Evacuation insurance for seniors over 75

[DAKCRUISERS]

Can you recommend an affordable policy for the over 75 crowd that will provide medical transportation back to the home hospital. We always purchase regular travel insurance which will bring us to their choice of the closest hospital, which could leave us stranded somewhere far from home.  The best we’ve found is almost $300 pp for a 7-day cruise. That’s not happening! We don’t travel enough for an annual policy. Thanks!

[klfrodo]

"affordable" is subjective.

Have you looked into Medjet Assist? If a member of AARP, there is a discount.

[Tribaut]

I just bought a C&T Travel Insured policy for an upcoming cruise.  I have a credit card that provides trip cancellation/interruption insurance so I only needed medical and evacuation coverage.  The reps at C&T (I checked with several to make sure it was true) told me to put $0 in for the trip cost. This provided $1 million in evacuation coverage and was much less expensive than insuring the whole trip with them.  I think other insurance companies offer the same type of coverage so just check with them before you buy it.  USAA uses C&T as its travel insurance provider and it’s even a little cheaper to get it thru USAA if you’re a member. 

[DAKCRUISERS]

Medjet Assist only has an annual policy that was over $800. That’s only for over 75.

[DAKCRUISERS]

Does the C&T insurance take you to the nearest hospital of THEIR choice, or the hospital close to your home once you are stabilized? Using your credit card plus evacuation insurance is an excellent idea which we were able to do before we turned too old to afford the evacuation policy.

[DAKCRUISERS]

Aha, thanks to your suggestion, I went to insuremytrip.com and put in 0.00 for trip cost. I found a policy with AIG Travelguard Essential that provides good evacuation insurance to your home hospital. Only $107.16 for both of us!  Thank you!

[Babr]

2 hours ago, DAKCRUISERS said:

Aha, thanks to your suggestion, I went to insuremytrip.com and put in 0.00 for trip cost. I found a policy with AIG Travelguard Essential that provides good evacuation insurance to your home hospital. Only $107.16 for both of us!  Thank you!

 

The language of the policy states that the patient will be transported to the nearest adequate medical facility for treatment or to another local facility if necessary for additional medically necessary treatment. Finally the patient will be transported home after he has been treated locally and is medically fit to travel. 
 

You’ll still be taken to the nearest hospital, and you’ll stay there until you can travel as determined by the local attending physician.I don’t see how that is different from the terms of any other comprehensive travel policy.

 

If you are depending on your credit card for cancellation and interruption, know that it does not cover pre-existing conditions - something else of concern for the over 75 crowd.

[DAKCRUISERS]

The problem is, I may not want to be stuck in a hospital in Honduras until I can get on a plane and fly home. Some policies provide medical transportation to a home hospital and some don’t. And some policies offer “hospital of choice” and some don’t. 

Thanks for the tip about credit card policy. That is an important point!

[Babr]

21 minutes ago, DAKCRUISERS said:

The problem is, I may not want to be stuck in a hospital in Honduras until I can get on a plane and fly home. Some policies provide medical transportation to a home hospital and some don’t. And some policies offer “hospital of choice” and some don’t. 

Thanks for the tip about credit card policy. That is an important point!

But you will be. The policy does not fly you home by air ambulance until all local options have been exhausted. Like every other policy, you will be flown home by commercial air when the attending physician determines that you are fit to travel. You won’t get an air ambulance unless you need extended care or rehab.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Babr

[DAKCRUISERS]

No, you are lumping all policies together. Not all policies will pay for medical transportation home.  You stay where you are until you can get on a commercial flight. If I need it, I want it available! “Hospital of choice” is how it is worded. Very few policies offer that. The Travelguard Preferred offers it.

[Babr]

Post 6 said you had the Essential plan. However, if you purchased the Preferred Plan and the Medical Bundle upgrade, you may request to be transported after you have been hospitalized for at least 7 days and if the local physician determines you are medically able to travel. The policy will reimburse reasonable and customary charges up to the policy limit.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Babr

[klfrodo]

5 hours ago, DAKCRUISERS said:

Aha, thanks to your suggestion, I went to insuremytrip.com and put in 0.00 for trip cost. I found a policy with AIG Travelguard Essential that provides good evacuation insurance to your home hospital. Only $107.16 for both of us!  Thank you!

Side Note. This is something I usually do also.

 

However, I put a Trip Cost of $500. The price for the policy is the same from $0 up to $500. At $501 to $1000, the price goes up. The price of the coverage increases incrementally.

 

Why do I choose $500 as my Trip Cost? Because the Trip Delay, Trip Interruption coverages are usually paid at 150% of Trip Cost. So, when my trip is delayed for whatever "covered" reason, for no additional cost for the insurance, I can recover up to $750 per person for my out-of-pocket costs.

[DAKCRUISERS]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

Post 6 said you had the Essential plan. However, if you purchased the Preferred Plan and the Medical Bundle upgrade, you may request to be transported after you have been hospitalized for at least 7 days and if the local physician determines you are medically able to travel. The policy will reimburse reasonable and customary charges up to the policy limit.

 

 

You are right about that. I have not purchased either one yet! I am trying to determine the real differences in the two policies other than the amounts of coverage. As long as they take me home, I don’t know if I care about which hospital. Did you see anything about seven days on the Essential plan, too, or just the Preferred? Thanks for helping me dig into this!  These days my old brain seems to need more help!

[Babr]

6 minutes ago, DAKCRUISERS said:

You are right about that. I have not purchased either one yet! I am trying to determine the real differences in the two policies other than the amounts of coverage. As long as they take me home, I don’t know if I care about which hospital. Did you see anything about seven days on the Essential plan, too, or just the Preferred? Thanks for helping me dig into this!  These days my old brain seems to need more help!

It is not simply a question of which hospital at home. It is a question remaining in place for local treatment and recovery vs. a request for hospital of choice.

The Essential Plan does not give you the option to request a transfer at any point. You stay until you are fit to travel. Usually that means you’ll fly home commercially, perhaps with a medical escort if necessary. If you are severely ill or injured beyond the capacity of the local facilities, you’ll eventually be transferred to a hospital in the US, but the decision is up to the local doctor, the receiving facility, and the insurance company. You can be sure the insurance company will resist paying for an air ambulance unless it is a life or death situation.  They certainly will not make the decision based on your preference or convenience. That is why the premium is less expensive.

 

The Preferred Plan requires that you pay an additional up charge for the Medical Bundle in order to be able to request the hospital of choice after 7 days if you are able to travel by then. Once again the local doctor must approve your condition.

Compare the sections on Emergency Evacuation. The wording and provisions are the same except for the Medical Bundle upgrade in the Preferred Plan.

 

If you have not yet purchased anything, consider klfrodo’s suggestion of entering a minimum trip cost so that you at least get some trip interruption benefits as well.

 

[DAKCRUISERS]

Thank you!   Yes, that was an excellent idea to put $500 in the cost section. 

[Thrak]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:06 PM, klfrodo said:

"affordable" is subjective.

Have you looked into Medjet Assist? If a member of AARP, there is a discount.

 

We always purchase Medjet Assist. I didn't realize there was a discount for AARP.

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We always purchase Medjet Assist. I didn't realize there was a discount for AARP.

 

Quoting my own post. I contacted MedJet Assist and they are refunding the amount I would have been discounted due to AARP membership. Nice!

[InsureMyTrip]

[Sundiego]

On 2/21/2023 at 7:25 AM, InsureMyTrip said:

What is an "emergency assistance company" ???

[Cruise till you drop]

On 2/21/2023 at 9:25 AM, InsureMyTrip said:

Not sure this answered the OP’s question 

[Saildude16]

CC benefit for cancellation/interruption is not covered with "...pre-existing condition...that occurs or commences prior to the initial deposit date or booking date of the trip."  However, there is a 60 day "lookback" period limitation of "treatment" and "...taking of prescription drugs or medication for a controlled condition throughout this 60 day period will not be considered to be a treatment of illness or disease".

 

Don't pretend to be a lawyer or insurance expert, but to me it is not at all clear that pre-existing  invalidates a claim for all medical conditions.  An example:  What if one were taking meds to help prevent kidney stones, but you had a severe attack requiring hospitalization just prior to departure?

[GeezerCouple]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:07 PM, Saildude16 said:

CC benefit for cancellation/interruption is not covered with "...pre-existing condition...that occurs or commences prior to the initial deposit date or booking date of the trip."  However, there is a 60 day "lookback" period limitation of "treatment" and "...taking of prescription drugs or medication for a controlled condition throughout this 60 day period will not be considered to be a treatment of illness or disease".

 

Don't pretend to be a lawyer or insurance expert, but to me it is not at all clear that pre-existing  invalidates a claim for all medical conditions.  An example:  What if one were taking meds to help prevent kidney stones, but you had a severe attack requiring hospitalization just prior to departure?

 

This probably isn't the right sub-forum, given that the invited vendor has chosen to stay pretty much silent (for whatever reason - this could/should have been a great opportunity for them to shine, but... that's totally separate...).

 

In any event, it is absolutely not correct that having a pre-existing condition that IS related to a claim would not be covered (e.g., kidney stones and then a kidney stone attack while traveling, to use your example), at least under certain easy-to-satisfy conditions.

 

Many policies have a "waiver of the pre-existing condition exclusion" IF one starts the insurance coverage within approx 10-20 days (state dependent) of making the very first  payment, refundable or not... AND if one is "fit to travel" on the day the insurance is started.

In these cases, there is no "look-back" period, as the "pre-existing conditions" don't matter.

 

GC