The Heart Attack that Stole Christmas

[Geezer Of The Seas]

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/hostage-situation-sanford-man-forced-pay-thousands-before-emergency-heart-surgery-mexico/ULCUKMOX25HQDFZKRUROTTKCNQ/

NOT an RCCL trip, but nonetheless a "There but for the grace of  God" moment. A lot of detail missing, but prayers and best wishes for a complete recovery.

Also why for our last trip I bought a 3rd party travel policy that had an 'immediate payment' rider on the emergency medical and evacuation coverage, because you never know..............

Best $500 dollar purchase we didn't need to use.

[Geezer Of The Seas]

The ABC local affiliate that did the original story posted a follow up piece on their website. The man's spouse admitted to the reporter they DID NOT purchase travel insurance, saying they rationalized they didn't need for anything other than trip cancelation, never entertaining the possibility of a medical crisis.

[Pattycruise]

I think most people do not think of having an emergency.
I think most are also unaware that insurance companies do not typically pay for hospital bills outisde the country and that the hospitals expect payment up front, with the insurance company doing a reimbursement later, so even if insured-like these peole were-it did not help them in the actual emergency and even if they had insurance I question how quickly the insurer would have stepped in and if the hosptial would have accepted an insurance company "I'll pay soon".....

 

[AshleyDillo]

Travel insurance is great to assist you financially after the fact, but how many people would be able to front the money in an emergency? It's pure extortion what happened here. I've read horror stories similar to this that happened to people all over the world.

[tjcruisers]

20 hours ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

The ABC local affiliate that did the original story posted a follow up piece on their website. The man's spouse admitted to the reporter they DID NOT purchase travel insurance, saying they rationalized they didn't need for anything other than trip cancelation, never entertaining the possibility of a medical crisis.

Do you have a link to the follow up piece? Few things seemed off in the original

[Doug_Texas]

We always buy Blue Cross Blue Shield GeoBlue travel health policies but rarely get trip insurance for cruise fare / flights.  Their policies act as “primary”, are very low cost, and pay medical providers directly.  It’s common for a policy to be around $50 and cover $1M.   I get annual policies because I’m on Medicare which is minimal coverage internationally.

[Geezer Of The Seas]

6 hours ago, tjcruisers said:

Do you have a link to the follow up piece? Few things seemed off in the original

No I don't. Just checked the website and can't locate original or follow up. The wife did say in the follow up piece they have private insurance which I assume meant employer provided or personal not Medicare. Even in that scenario, in a foreign country I can't imagine an American healthcare plan doing immediate pay, especially without utilization review, etc (healthcare providers in America are getting equally aggressive with payment demands in ER's, firsthand knowledge there). And the air ambulance charge wound up being 25K which apparently took the patient to a Cleveland Clinic facility in Florida.

Other than that, the follow up was mostly information from an insurance broker that sells travel insurance.