Medical Insurance

beeza

Silver
Nov 2, 2006
3,479
731
113
Well I've just completed my first year here and my medical insurance has come up for renewal. I purchased a policy from American Express in the UK as an ex-pat policy.

I'm now thinking about getting a local policy for convenience more than anything. The Amex policy cost me about ?1,600 a year and was pretty comprehensive, however outpatient visits had to be paid first then reclaimed. Even though Amex claim I shouldn't have to, Bourginal in POP wouldn't accept it without swiping my credit card first. Then they didn't even try and invoice Amex, they just debited my card!

Can anyone recommend a good policy with all the bells and whistles? I am going on the assumption that if you turn up at a medical institute with local cover in place (possibly even in an ambulance) then things might go smoother!
 

SamanaJon

New member
Jun 20, 2007
193
2
0
Medical Insc.

I have ARS Humano Platinum which cost approx $36,000 pesos per year. It covers basically everything including full Dental (add-on coverage). Pretty satisfied with it thus far. Hard to beat comparing cost/coverage. I also have MASA (Medical Air Service Asso.) out of TX for Air Ambulance coverage back home to the USA. Cost <$300 USD/yr. They have a website. My home base is Florida USA.
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
9,478
410
0
80
www.ginniebedggood.com
Please keep in mind that the med-evac terms and conditions in an ex-pat plan almost never kick in. If there is a place on the island you can be treated, your insurance company will try to find it and deny the evacuation. I checked into this quite a bit and found it very unlikely that any insurance company would actually do a med-evac from the DR. Has anyone had such a case where med-evac was used under the policy?

It can help if you line your doctor up in advance to push for evacuation if & when the time comes. I haven't had to use it yet but the preparation is in place.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
I use ARS Humano. I have never had to make a claim, but their coverage is pretty good.

Other people I know that have the same and are DR1 people have been very happy with ARS Humano.

Search the board for posts about them.
 

GALK

New member
Mar 12, 2006
116
0
0
For business reasons I 've been several times involved in calling for an air ambulance to rescue a patient from North Africa to Europe.

The first thing you have to provide to the insurance company is a statement from the doctor saying that the patient cannot be treated locally or would get better treatment in Europe (US) and that the patient is transportable.

Because of high transport costs insurers prefer local treatment.
I think it would be quite difficult to get this statements from a dominican doctor as all kind of operations are done here.
 

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
2,077
138
0
I use ARS Humano. I have never had to make a claim, but their coverage is pretty good.

Looking at the website for ARS Humano under "caso catostroficos" (ARS Humano), you have a maximum annual coverage of RD$1,000,000.

If you get into a bad accident, that money will be spent very quickly. Then what will you do?

Adrian
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
If you get into a bad accident, that money will be spent very quickly. Then what will you do?

Adrian

Let's hope I don't have a bad accident :)

Sure I can get coverage overseas, but I'm not willing to pay those amounts at my age. Maybe in 20 years when I'm hitting 60.

By the way, some ARS plans offer up to US$5 million in coverage.
 

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
2,077
138
0
Here's a good case study.

I just received an email from a 35 year old German friend of mine that he's been diagnosed with lung cancer. He's now undergoing rapid treatment to try and save his life: Stig's Cancer Blog - Blog

Does anyone know if typical expat insurance would cover being moved to the US or Europe if something like this happened? Or would the insurance company insist on us staying in the DR?

Adrian
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I assume that if one were well enough, one could fly at personal expense to the States for treatment with an international policy- am I right? But mine, and most, are only good for 6 months inside the US so if it was long term, we would have to fly back.
annie
 

suitelady79

New member
Sep 20, 2006
224
0
0
I don't expect that once treatment is started in the US that the insurance company would force that person out of the country during the treatment.


Don't be surprised...insurance companies will do anything to save a buck. You have to make sure to ask very specific "am I covered if..." questions cuz you might think, "they won't force me to go back in the middle of treatment"...but if you don't know your plan well and are not sure, this could very well be the case.