Accident Insurance plans

**BeardedClam** · 11-26-2017, 06:51 PM

I'm looking for a supplemental policy to my current health coverage. My friend has a plan that is no longer offered by its provider which covers him for "extreme and adventure sport accidents". I do not believe it was marketed as a travel insurance plan. Does anyone have any leads on something in this category?

**BeardedClam** · 12-25-2017, 08:19 AM

anyone?

**splat** · 01-22-2018, 11:14 AM

TravelGuard will cover skiing. Are you competing? Do you feel you must tell them you're a 'streme skier'?

**TNKen** · 01-23-2018, 09:00 AM

Based on a $66,000 helicopter ride, I would strongly suggest getting air insurance!!!

Cheap. Make sure who your flight company is in your area.
https://www.airmedcarenetwork.com/
http://phiairmedical.com/index.shtml

I had just purchased it the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, got hurt the day after Thanksgiving, and of course, there is a 15 day blackout period.

**skideeppow** · 01-23-2018, 01:02 PM

i use AFLAC, Great policy

**splat** · 02-08-2018, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by skideeppow

i use AFLAC, Great policy

Do tell....

**Gepeto** · 02-08-2018, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by splat

Do tell....

Go on now

**Gepeto** · 02-08-2018, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by TNKen

Based on a $66,000 helicopter ride
https://www.airmedcarenetwork.com/
http://phiairmedical.com/index.shtml

So? which part of the recovery hurt the most :>

**evdog** · 05-11-2018, 01:22 AM

I have had an accident benefit policy through Loyal American for a few years now. Got it at a time I was off work and had settled on a high deductible medical insurance plan with around $7 or 8k max out of pocket. I do a ton of mountain biking, and during my time off was riding and road tripping constantly. Medical costs from a crash can quickly blow through deductible and add out of pocket costs, so I thought the plan was a good idea. It is meant to cover up to $10k of out of pocket costs resulting from any sort of accident. Haven't used it yet but have a claim coming up as I had a crash back in March and tore my ACL. Surgery last week, so bills are coming in. My current medical insurance has $2k deductible and $4k max out of pocket. So the benefit plan will be put to good use. I'll update later once I see how things go.

I found this plan through my insurance broker when I was signing up for personal health insurance (this was pre Obama care). A broker should be able to make recommendations for what would work best for your personal situation. For someone active in sports the accident benefit plan is what she recommended.

**gregorys** · 06-20-2018, 06:31 PM

@evdog

What's the word on your accident plan? Happy? You think it's worth it?
My OOP is way higher, so an accident plan - at least during ski season seems like it might be worth it.

TIA

**evdog** · 06-21-2018, 03:35 PM

I haven't put in my claim yet, but in talking to a rep on the phone it sounds promising that it should be accepted. My deductible for in-network is $2k and I've now exceeded that (max is $4k out of pocket). The surgery center bill for $40k is still "under review" so who knows what that will discount down to and what my copay share will be. Hard to say if the plan has been worth it yet. I've been paying into it at $36/mo since 2012 so I'm at about $3k in premiums. I might come close to that for this claim. When I first got the plan I had a deductible of $4k and max out of pocket of $8k, and was out of work for an extended period so at the time it was worth it for sure since I was mountain biking constantly.

**Cono Este** · 07-13-2018, 04:23 PM

Make sure it’s not “accident” only. Those are rip offs.

You can get a hospital indemnity plan which will pay a per day amount in the hospital, or Er, ambulance etc. I’ve used GTL before, selling it, still not a huge fan. Don’t really do it anymore. It’s very hard to find first dollar coverage.

I strongly suggest air ambulance if you travel though. It’s cheap. Just referred 4 people going to Tanzania for 2 weeks, it was $250 total.

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**evdog** · 07-18-2018, 02:26 PM

My plan is accident only. But that is because my biggest risk is injury due to mountain biking crash.

**AK47bp** · 07-18-2018, 02:28 PM

I got on my plan by accident.

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**evdog** · 07-24-2018, 11:39 PM

Submitted my first claim this afternoon, we'll see how it goes. Talked to the insurance company beforehand. They want EOB and billing statement from the provider for every expense. EOBs are no problem but the billing is such a mess for some of the providers its going to take a while to sort out. Wish me luck!

**evdog** · 08-06-2018, 10:57 PM

Well I had a bit of a head scratcher when I got home today as there was some mail from the insurance company and it wasn't what I was expecting.

After making it seem like they were going to be hard asses about having EOBs and bills from providers I submitted what I had at the time for completed paperwork totaling about $3k in expenses. This was supposed to be forwarded to an adjuster to review and if ok they'd send me a check.

Well I'm holding a check right now and it's for $10,000 which is the limit of my policy. Wondering if this is an error and I should cash the check and run. Who's in for hookers and blow???

Or should I be the good citizen and call the insurance co to verify. My out of pocket should be around $5k, not 10.

Reminds me of back in school, I got a notification one day in my 3rd year that the school had deposited $12k in my scholarship account for an award I wasn't even eligible for. Being an idiot I bee-lined it to student services to withdraw it before they realized they'd made a mistake. Didn't work...

**splat** · 08-07-2018, 07:42 AM

Are you kidding?// Cash that shit. Wow!

What company is this? I need a policy asap.

I did TravelGaurd for years. Paid hospital bills for broken arm, paid mri for rotator cuff/bicep tendon tear. But they wouldn't pay for the repair of rotator cuff/tendon because I was too old, they said. I hear that's a common denial for old fucks like me. Now I've torn the labrum and more shit on the same shoulder and would love a policy like that where I could get enough coin for prp/stem cell treatment to bring it back.

Anyone got a prp doc in Reno/Tahoe?

**cat in january** · 08-07-2018, 07:59 AM

That worked out

**evdog** · 08-10-2018, 01:59 AM

Originally Posted by splat

What company is this? I need a policy asap.

See above

So I'm a wuss. Called insurance co to make sure the check is not a mistake. But was more interested in whether I still need to submit the paperwork for the rest of my out of pocket, now that they sent me more than I can actually claim. Not having to do that would save a lot of hassle dealing with moronic billing departments.

Me: "So I submitted $3k in claims. You guys sent me a check for $10k My out of pocket is only $5k. Do I need to submit paperwork for the other $2k?"
Insurance co: (reading straight off the EOB) "It says here you don't need to send anything but the bills from your provider. Do you need to claim more than the $10k?"
Me: "No. The limit on my policy is $10k so I can't claim more than that."
Insurance co: "Well you can try it. Did you stay in hospital, there is a rider for hospital stay you could use to claim more.
Me: "I did not stay in hospital. Not looking to claim more. My out of pocket was only $5k. Just want to know if I need to submit papers to cover the remainder of that."
Insurance co: "Well you can submit it and try to claim more"
Me: "OK thanks will do"

I they want more paperwork they can ask for it.

Interesting because I recall calling my insurance broker at one point asking to cancel this policy. She said I should keep it because if I did have a crash I'd be able to collect even on provider bills that were paid by insurance. That sounds a lot like insurance fraud to me and not consistent with what I was told when I made the claim, that I'd need to provide explanation of benefits and provider bill for each claim - meaning they'd only reimburse my out of pocket expenses. That is after all what this policy is for. I'm not gonna complain. Check is now in the bank.

**BeardedClam** · 08-14-2018, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by evdog

See above

So I'm a wuss. Called insurance co to make sure the check is not a mistake. But was more interested in whether I still need to submit the paperwork for the rest of my out of pocket, now that they sent me more than I can actually claim. Not having to do that would save a lot of hassle dealing with moronic billing departments.

Me: "So I submitted $3k in claims. You guys sent me a check for $10k My out of pocket is only $5k. Do I need to submit paperwork for the other $2k?"
Insurance co: (reading straight off the EOB) "It says here you don't need to send anything but the bills from your provider. Do you need to claim more than the $10k?"
Me: "No. The limit on my policy is $10k so I can't claim more than that."
Insurance co: "Well you can try it. Did you stay in hospital, there is a rider for hospital stay you could use to claim more.
Me: "I did not stay in hospital. Not looking to claim more. My out of pocket was only $5k. Just want to know if I need to submit papers to cover the remainder of that."
Insurance co: "Well you can submit it and try to claim more"
Me: "OK thanks will do"

I they want more paperwork they can ask for it.

Interesting because I recall calling my insurance broker at one point asking to cancel this policy. She said I should keep it because if I did have a crash I'd be able to collect even on provider bills that were paid by insurance. That sounds a lot like insurance fraud to me and not consistent with what I was told when I made the claim, that I'd need to provide explanation of benefits and provider bill for each claim - meaning they'd only reimburse my out of pocket expenses. That is after all what this policy is for. I'm not gonna complain. Check is now in the bank.

This same situation played out with a friend recently. It's why I started this thread. As far as my research can tell as washington state resident, there are no qualifying similar plans. Would you mind referring me to your broker? I have ~15 coworkers that would be very interested in this plan

**evdog** · 08-15-2018, 09:08 AM

The person who helped me in the past with personal health insurance and this travel policy isn't there anymore, but the firm is https://teaguefs.com/en/. I'm sure they have someone else now who handles personal insurance who could help. I have no idea if there are differences between CA vs WA that might prevent this type of plan from being offered in WA. For that reason I'd suggest trying to find a broker up there. They have to exist. Not sure what you mean by qualifying plan, but this one is not health insurance and wouldn't qualify as coverage under ACA. All it does is reimburse out of pocket medical expenses in the event of an accident. It doesn't cover anything in relation to illnesses and isn't like Aflac that covers living expenses as well. The person I dealt with specifically steered me away from Aflac.

**Dantheman** · 08-16-2018, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by evdog

See above

So I'm a wuss. Called insurance co to make sure the check is not a mistake. But was more interested in whether I still need to submit the paperwork for the rest of my out of pocket, now that they sent me more than I can actually claim. Not having to do that would save a lot of hassle dealing with moronic billing departments.

Me: "So I submitted $3k in claims. You guys sent me a check for $10k My out of pocket is only $5k. Do I need to submit paperwork for the other $2k?"
Insurance co: (reading straight off the EOB) "It says here you don't need to send anything but the bills from your provider. Do you need to claim more than the $10k?"
Me: "No. The limit on my policy is $10k so I can't claim more than that."
Insurance co: "Well you can try it. Did you stay in hospital, there is a rider for hospital stay you could use to claim more.
Me: "I did not stay in hospital. Not looking to claim more. My out of pocket was only $5k. Just want to know if I need to submit papers to cover the remainder of that."
Insurance co: "Well you can submit it and try to claim more"
Me: "OK thanks will do"

I they want more paperwork they can ask for it.

Interesting because I recall calling my insurance broker at one point asking to cancel this policy. She said I should keep it because if I did have a crash I'd be able to collect even on provider bills that were paid by insurance. That sounds a lot like insurance fraud to me and not consistent with what I was told when I made the claim, that I'd need to provide explanation of benefits and provider bill for each claim - meaning they'd only reimburse my out of pocket expenses. That is after all what this policy is for. I'm not gonna complain. Check is now in the bank.

This is some mind-blowing insurance bizarro opposite world shit. Wow. I might have to get the whole family signed up on this. Any idea if you can pay the premiums out of an HSA?

**evdog** · 08-16-2018, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

This is some mind-blowing insurance bizarro opposite world shit.

The whole health industry down here seems like mind blowing bizzaro opposite world shit. I'm still trying to make sense of some other billings from providers. When I got my MRI they charged me $667. Since it was the first expense I knew I'd have to pay the whole fee as my deductible hadn't been met. When I got the EOB it said my cost was $532, which means I should have gotten $135 back. Got nowhere by calling the provider so got my insurance co to call them. Now I get a check in the mail for $267. Not complaining about that, I just don't understand it. I'm owed a bunch of money back from the surgeon as well.

Not sure this accident benefit plan would be an eligible HSA cost. I was required to do monthly ACH payments and it may be possible to set that up from the account as it should have account number and routing number. I'm still too new to HSAs to know how or if anyone checks on the eligibility of your spending from the account.

**Dantheman** · 08-16-2018, 12:57 PM

You can basically pay anything out of an HSA. There are no upfront controls that I know of, just the risk of being audited.

I mean bizzarro opposite world for insurance in general, not just health. Normally they do everything possible to pay out as little as possible and that's true across all sectors. Yet here you are, submitting $3k in claims but getting a $10k check, and when you check if it's a mistake the only response is to advise you on how to get more money. The mind boggles.

**skaredshtles** · 08-16-2018, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

<snip>
I mean bizzarro opposite world for insurance in general, not just health. Normally they do everything possible to pay out as little as possible and that's true across all sectors. Yet here you are, submitting $3k in claims but getting a $10k check, and when you check if it's a mistake the only response is to advise you on how to get more money. The mind boggles.

This can't continue. Something has to give with a system that is *this* retarded.