Medical Evacuation Insurance

DH (62) and I (58) are traveling this May/June for 16 nights (includes post cruise tour) in Alaska. I did purchase trip insurance - not through the ship to give us some health coverage for the days we will be in Canada as our BCBS of Florida does not cover us out of the country. This will also cover us in case of death of a family member as my mother is in declining health.

Fast forward to April of 2017 when we will do a 15 night Panama Canal. It occurs to me that maybe I should add medical evac insur. Not sure I can mention a name but it is a very popular one world wide - and would provide transportation from any medical hospital to a medical hospital of our choosing. If I bought a 1 yr policy it would actually cover BOTH Alaska and Panama and the price is reasonable.

However as I read it it doesn't cover emergency evac from the actual cruise ship. :confused: which I've heard is astronomically expensive. So now I'm unsure of what to do. While we are both reasonably healthy - you never know - and there are areas on both these trips that are pretty remote. Advice please.

We get MedjetAssist in addition to our regular medical insurance for this purpose.

If you are a member of AARP you can even get a savings.

Keith

However as I read it it doesn't cover emergency evac from the actual cruise ship. :confused: which I've heard is astronomically expensive. So now I'm unsure of what to do. While we are both reasonably healthy - you never know - and there are areas on both these trips that are pretty remote. Advice please.

Get Medjet for your evacuation needs.

Re evac from the cruise ship itself (and I assume you are talking helicopter evac), that is very rarely-employed tactic that would be performed by a coast guard, and would be free of charge.

DH (62) and I (58) are traveling this May/June for 16 nights (includes post cruise tour) in Alaska. I did purchase trip insurance - not through the ship to give us some health coverage for the days we will be in Canada as our BCBS of Florida does not cover us out of the country. This will also cover us in case of death of a family member as my mother is in declining health.

 

Fast forward to April of 2017 when we will do a 15 night Panama Canal. It occurs to me that maybe I should add medical evac insur. Not sure I can mention a name but it is a very popular one world wide - and would provide transportation from any medical hospital to a medical hospital of our choosing. If I bought a 1 yr policy it would actually cover BOTH Alaska and Panama and the price is reasonable.

 

However as I read it it doesn't cover emergency evac from the actual cruise ship. :confused: which I've heard is astronomically expensive. So now I'm unsure of what to do. While we are both reasonably healthy - you never know - and there are areas on both these trips that are pretty remote. Advice please.

That is probably MedJetAssist, the one that IF you are already admitted as an inpatient, YOU can decide to have them medically evacuate you to the hospital of YOUR choice in your home country.

No need to have the local medical folks declare themselves unable to deal with your condition, and no insurance beancounters to intervene.

You just need to be in a condition to be evacuated - and they'll use air ambulance, etc., if that is what is needed. In other situations, they might send you first class with a medical attendant.

But MedJetAssist only kicks in once you are IN that hospital (and *admitted* as an inpatient - not in the ER or in an Observation unit, etc.).

Our regular travel insurance would cover any care/transportation prior to that, including the care in that local hospital.

So you probably want a regular travel insurance medical coverage policy if your regular at-home medical insurance doesn't cover out of country, or in any other way wouldn't work for these purposes.

We have the annual MedJetAssist policy, as that would then help us all year, if one of us had a problem on a business trip, as long as it was at least 150 miles from home.

There is "per trip" coverage by MedJetAssist, but if you already know there will be two trips, you might as well get the annual coverage.

But double check/compare the costs to decide.

Check out GEOBlue Insurance

I called a rep for BCBS of Florida and was told that we would be covered out of country for emergency purpose, and we have the basic not the standard plan. You might want to call them. I will still check into medical insurance while traveling, but I do not know if GeoBlue is available in Florida nor the cost or details of coverage.

Also for medical evacuation we purchase the year-round Good Sam Travel Assist. However it does not cover medical bills. Check out this insurance on the Good Sam website. The cost is about $100 that includes both husband and wife.

We have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Private Client credit card that covers trip interruption coverage which includes other coverages such as car rental insurance, etc.

Anyone is welcome to add or correct anything I have stated. I am always open to suggestions and learn from others' experiences.

We get MedjetAssist in addition to our regular medical insurance for this purpose.

 

If you are a member of AARP you can even get a savings.

 

Keith

We do the exact same thing.

I called a rep for BCBS of Florida and was told that we would be covered out of country for emergency purpose, and we have the basic not the standard plan.

Sorry to ask a personal question, but is your BCBS plan a Medicare plan?

I ask because my wife just got on Medicare and one of the first things I did was to call my local BCBS plan, and they said she would be covered under the plan for emergency medical in a foreign country.

Sorry to ask a personal question, but is your BCBS plan a Medicare plan?

 

I ask because my wife just got on Medicare and one of the first things I did was to call my local BCBS plan, and they said she would be covered under the plan for emergency medical in a foreign country.

I have Medicare Part B, but Medicare does not cover outside the U.S. My secondary insurance is BCBS Federal Employee Program. I am retired from the Federal Govt. My insurance is not a Medicare supplement insurance. Even though I have the basic plan which only covers in-network providers, it will cover outside the country if it is an emergency. At least that's what the insurance rep told me. I would like international medical insurance to cover what my insurance doesn't. Still looking.

If you have Medicare, shop carefully for a Medicare Supplement policy, which will change to the company's basic program once you are out of the U.S.

Even then, look for a supplement that, once it changes to "basic", includes air ambulance (true medevac FROM THE SHIP - not Medjet Assist, which is only works FROM a hospital). Likewise, you want your regular supplemental/basic plan to waive preexisting conditions, particularly as regards medevac. Most comprehensive travel plans (trip cancel, etc. and medical) require purchase within about two weeks of cruise deposit payment for a waiver. However, some travel medical only (e.g., GeoBlue doesn't consider preexisting conditions and can be purchased right up to the day you leave (BUT NOT DURING YOUR TRIP). Of course, it has no trip cancel/interrupt coverage. For that, get a travel savvy credit card like United Airlines Explorer VISA or several other Chase cards like Sapphire. If you travel a lot, the annual fee is far less then the travel protection portion of comprehensive travel insurance with often less attractive protection.

For some of us geezers, a good combo is convertible Medicare Supplement to Basic policy with air ambulance coverage, trip item coverage from travel credit card (used to purchase the trip elements) and international medical supplement (waiving preexisting conditions) to cover the deductibles and copays of your regular policy.

note: $500 deductible and 10% copay for a six figure airlift from a ship is a chunk of change. A policy like GeoBlue or Travel Guard Medevac (check waiver date reqts on this one) are inexpensive, offer multiple trips per year, etc.

The Air Ambulance from

Tenerife to home cost $ 95,000. Make sure you have ample coverage. This is not the time to go on the cheap.

On November 12 2016 I sent the following email to the MedjetAssist CEO:

Dear Mr. Berger

I am writing to inform you of my disappointment in the Medjet Assist service.

I recently (on 11 /4 ) spent the night in a national health service clinic in Clifton, Union Island, SVG. The only medical facility on that island. The doctor had minimal equipment but had diagnosed me with pneumonia and CHF.

Rather than come to my assistance because the runway was too short, the directions given by Medjet, as we understood them, were go somewhere else with a longer runway, check in to a hospital facility and call.

In the morning we checked out of the clinic, picked up some medications at the local pharmacy and headed for Grenada, two days away by boat.

That night (Sat 11/5, while asleep on the boat) my difibrillater shocked me.

We got to Grenada the next day and tied the boat up. I called Medjet and was told I needed to be in patient in a hospital before you would come get us.

Instead, I chose to change my commercial reservations and come home early. Of course, there were no reasonable ways to fly from Grenada to Atlanta that day or the next and we flew home on Tuesday.

On Wednesday I saw both my cardiologist and my Internist. Yes, I did have pneumonia and CHF and my defibrillator did go off.

Medjet didn’t do much for our ability to “Pack more peace of mind on your next trip”

I received the following:

Thank you for your e-mail. I am disappointed by your disappointment with MedjetAssist.

John Gobbels, Medjet VP and COO who oversees the transport program, will respond in detail regarding your concerns early next week.

We certainly hope you are feeling better and I also hope by Mr. Gobbels response you'll have a better understanding of our program.

Best regards,

Roy Berger

President/CEO

MedjetAssist

On Novenber 19th I received the following letter from Medjet Assist:

November 15, 2016

Dear Mr.

I am in receipt of your letter to Mr. Berger and would like to take a few moments to respond. First, it is my hope that you are feeling better and I am sorry that your trip was interrupted by an illness.

November 4, 2016 at approximately 11:00pm CDT, one of our transport

coordinators spoke with your wife after receiving the medical assessment on your

condition and making inquiry to the capability of our affiliate aircraft to complete

operations on Union Island.

Union Island has a runway that is 2,300 ft. and is not accessible by aircraft utilized to repatriate our members back to the Unites States. Medjet rules and regulations specify "that both the originating and receiving hospitals must be accessible to and from an airfield capable of accommodating MedjetAssist authorized aircraft". Due to this, medical transfer services were not available from Union Island.

While I understand that you requested to be repatriated from the airport in Grenada after making port on November 6, 2016, the rules and regulations state that MedjetAssist medical transfer services are only available to members who are hospitalized as an inpatient. We are unfortunately unable to complete medical transfers for members who are not hospitalized.

It is my hope that this letter and review of the membership rules and regulations answer some of your questions and concerns. Please let me know if I can be of any other assistance.

I remain,

John F. Gobbels

Vice Presideny/COO

Have purchased travel insurance for numerous cruises, but this time we'll be going to the Galapagos islands on Celebrity Expedition and with having to come ashore on zodiacs and traverse slippery rocks see greater risk of injury.

I called insuremytrip to ask which policies gave me the greatest control if evac was required. The woman told me that none of their policies cover evacuation from ship or tiny islands to local hospital. They only get me home from that hospital. I asked her who foots the bill for the for the chopper from the ship and she had no idea (that really bothered me). I know in US waters the coast guard will fly you out, but what about overseas, like Ecuador, and would I be at risk of a big bill?

Having been evacuated myself, and my partner being evacuated, I can provide some facts.

First, do not even consider med jet assist. I looked into it after more two experiences, wondering if it would have made my evacuation more seamless.. They love to play into your fears of being sent to a crap hospital or not being able to go home at your discretion. If you would like, I can go into this in more detail.

My opinion is that it is WORSE than regular medical insurance, all policies I have ever read include evacuation. MEd Assit won't fly you from the ship to home, they require you to be a patient in a regular hospital first. By then, you could be dead!

Also their minimum time to arrange evacuation is 3 days, and they DO NOT COVER the use of helicopters, so you still need regular evacuation insurance,

I would select a policy of $250,000 to be safe, as mostly the increments are quite large. $50,000 is not enough.

Having been airlifted from rural Bhutan, a country with one helicopter, and then flown on a private jet to the best hospital in Bangkok, the travel company did not dictate where we went, we also got to choose our hospital in Mexico City. All these private hospitals cost the same, which is not very much.

We just came back from the Galapagos and I researched ahead of time my hospital of choice. An excellent one in Guayaquil. Look for one that has JOICO certification. I put numbers in my phone for everything, esp the company that is subcontracted to handle emergencies by your travel insurance company. I felt assured that if I had an accident that I could be transported there until I was well enough to get home,

NO ONE Is going to fly you home until the travel insurance people rule that you are medically stable. They go by the local doctor, but can over rule them. Usually, there are one of three places that you will be brought to; hospital, rehab facility or home, it's hard to get them to approve home, in my experience.