Medical and evacuation insurance advice/suggestions needed

[conversationalphrase]

Check AIG travelguard and World Nomads. We went with World Nomads this year and AIG travelguard last year. We changed because AIG limits trip lengths to 90 days.

Medical services in Alaska can be very far away and for anything very serious or specialized they will fly you to Seattle.

 

[Drake3287]

I haven't read all these comments, but first you need to call your medical insurance provider and see exactly what it covers in the way of helicopter transportation, you might be surprised. Even if it doesn't cover all of it, your percentage might be doable seeing that you're taking a gamble in the first place.

The average person has no idea what their insurance provider covers when it comes to these things.

 

[athena53]

I haven't read all these comments, but first you need to call your medical insurance provider and see exactly what it covers in the way of helicopter transportation, you might be surprised. Even if it doesn't cover all of it, your percentage might be doable seeing that you're taking a gamble in the first place.

The average person has no idea what their insurance provider covers when it comes to these things.

Always good to check your regular insurance, but there have been some horror stories about people getting hit with giant uninsured helicopter evacuation costs. If you're somewhere in the Caribbean and the hospital to which you're airlifted chooses the helicopter service it may not be covered. You may also be taken to the nearest facility that can stabilize you, but not one that can provide surgical intervention or other necessary treatment. My friend's brother, whom I mentioned earlier, was taken from the ship (not sure by what means) to a hospital that didn't give him any post-stroke treatment.

 

[Gremlin]

Haven’t read through all the comments. Not sure exactly what you are looking for but thought I’d chime in with what I know and use. I work in a hospital in Alaska and have insurance through Lifemed Alaska, one of the companies ( and uniformly thought to be the best) that provide medivac services in the state. For $50 a year, they will transport you and only charge what your insurance covers ( you must have at least some coverage through your primary insurance). At around 30-50k a trip, medivac costs are pricey. Now, these aren’t the people that pick you up off a mountain. You can’t just call them to come get you. They transport you from po dunk nowhere facilities to where you can receive appropriate medical care, which is what most people need. Good luck, safe travels, and enjoy your trip.

 

[Sunset]

Haven’t read through all the comments. Not sure exactly what you are looking for but thought I’d chime in with what I know and use. I work in a hospital in Alaska and have insurance through Lifemed Alaska, one of the companies ( and uniformly thought to be the best) that provide medivac services in the state. For $50 a year, they will transport you and only charge what your insurance covers ( you must have at least some coverage through your primary insurance). At around 30-50k a trip, medivac costs are pricey. Now, these aren’t the people that pick you up off a mountain. You can’t just call them to come get you. They transport you from po dunk nowhere facilities to where you can receive appropriate medical care, which is what most people need. Good luck, safe travels, and enjoy your trip.

Are you saying they transport you from hospital to hospital
OR
From some remote spot easy to land where you are brought as a regular ambulance cannot drive there or is 5 hours away

 

[Sunset]

I haven't read all these comments, but first you need to call your medical insurance provider and see exactly what it covers in the way of helicopter transportation, you might be surprised. Even if it doesn't cover all of it, your percentage might be doable seeing that you're taking a gamble in the first place.

The average person has no idea what their insurance provider covers when it comes to these things.

I phoned ours, and it does NOT cover it. They only cover LAND ambulances.

Pretty shocking really, as nearly every cruise we have been on, we have seen at least 1 person get airlifted off , and in 1 case transferred to a small coast guard boat. (he might have been dead, as I didn't see him move).

 

[Gremlin]

Are you saying they transport you from hospital to hospital
OR
From some remote spot easy to land where you are brought as a regular ambulance cannot drive there or is 5 hours away

All of the above, depending on the circumstances. Hospital to hospital is the most common. But small town clinic to hospital happens too. Or if you were hiking in the mountains and had a stroke/MI/ serious head injury or got mauled by a grizzly, for example, the State trooper etc could call for a medivac. If you sprained your ankle, they wouldn’t as that isn’t urgent. In short, their main job is to get those with a serious life-threatening injury/illness where they need to be as fast as possible. I’ve used them to transport patients from our remote Alaskan site directly Seattle.

Whether or not the 50 bucks is worth it is dependent upon what kind of services you are looking for.

 

[FIYes]

Following this thread because I hope to be able to return to traveling in 2022. I am most interested in an annual plan. My concern is medical evacuation more than trip cancellation. It would hurt to lose the money that I have paid for a trip but it wouldn’t be financially devastating. OTOH a $100,000 medical evacuation would be financially devastating.

 

[OldShooter]

Following this thread because I hope to be able to return to traveling in 2022. I am most interested in an annual plan. My concern is medical evacuation more than trip cancellation. It would hurt to lose the money that I have paid for a trip but it wouldn’t be financially devastating. OTOH a $100,000 medical evacuation would be financially devastating.

Yes, that's exactly our interest. Even more than the money, we want the support than an evacuation company can provide.

International Travel News has run a series of articles on trip insurance written by a guy named Wayne Wirtanen. Try this: https://www.intltravelnews.com/search?query=wirtanen and look for articles he has written.

He calls the evac-only option the "Betty James" plan. He also lists several insurance brokers that specialize in trip insurance.

 

[Jenna]

We use Allianz because my husband traveled a ton for work. It provided transportation home for recuperation if my husband had a heart attack or something. Also look into Amex Platinum-it includes good travel insurance

For example:
Amex Search and rescue
We will bear the costs of searching for and rescuing the Insured Person, up to a maximum of S$100,000