International Insurance Policies For Yacht Crew
September 4th, 2009 by Ray Sandeo, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
The life-style of a yacht crew member is quite exciting and adventurous. The crew travels to new places, cities and countries. Despite the improvement in safety standards of sea voyages; health, safety and security of crew members continues to pose a big risk. Yacht Crew health insurance offers around the year coverage for the adventurous marine crew members.
Life at sea is a tough but usually rewarding. Just as other outdoor profession marine professionals have their own challenges with healthcare. The Marine Crew Health Insurance makes sure that subscribers have adequate medical protection even when they are miles away from the mainland.
Marine crew health insurance is available to citizens of all countries provided they are members of a crew. These policies offer extensive benefits, both in-patient and out-patient. Charges for hospital room & board, nursing, surgery are covered. Out-patient doctor office visits, prescription drugs are also covered.
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.
Along with the typical benefits offered by common health insurance plans, the marine crew health insurance plans also offer coverage for medical evacuation and repatriation. Medical evacuation refers to the transport of the sick or injured in specially equipped airplane/vehicle to a medical facility. Repatriation refers to the packing and transporting the remains of a crew member from the vessel to the home of the crew member on the mainland.
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.
Health insurance for yacht crew is generally underwritten by well respected insurance companies. This ensures that these plans are secure and backed by companies with good financial strength. The emergency help line for these plans are staffed around the clock with people who can speak many different languages.
Very few yacht crew health insurance offer dental and vision benefits. Dental benefits when offered include periodic care, cavity filling and root canal treatment. Usually orthodontics are excluded. There are annual limits for dental and vision treatment on the marine crew health insurance plans.
Ray Sondeo often writes about international health insurance.
