Medical Evacuation Insurance offers added protection, but beware the conditions

[lhbrown]

Escape Plan
Medical Evacuation Insurance offers added protection, but beware the conditions

Every international traveler should carry medical insurance that provides guaranteed payments abroad, a 24-hour support center staffed by medical personnel, and, most important, emergency medical evacuation coverage. Most HMO and PPO plans do not pay for evacuations, and those that do are often so riddled with exclusions that they're effectively useless. To avoid unpleasant surprises, purchase a separate policy from a company that specializes in medical evacuation, such as SOS, Travel Guard, or MEDEX (visit insuremytrip.com to research policies). Some premium credit cards, like American Express Platinum, also offer evacuation coverage. Whichever policy you choose, remember these points:
Evacuation insurance is not medical insurance. In most cases, you're covered only for the cost of the evacuation, which could be as much as $100,000. Medical expenses must be paid by another insurer.Most medical evacuation providers decide whether and to where you will be evacuated. Typically, the company will not evacuate you if it considers the treatment at your destination to be adequate. Similarly, most companies will evacuate you only to the nearest "appropriate" hospital. One exception is MedJetAssist, which takes members to any hospital they choose, although only if they're already hospitalized.Air ambulances are used only in extreme cases. Unless a traveler is seriously ill, most evacuations are carried out on commercial airlines.Not all regions are covered. Most policies exclude war zones or destinations without accessible airstrips.

[imbues]

Hey LH, this is very good to know about, thanks. I suppose it might be worth it if you were going to a remote area. It seems like they wouldn't pay if you were already in a city hospital.

[lhbrown]

Hi imbues,
It is always a good idea to make sure that you are sufficiently coverd by medical insurance when you go abroad. I agree with you that the MedJetAssist, which takes members to any hospital they choose, although only if they're already hospitalized, is a strange one. I am sure MedJetAssist could expand on it if you are planning to take out coverage with them.

[jashermd]

Hello,

A lot of my travel is to very remote areas, so for me medevac insurance is a necessity rather than an option (quite a few safari companies will not accept clients who do not have proof of insurance due to the immense expense involved in medevacing people from some of the camps). I have a very good policy through an insurance company in the UK, but a lot of people I know also top-up with Medjet (given the state of the NHS in England, the added value of being able to come home is a bit questionable for me...). Fortunately I have yet to know anyone who has needed to be medevaced out.

Cheers,
Julian