[dadspet]

Last December, I had to cancel a cruise on RCL since I was admitted into the hospital for 6 days before and during the cruise. I submitted the claim to AON Travel Insurance along with a letter from Shands Hospital stating that I was admitted to Shands Hospital before and during the cruise. AON, after a period of time, indicated I needed to complete their form, the Attending Physician Statement. After I reviewed this form, it was clear to me that the letter from Shands indicating I was in the hospital for this period should be more than sufficient, since it asked if I was admitted to the hospital. It also requested other information and medical records that I told them were a violation of my rights. They disagreed and insisted they needed this information to ensure it was something valid they covered, and they also had to look back 60 days. Speaking to the AON supervisor and then the person who made the decision resulted in just an additional run around. Finally, I contacted my case manager at Shands, and she indicated this was unusual for an insurance company to request this much information and clearly seemed like a violation of my rights, but she would contact the AON Supervisor I had been talking with and inform her of that. She attempted to contact the AON supervisor but never received a call back. Shands finally agreed to fill out the form, but indicated they would not provide any additional information since it was a violation of my HIPAA rights.
AON again rejected the form from Shands and said they still needed all hospital records, as they indicated before. After my strong refusal and again stating HIPAA violation, they agreed not to require hospital records but indicated they would review the form and provide an answer in 10 days. WOW unbelievable. I clearly would recommend AON insurance, which I believe is directly from RCL. BTW, this is all over a claim for under $1000 for a Dec 1st cruise andhas taken me more time than you would think is possible.

[kingofbeer]

Originally Posted by dadspet

Last December, I had to cancel a cruise on RCL since I was admitted into the hospital for 6 days before and during the cruise. I submitted the claim to AON Travel Insurance along with a letter from Shands Hospital stating that I was admitted to Shands Hospital before and during the cruise. AON, after a period of time, indicated I needed to complete their form, the Attending Physician Statement. After I reviewed this form, it was clear to me that the letter from Shands indicating I was in the hospital for this period should be more than sufficient, since it asked if I was admitted to the hospital. It also requested other information and medical records that I told them were a violation of my rights. They disagreed and insisted they needed this information to ensure it was something valid they covered, and they also had to look back 60 days. Speaking to the AON supervisor and then the person who made the decision resulted in just an additional run around. Finally, I contacted my case manager at Shands, and she indicated this was unusual for an insurance company to request this much information and clearly seemed like a violation of my rights, but she would contact the AON Supervisor I had been talking with and inform her of that. She attempted to contact the AON supervisor but never received a call back. Shands finally agreed to fill out the form, but indicated they would not provide any additional information since it was a violation of my HIPAA rights.
AON again rejected the form from Shands and said they still needed all hospital records, as they indicated before. After my strong refusal and again stating HIPAA violation, they agreed not to require hospital records but indicated they would review the form and provide an answer in 10 days. WOW unbelievable. I clearly would recommend AON insurance, which I believe is directly from RCL. BTW, this is all over a claim for under $1000 for a Dec 1st cruise andhas taken me more time than you would think is possible.

Do not buy travel insurance from a cruise line. I use insuremytrip.com that offers AON, John Hancock, etc.

[blueash]

You are IMO wrong. You could have been admitted for a face lift that went badly, or for complications of a just completed hip replacement that you failed to disclose on your application. When you buy insurance you are waiving HIPAA rights if you choose to make a claim. You are the one authorizing release of the details of your hospitalization. The hospital cannot release on its own, that is what HIPAA covers.

Your insurance only covers events that were not elective and not anticipated. Imagine you were planning elective surgery and a sooner date opened during your vacation. When you decided to go ahead with the earlier date, obviously your insurance should not be covering that choice. The clerk at Shands is wrong and hardly a reliable source of the legalities of HIPAA and insurance regulation. Shands can release your entire medical record to AON if you authorize it. It is NOT unusual or even unexpected that the insurance company needs to verify everything.

You have the "right' not to submit the information. And the company has the right to deny your insurance claim for your failure to comply.

[Spartan86]

I submitted a claim in 2018 for a Viking cruise that I had insured through Alliance independent of anything Viking offered. I do recall the physician statement was fairly extensive. I was concerned my wife’s surgeon would be unwilling to fill it out. But his office staff took care of it. It was a 30 day plus experience, however. Everything had to be uploaded online, which was fine. However, if they had any questions or needed an additional information, they always sent a snail mail letter requesting such. I received one two weeks after I had uploaded the initial documentation and made the claim - it told me that one of my uploads had been illegible. Ultimately they paid the $7000 so I suppose it was worth the effort.

[raananh]

We just came from a cruise and found out from a fellow cruiser that if you travel few times a year, you can get a year-long (!!!) travel insurance that will cover all and any of your cruises or vacations for 12 months.

The catch: once you make a claim, the insurance get cancelled for the rest of the year... which is very fair.

I am looking into it as it seems it saves the hassle of spending time getting insurance before every trip, including sudden trips, and over all, if you travel often, or very long vacations it's way cheaper.

P/S: several years ago I got insurance for my father who travelled with us and had a catastrophic medical issue. I would be way way more poor today if I did not have that insurance. Always be covered by insurance as you age.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by blueash

You are IMO wrong. You could have been admitted for a face lift that went badly, or for complications of a just completed hip replacement that you failed to disclose on your application. When you buy insurance you are waiving HIPAA rights if you choose to make a claim. You are the one authorizing release of the details of your hospitalization. The hospital cannot release on its own, that is what HIPAA covers.

Your insurance only covers events that were not elective and not anticipated. Imagine you were planning elective surgery and a sooner date opened during your vacation. When you decided to go ahead with the earlier date, obviously your insurance should not be covering that choice. The clerk at Shands is wrong and hardly a reliable source of the legalities of HIPAA and insurance regulation. Shands can release your entire medical record to AON if you authorize it. It is NOT unusual or even unexpected that the insurance company needs to verify everything.

You have the "right' not to submit the information. And the company has the right to deny your insurance claim for your failure to comply.

I agree, there are so many scammers out there that the insurance companies need to make sure the claims are valid.

And when I originally read this post concerning HIPAA violations, I began to think the OP was trying to hide something or why not give the insurance company the information only to be used to pay out the claim? It looks like this wasn't the case.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by blueash

You are IMO wrong. You could have been admitted for a face lift that went badly, or for complications of a just completed hip replacement that you failed to disclose on your application. When you buy insurance you are waiving HIPAA rights if you choose to make a claim. You are the one authorizing release of the details of your hospitalization. The hospital cannot release on its own, that is what HIPAA covers.

Your insurance only covers events that were not elective and not anticipated. Imagine you were planning elective surgery and a sooner date opened during your vacation. When you decided to go ahead with the earlier date, obviously your insurance should not be covering that choice. The clerk at Shands is wrong and hardly a reliable source of the legalities of HIPAA and insurance regulation. Shands can release your entire medical record to AON if you authorize it. It is NOT unusual or even unexpected that the insurance company needs to verify everything.

You have the "right' not to submit the information. And the company has the right to deny your insurance claim for your failure to comply.

Well said. I am thinking that the OP had no problem with the details being released to his medical insurance.