Emergecy evacuation costs?

[Tinknock50]

I have been checking various insurance policies and the Emergency Evacuation covered costs range from $20,000 to $1,000,000 !

How much do I need for an Alaska /Pacific Coastal cruise?

Anyone with actual experience with evacuation, or know of someone who has, and how much it cost them?

[jhannah]

No personal experience (thank the Good Lord.) But I've read on this board where individuals reported costs in the $20-25k range. Seems like that was in the Caribbean. Alaska may be cheaper. But a helicopter can cost $500+ an hour to operate. Add a medical team and their time out and back you get way up there real quick.

[Tinknock50]

No personal experience (thank the Good Lord.) But I've read on this board where individuals reported costs in the $20-25k range. Seems like that was in the Caribbean. Alaska may be cheaper. But a helicopter can cost $500+ an hour to operate. Add a medical team and their time out and back you get way up there real quick.

Good point, Jim. I wasn't thinking about the medical team....costs could go up quickly there.

[arzz]

Have you investigated a membership is "medjet"? May be a less expensive way to cover med evac costs one year at a time.

[WindyCity]

I work for a Medical Evacuation company and yet, the costs are quite high. It all depends on how far the flight has to go. The evacuation is done in a fixed wing plane. If it is, for example, from Alaska to Vancouver it may be on the low end as a less expensive plane (prop) can be used. If it is from Alaska to the Midwest or East Coast, they would use a Jet and, of course, the cost would be higher. Medical personnel are included in the costs, as is ground ambulance from discharging facility to the airport and from the destination airport to the receiving hospital. The nice part is - there is no extra charge for a passenger (spouse, friend, other relative), although you are limited to one small bag of personal items, because space is limited. So, yes, 20,000 to 100,000 is not uncommon. If you state from where to where, I can probably get you a more accurate cost.

[kryos]

Good point, Jim. I wasn't thinking about the medical team....costs could go up quickly there.
Don't forget too that the emergency medical evacuation from the ship might be only part of the total expense. You might need to be transferred to a hospital closer to home if you are very ill. That will be done by charter airplane and will cost serious money too.

I seem to recall that flying me home to Philadelphia from Florida ten days after my skydiving accident cost in the area of $10K. This was on a lear jet, special medical flight. But my transfer was merely because I was non-weight bearing and couldn't take a commercial airliner. There were no serious medical issues requiring a full medical team. Just one medic made the trip with me. So, in my case it was probably much cheaper than say someone being transferred after suffering a major heart attack several days before. Also, thankfully, I got hurt in the U.S., so my medical insurance picked up the full cost. It was in their best interests. They wanted to get me back into "network."

Many years ago a cousin of mine had to be flown to a hospital in Texas from Mexico. He suffered a severe head injury after a moped accident. I believe his transport ran in the neighborhood of $25 to $30 grand ... and this was about ten years ago!

So, yeah, medical evacuation costs can be pricey ... and especially if you are in a foreign country, you won't be able to look toward your healthcare provider to pick up any of them. So, best have a good travel insurance policy.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Lvteks]

We use MedjetAssist and subscribe on a yearly basis. The important part of their program starts after you have been admitted to a hospital facility. Then if you are stable, MJA willtransport you to the hospital of YOUR choice. This coverage starts at 150 miles from your home. Recently AARP connected with MJA and has a lower rate for members.

We use Travelex-lite for initial med-evac and other cruise coverage issues on a per cruise basis.

Blessings,

Gail

[Jade13]

I work for a Medical Evacuation company and yet, the costs are quite high. It all depends on how far the flight has to go. The evacuation is done in a fixed wing plane. If it is, for example, from Alaska to Vancouver it may be on the low end as a less expensive plane (prop) can be used. If it is from Alaska to the Midwest or East Coast, they would use a Jet and, of course, the cost would be higher. Medical personnel are included in the costs, as is ground ambulance from discharging facility to the airport and from the destination airport to the receiving hospital. The nice part is - there is no extra charge for a passenger (spouse, friend, other relative), although you are limited to one small bag of personal items, because space is limited. So, yes, 20,000 to 100,000 is not uncommon. If you state from where to where, I can probably get you a more accurate cost.

Do they normally only have room for one extra passenger? So, say a family of three is traveling and one adult is hurt, the child (say a teenager) would be in the medivac and other adult would have to fly home with the luggage.


What is the estimated cost from say Italy to the US?

[leoandhugh]

Sean, Assuming your question concerns your mother, the costs could vary considerably depending on the nature of the emergency. Since you are talking Alaska, you will usually be within a chopper flight of some hospital in the state. But if it were serious enough that you had to fly her home with a medvac situation, it would be considerably more. I think that the premium for coverage say up to $100K is not that much more than it would be for $25K. IMO, that is the guideline you should use and the premiums you should check.:)

[Tinknock50]

Sean, Assuming your question concerns your mother, the costs could vary considerably depending on the nature of the emergency. Since you are talking Alaska, you will usually be within a chopper flight of some hospital in the state. But if it were serious enough that you had to fly her home with a medvac situation, it would be considerably more. I think that the premium for coverage say up to $100K is not that much more than it would be for $25K. IMO, that is the guideline you should use and the premiums you should check.:)

Thanks,
I rejected the company that has only $20,000 medvac.

I think I will be using CSA that has a $250,000 medvac for $295.00.......... includes the usual travel insurance.

My mom being 93 I am sure made the cost high, but I didn't think that was too bad.

It also allows me to purchase it at final payment time.

[WindyCity]

Jade,

MedEvac from Italy would be approx 65,000, but you also want to include hospital costs in Italy so insurance for 150,000 would not be unreasonable. As to a second passenger. Sometimes there is room, but you must remember, the first priority is the patient. Sometimes the entire family takes commercial flight back and just the patient goes on the Medivac plane

Tinknock,

Air ambulance costs from Alaska are quite high - approx 65,000 also, so your CSA insurance would be a better buy than the 20,000 which would mean you would have out of pocket expenses. Please remember Medicare won't cover the cost of a medivac unless it is medically necessary. If you just want to transport a person closer to home, the cost is all yours.

[Jade13]

Jade,

MedEvac from Italy would be approx 65,000, but you also want to include hospital costs in Italy so insurance for 150,000 would not be unreasonable. As to a second passenger. Sometimes there is room, but you must remember, the first priority is the patient. Sometimes the entire family takes commercial flight back and just the patient goes on the Medivac plane

Tinknock,

Air ambulance costs from Alaska are quite high - approx 65,000 also, so your CSA insurance would be a better buy than the 20,000 which would mean you would have out of pocket expenses. Please remember Medicare won't cover the cost of a medivac unless it is medically necessary. If you just want to transport a person closer to home, the cost is all yours.

Thanks for the info. I think the policy through HAL is up to $50K. europe is of course very popular so perhaps we would hear lots of compliants if pax were medivaced from europe and stil had $15K bills, or perhaps just happy to get most covered.

We have medical insurance the covers world wide at 70%.

[wayzer]

Do not forget about the medical expenses onboard the ship.

[Tinknock50]

Tinknock,

Air ambulance costs from Alaska are quite high - approx 65,000 also, so your CSA insurance would be a better buy than the 20,000 which would mean you would have out of pocket expenses. Please remember Medicare won't cover the cost of a medivac unless it is medically necessary. If you just want to transport a person closer to home, the cost is all yours.

Good info about the Medicare.....I feel better choosing the CSA policy.

[Tinknock50]

Do not forget about the medical expenses onboard the ship.

wayzer,
The CSA policy is a regular trip insurance with medical, trip delay. etc.

The medivac aspect is what I needed to hear advice on to help me choose.

[vb,cruisers]

Two years ago, I had to be hospitalized in Sitka,Alaska. At that time, there was a question if I needed to be medically evacuated to Seattle. Luckily I didn't . Had I needed to be evacuated, I was told it would have been roughly between $32,000-$35,000.

[Tinknock50]

Two years ago, I had to be hospitalized in Sitka,Alaska. At that time, there was a question if I needed to be medically evacuated to Seattle. Luckily I didn't . Had I needed to be evacuated, I was told it would have been roughly between $32,000-$35,000.

Thanks for sharing your personal experience. Looks like we would be covered with CSA with the similar costs you almost, and fortunately didn't ,need.

[mikedw]

Do they normally only have room for one extra passenger? So, say a family of three is traveling and one adult is hurt, the child (say a teenager) would be in the medivac and other adult would have to fly home with the luggage.


What is the estimated cost from say Italy to the US?

Last year a friend of my father's broke his leg in Rome, very severely, I might add and had to bed flown back to the US. It was about $60,000.00 to fly him back to the east coast.

[wayzer]

wayzer,
The CSA policy is a regular trip insurance with medical, trip delay. etc.

The medivac aspect is what I needed to hear advice on to help me choose.

The point that I was making is that you pay the ship for medical expenses that you have while onboard.

[Tinknock50]

The point that I was making is that you pay the ship for medical expenses that you have while onboard.

Right, I had to pay when I got sick on board and then I was reimbursed by my insurance at work after I got home.

I didn't have insurance on that short cruise.