Health Insurance

Kat -
Is this who I think it is??
Noel

Noel, I sent you an email.. (yes, it's me! Carolyn and I are headed down Aug. 18th!) Anyway, don't distract from my ugent health insurance question.. My mother is driving me crazy. =)

-Kitty Catamount

Kat,

While I can't offer much advice on a Yugo-type health plan for you beyond asking some of the insurance agents you can find in the VI Phone Book (see http://www.viphonebook.com ), I do have a suggestion for calming your mother's nerves until you can find some: buy air ambulance insurance in addition to getting a basic insurance plan.

Air ambulance insurance offers two features that most Moms find very reassuring:

--If you are seriously injured or ill and the on-island facility feels it cannot treat you, air ambulance insurance will pay for you to be flown off island to the nearest major medical facility (you are limited to only two hopsital to hospital flights per year).

--It will also pay for one RT qairline ticket for a family member to be flown to be with you at that facility if you have critical injury or illness.

Our policy through SkyMed runs about $10-$20/month (it's $240/year for both my spouse and I, plus a $60 application fee in the first year). While care in the islands is improving, there are still needs that acnnot be adequately treated down here. We consider this policy one of the best investments we made considering the cost of an air ambulance can run thousands of dollars and is not covered by any regular health insurance plan. When you add in the fact that it got both of our mothers off our backs, it is priceless (as the Mastercard commercials say).

Good luck!

HipCrip
Conneussier of all things medical