By Ray Sondeo
A mariner’s career is often thought to be richly rewarding and adventurous with plenty of travel. However, life at sea is often very demanding and comes with interesting healthcare challenges. Mainstream health insurance companies shy away from insuring the health of yacht crew members because they are not willing to take the additional risk and work with foreign healthcare providers.
Yacht crew health insurance addresses the specific needs of mariners offering worldwide coverage. The Yacht Crew Insurance plans have international benefits enabling marine crew members to obtain healthcare no matter where they travel and live. These marine crew health insurance plans have generous benefits overseas as well as in the home country.
Applicants for yacht crew health insurance can be of any citizenship as long as they are members of a marine crew spending extensive time in international waters. These marine crew insurance plans are designed to cover many risks, they include coverage for complicated hospitalizations and rather simple out-patient visits. Prescription drugs are often a part of the standard benefit package.
Marine vessels and accompanying crew members can only be in domestic waters and territories for fraction of a year. In other words marine crew health insurance is an international insurance plan and as such requires the crew to travel and be away from home for a good portion of the year. Some marine health insurance plans mandate that the crew travel away from home-land for more than 6 months in a year.
In addition to in-patient and out-patient medical coverage these marine crew health insurance plans include benefits for medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. So, if an insured crew member has a sudden heart attack then a specially equipped airplane can transport the person to a hospital nearby. Also, if a marine crew member passes away then the plan can pay for the costs for returning the remains back home.
Some Yacht Crew Insurance policies exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions. So it would be difficult to obtain coverage for chronic conditions or risky existing medical conditions. Coverage for such conditions may be permanently excluded or a 12 month wait required for benefits. The wait period for covering pre-existing conditions may vary based on the insurance company.
Marine crew insurance policies are underwritten by specialty insurance companies that have experience with international risks. These underwriting insurance companies are well equipped to deal with global financial risks and invariably carry a sound financial rating. It follows that the marine crew health insurance companies have multi-lingual staff 24×7.
Dental and Vision coverage on Yacht Crew Health Insurance plans are usually optional. At additional price one can purchase these options. Routine care, filling and root canals are covered under the dental option. The vision option would include a periodic eye exam and contact lens/spectacles supply.
- Collected -