Additional medevac insurance

[Raygun99]

Any advice on those insurance policies to pay for ambulance,medivac and other expensive transport. We have Medicare and Tricare.. Is the additional insurance needed?

 

[Teacher Terry]

Some of my friends carry extra insurance and some don’t. My understanding is that Medicare will pay if it’s medically necessary but I will be interested in knowing the answer. Locally you can buy insurance from Remsa.

 

[Scrapr]

It is my understanding that Medicare does not pay for medivac & repatriation of remains. My Kaiser plan says they will reimburse cost of care. But I haven't tried it out yet

 

[Sunset]

When we travel, we carry year long travel insurance, primarily for evac coverage and additional medical expenses in a foreign country.

 

[Chuckanut]

I bought 5 years of MedJet a few years ago during a Black Friday sale. If medically needed they will fly me back home for care.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I’m wondering if Medicare pays if you are hurt in a rural area for example and they have to fly you out to a hospital versus being able to take an ambulance.

 

[Trooper]

I’m wondering if Medicare pays if you are hurt in a rural area for example and they have to fly you out to a hospital versus being able to take an ambulance.

If you're outside of the country, no Medicare. Some supplements have a $50K lifetime maximum.

In the US, that probably depends on whether you have Traditional Medicare or Advantage. I'd be curious to know.

 

[punkinhead]

My mother had a medically necessary (as defined by her doctor) flight of several hundred miles that insurance refused to pay. After that my parents bought a medivac policy. They will provide a private jet or helicopter if necessary but if not needed they will provide an ambulance or van. She was struck crossing a street in South Carolina and when she was released from the hospital the medivac company drove her to a convalescent center in Florida with a nurse in a wheelchair accessible van and also transported her vehicle back to her home in Florida. It was incredibly convenient and saved me thousands of miles of driving to help.

I don't remember the carrier or the cost but I do recall being surprised at how reasonable it seemed. It was one premium for (I believe) 5 years.

My parents bought the policy because they were traveling full time in an RV. My wife and I are starting to travel a lot in retirement so we're considering it for ourselves.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Thanks pumpkin head for the information. On the Medicare website it says they pay if medically necessary but probably leaves it open for interpretation as per your mom’s experience.

 

[braumeister]

I was on an Alaska trip about 5 or 6 years ago when one of our group had his back go out on him in the middle of Denali NP. One of the group was a doctor who confirmed that he couldn't travel normally out of the park so they got a helicopter to take him to Anchorage, over 100 miles away. That would have been a great many thousands of dollars without insurance, but he had medevac insurance that picked up the whole tab.

I don't know exactly which one he had, but you can get such a policy for just a few hundred bucks for a year from several reliable companies, so I see no reason why any traveler wouldn't want to buy it.

 

[kwise]

We live in a very rural area of northern Wyoming. My husband was life flighted on a helicopter 2 years ago to a hospital in Montana - 165 miles away by car. The original charge was approximately $84,000; traditional Medicare paid approximately $20,000 and our county's air ambulance insurance, for all county residents, negotiated with the air ambulance company to reduce the bill and then paid the rest. We did not receive a payment due bill. Where we live, air ambulances are a way of life. If the county did not have this service for their residents, I would purchase the insurance individually every year.

 

[Koolau]

Hawaiian Islands (other than Oahu) often require air ambulance to Honolulu for life-saving treatment (accident and health emergencies.) I've often wondered how often Medicare (or other insurance) deny such claims. If I lived on a neighbor Island, I would seriously research medivac insurance. I've heard of horrendous costs for this service and most of the neighbor Islands are just half an hour flight.

On an unrelated topic, Hawaii has had a number of fatal accidents involving medivac flights. I have no idea if this kind of negative experience is typical of medivac service in other areas.

Final Moments of Missing Hawaii Plane Detailed in NTSB Report

Jan. 6—"Hang on " were the final recorded words from the pilot of a Hawaii Life Flight medical transport plane that spiraled into the ocean off Kaupo, Maui, on Dec. 15, killing...

www.aviationpros.com

 

[marinauser]

We have Medjet. Have kept it up since it was previously supplied by employer and know of at least two people I worked with that have needed to use it.

 

[OldShooter]

I buy evacuation insurance except when we are in first-world countries. The main reason is logistics. I don't want one of us to have to manage an evacuation in countries where the health care infrastructure is not first rate and where English speakers are not widespread. Cost of an evacuation is a lesser concern as we could absorb 6 figures if necessary though we certainly would not enjoy it.

Lately I have been using Travelex (Medical evacuation & repatriation | Travelex Insurance) simply based on the size and reputation of the parent company. Fortunately we have never had to field test any evacuation company, so selecting one is a bit of a crap shoot. I only buy from real, regulated, insurance companies. Never from unregulated "membership" organizations (like MedJet) which seem to be common in this market.

 

[Surewhitey]

We helped our friends with getting a private low altitude flight from Cancun to either Houston or Ft Lauderdale when she was on oxygen and with a blood disease. The quotes came in ~$6-15k in 2014. They lived there for 10+ years, but didn't have access to the specialized care & prescription.