Dear Addy,
“My family and I are traveling out of state for the holidays. It is our first time traveling away from our hemophilia treatment center. Because of my son’s bleeding disorder we are concerned about insurance covering any emergency medical care he may need at an out of state hospital. How can I find out what is covered and how much it will cost?”
-Away From Home for The Holidays
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Dear Home,
Planning a trip can be taxing on its own, but factoring in a bleeding disorder takes it to a whole new level. While most major insurance plans will cover you outside of your local area in the event of an emergency, it’s always safest to check in with your provider before you travel. Explain to them your itinerary and don’t be afraid to ask questions. After all, the more you know, the less can surprised you in the unfortunately event of an emergency.
With any patient, especially for those with a bleeding disorder, what may be most important is your provider’s definition of what constitutes an emergency. While one provider may consider something like a lost tooth an emergency, another may not. This definition is crucial when seeking care out of network. On top of this, each state can have different baseline regulations of what defines an emergency. Your provider can go over these regulations with you.
Also, it is also important to find the Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) closest to your destination. The CDC has a tool to find your nearest HTC here. Once you find the HTC, it is beneficial to give them a call and let the staff know that you will be traveling to the area. This can help streamline the check-in process should the need for a visit arise. From there, it may help to learn major highways and routes between your destination and the HTC. Familiarizing yourself with a new area can save precious minutes when you need them most!
After you’ve done all of this, it’s time to pack! Knowing what to pack and how to pack it is its own puzzle. Luckily, both HFA and NHF have some helpful guides!.
Click here for HFA’s travel toolkit.
Click here for NHF’s travel toolkit.
Once you’re all set, just remember to relax and enjoy the time with friends and family this holiday season. Then, when you get back, take a peek at our FitFactor page to get a jump start on those New Year’s resolutions!
Happy holidays and safe travels,
AddyÂ
Have a question? Click HERE. Your name will be changed in the response.Â
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HFA frequently receives questions from the bleeding disorders community related to advocacy issues. The questions often impact the entire community. In an effort to reach the largest audience possible with our responses to these widely applicable questions, HFA developed “Dear Addy.” Questions submitted to this column are edited in order to protect privacy and should be considered educational only, not individual guidance.
