Sick at sea? Travel insurance can keep emergency costs down

Mark and Sue Brady had just sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a holiday cruise with their daughter and son-in-law, granddaughters and their son-in-law's parents when the unthinkable happened: Mark, 58, had a seizure.

"The doctor said the best thing to do was for the ship to turn around and take him back to Fort Lauderdale but the captain said no. We couldn't get off until the next morning," Sue Brady recalled.

Fortunately, the Bradys had taken out travel insurance with Travel Guard, which made arrangements to get Mark to a shoreside hospital. He recovered quickly.

Getting sick on a cruise ship can happen to anyone. The most publicized at-sea ailment is norovirus, a stomach flu that can spread quickly. To avoid that, cruise lines have instituted comprehensive cleaning policies.

While ship doctors can treat minor illnesses such as seasickness, colds, norovirus and broken bones, they cannot handle serious illnesses such as heart attacks and strokes.

Evacuations may take place at the next port of call, or in life-or-death cases, the afflicted person may be taken off the ship by helicopter.

Medical evacuation is expensive and is not covered by ordinary health insurance. From a cruise ship in the Caribbean to a city in the United States, the cost may run $10,000-$15,000 or more. From remote locales or in particularly complicated cases, the cost can exceed $100,000. That's why travel insurance that offers evacuation coverage is a good idea, as the Bradys learned.

Travel Guard paid for the Bradys' evacuation, hospital and hotel stay, meals, clothes — even $200 to have their luggage shipped from the ship to their home in Denver. The total ran to $16,600, not including what their regular health insurance covered.

Passengers should choose their travel insurance carefully. Make sure payment limits are sufficient to satisfy possible costs. Know that Medicare and some other health plans do not cover medical treatment out of the country. Be sure your policy covers problems incurred ashore as well as on board.

Air ambulances and other emergency services require payment up front, so policies that cover medical evacuation should provide for that. Otherwise, the patient or his family has to come up with a large amount of money before he can be evacuated.

Prospective passengers also should know that cruise lines will not board persons with certain medical problems, including infectious diseases and pregnant women in their third trimester.