Jump to content

einmann

Validated Members
  • Posts

    8
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Optional Fields

  • Lifetime Member
    No

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male

Recent Profile Visitors

484 profile views

einmann's Achievements

  1. I don't think you are oversimplifying and your question is a good one. I was misspoke, as Chad pointed out. It is the non-emergency transportation (the non-medically necessary transportation home to Canada or wherever home is) from somewhere else in the world where MASA requires your treating physician and MASA's Medical Director to determine whether it is feasible and medically appropriate to "transfer" you to a hospital near home. SkyMed makes it simple. You tell SkyMed you want to be taken to a hospital near home. SkyMed arranges and pays to take you to the appropriate hospital of your choice near home. You, as a member, pay nothing. Your treating physician doesn't have to determine the feasibility, recommend, approve, or order the transport. And there is no determination of feasibility and medical appropriateness needed from a SkyMed Medical Director either.
  2. 1. SkyMed is NOT a medical assistance plan. They are a emergency medical transportation plan. Neither SkyMed nor MASA arrange or reimburse medical expenses. 2. Neither SkyMed or MASA provide ambulances to pick you up in the middle of a forest. SkyMed directly pays whatever you owe (after your insurance pays their part) when 911 or another local emergency transportation service transports you to the nearest hospital that can treat your medical problem. 3. MASA does not provide more services than SkyMed. MASA is limited in that their emergency medical transportation services require a doctor's approval (or "recommendation") AND their administrator's approval before they will cover your emergency medical transportation. SkyMed does not. Read SkyMed's Member Service Agreement by going to www.skymed.com and clicking on the words "Member Service Agreement" near the top of the page. The agreement is written in common English, not "legalese". Good luck with finding MASA's agreement. That should tell you something about which company is transparent and which company doesn't want you to read their "fine print". 4. SkyMed was created by Canadians with Canadians in mind. SkyMed's Chairman and President are both Canadians. Call SkyMed at the number given in the Member Service Agreement for information specific to your needs. They won't pressure or mislead you.
  3. You need to give more information. Do you qualify for Medicare? Do you ever (or plan to ever) go outside the USA - assuming that's where your home is? What kind ofhealth insurance coverage do you have now? You can PM me if you don't want to post that information.
  4. In 2019 my wife suddenly developed symptoms similar to a heart attack while we we were on a Princess cruise from California through the Panama Canal to Florida. We were off the coast of California when it happened. The doctor in the ship's infirmary took an EKG reading and decided that it was NOT a heart attack. 4 hours and 1 omeprazole later my wife was back in our stateroom and was fine the next morning. The total bill came to $1300 charged to our shipboard account - which was secured and paid by my credit card. We had travel insurance through Princess. The impression I got was that the documentation of services rendered that the insurance company required would have been very difficult to provide had she gone to a hospital at any of our ports of call. However, the ship's infirmary provided exactly what was needed - they had been through this many times before. Ultimately I had to file a claim with Medicare to have it denied before Princess' tavel insurance would pay. But they paid 100%. I'm sure I got a few more gray hairs and ate a bottle of antacids before we finally got the reimbursement. One thing that also worried me was what might have happened and what it would have cost if it had been an actual heart attack and we had been stranded in some port-of-call in Central America or the Caribbean with questionable hospital facilities and doctors; and what it would have taken to get my wife to a hospital back home. That could have been a very expensive nightmare and I have no idea what the travel insurance would have actually covered in that situation. But I suspect I would have had to pay for everything - cash up front. And then, after jumping through a lot of hoops to get the documentation that the insurance company required, hope and pray that the insurance would reimbursed me.
  5. The Medicare plans that I have seen (Advantage plans and Supplement plans) that provide coverage outside the USA only provide "emergency" coverage. I wonder about the definition of "emergency". Who defines "emergency"? When does the emergency start (e.g. when you call 911?) or when you get to the emergency room? or when you are admitted as a hospital inpatient? Then theres the question of when the "emergency" ends. Is it immediately after the (e.g. open heart) surgery? or is it when you are stable enough to be taken out of the ICU but stil need to continue hospitalization? or is it when you are discharged from the hospital? or is it when you are out of rehab? or is it when you are fit to travel home? What happens if the "emergency" is defined as over, but you still need to be hospitalized or to have rehabilitation? Is that covered outside the USA? Is it "fully" covered and if not, how much will be my financial responsibility? What if I'm not capable of driving my RV home for days or weeks after I'm discharged from all medical facilities? Are any of those costs covered? Has anyone read the fine print? Who has some answers?
  6. What specifically have you seen in the ACA plans about poor out of state coverage? I've heard American and Canadian residents say they have Medevac plans that will take them to a hospital back home where they have better coverage.
  7. Researching medical evacuation during this pandemic is a very good idea. The best source of information regarding SkyMed services during the COVID pandemic is the "SkyMed Response to COVID 19" letter sent by SkyMed's President, Eleanore Klein, to all SkyMed members, representatives, employees and contractors. The letter is posted on skymed.com. Click the yellow button near the top right corner of the home page. It is valuable information for anyone who might need a medical evacuation during this pandemic. The first few paragraphs of the letter discuss COVID-19, CDC and US State Department requirements. The CDC requires immediate quarantine upon positive diagnosis of COVID-19. If you are a hospital inpatient at the time of the positive COVID-19 diagnosis, as in the example you gave of injury from a non-COVID related accident, you would be quarantined in the hospital. You would not be certified as "Fit-to-fly" by an attending physician while you are under quarantine. No medical evacuation service will transport you against a doctor's orders, i.e. without the Fit-to-fly certification. When the quarantine is ended and you are certified as Fit-to-fly by your attending physician, SkyMed will take you to an appropriate hospital near your home or to your home as stated in the 4th Q&A in the letter. Since the start of this pandemic SkyMed has rescued many of its members from locations around the world back to their homes or home hospitals in the USA and Canada.
×
×
  • Create New...