like repatriation that would have been bad.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Doesn't really matter if my ACA plan is good out of the US. It's basically free and there for "major medical" if out of the country. When paired with inexpensive health care in the non US world and evacuation plans if it definitely worth having.

BTW wife fell a couple of weeks ago here in the US and broke her shoulder. So far that's only cost us about $340 with our free subsidized ACA

"Free" depends greatly on your income. If your reported income has you just above the reported poverty level, yes the government subsidy covers a heck of a lot of the cost.

If you are near the top of the subsidy levels, it's no where close to "free".

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Dtm67

Make sure you read the fine print on anything you buy. We had DAN travel insurance and had a claim denied because we were on an “open ended” trip. Basically we bought a one way air ticket to start our cruising season with a plan to buy a one way return when we were coming home 6 or 7 months later.

Without a round trip purchase for airfare we were disqualified when we had a thankfully minor injury while abroad from the US. And it was in the fine print...I missed it

But if we needed something big like repatriation that would have been bad.

This must have been the travel insurance plan, not the DAN dive and accident Plan? I see nothing in the Guardian plan policy that requires a round trip ticket for any of its coverage. DAN has a very good reputation among US cruisers outside the country for their support and coverage.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

"Free" depends greatly on your income. If your reported income has you just above the reported poverty level, yes the government subsidy covers a heck of a lot of the cost.

If you are near the top of the subsidy levels, it's no where close to "free".

well if you have income you don't need free

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

well if you have income you don't need free

If you have no income...maybe you need a job rather than living off your fellow tax payers.

If you want to take advantage of a poorly designed govt program, that's one thing but you do realize, it's not free? Someone is paying.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

If you have no income...maybe you need a job rather than living off your fellow tax payers.

If you want to take advantage of a poorly designed govt program, that's one thing but you do realize, it's not free? Someone is paying.

just like every govt program, they are only not fair if you aren't the benefity

[billknny]

We use one of the GeoBlue International policies, I believe the one they brand as the "Navigator". So far, we have been very happy with it.

It comes with some restrictions. You have to plan to be outside the USA for 3 months for the year. It is NOT ObamaCare compliant. We see that as an big advantage since it means we don't have to pay for extra coverage we don't need (e.g. birth control and maternity) It also means if you come with a pre-existing condition, (we both did) there might be some restrictions or extra charges.

It has worked very well for us both in the USA and outside it. As a Blue Cross company, they have an extensive network of doctors in the USA, and overseas they are very helpful in steering you to a doctor who can help and speaks English. When we have had to submit claims directly, they paid promptly without fuss.

Not one complaint so far, after 5 years.

They are very well set up to handle international issues.

[Dtm67]

Originally Posted by Paul L

This must have been the travel insurance plan, not the DAN dive and accident Plan? I see nothing in the Guardian plan policy that requires a round trip ticket for any of its coverage. DAN has a very good reputation among US cruisers outside the country for their support and coverage.

It was not the DAN dive, guardian or DAN boater...it was the travel insurance plan. I need to look at those for next year....

[Elizabeth S.]

Originally Posted by Ndavies

I am sure this question has been asked several times - but I suspect the answer for US citizens is dynamic given the current awful state of our medical/health insurance industry.

I am looking to provide health insurance next year for myself, my wife and son. I am 58 years old and retired last year. I had great coverage while employed, but this went away when I retired. At first, I continued the coverage through COBRA which was way too expensive and I found that it provided no coverage outside the US. Last year, we made a transatlantic trip on our boat and I took out repatriation insurance with DAN. This seemed like a very reasonable cost and I figured we could pay locally for any minor care needs. In 2020, we plan to cruise to the Bahamas again, but then continue up the east coast of the US. I will likely take out a DAN policy again, but need to address US health care. From what I have found so far, open enrollment under Obama care does not seem to be open yet; and some private policies seem close to worthless (in terms of cost versus real benefit). Christian Healthshare looks like it could be an option worth considering.

I feel there must be other cruisers out there that have found a reasonable solution to bridging the gap in the US until age 65. Maybe the only solution is to cruise outside the US? I welcome any reasonable suggestions.
Neil

Is there a website we can go that has calculator for this, or any sort of plans publicly shown? Thanks!