Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance?

[NAJNLA]

Questions for those of you who buy trip insurance:

 

How much coverage do you buy for Emergency Evacuation (Transportation) and why? Is $100,000 enough?

 

Also, how much coverage do you buy for Medical Expense and why? Is $10,000 enough if one already has medical insurance?

[blindrid]

Questions for those of you who buy trip insurance:

 

How much coverage do you buy for Emergency Evacuation (Transportation) and why? Is $100,000 enough?

 

Also, how much coverage do you buy for Medical Expense and why? Is $10,000 enough if one already has medical insurance?

 

I think it depends on where you are going. $100,000 from Europe may be the right amount and is overkill in the Caribbean.......

 

Again, the biggest factor of your medical insurance is any coverage limits i.e. out of network and stuff like that your medical insurance has. I kind of figure in my case with my out of network costs, $10K may be a bit light.

 

I'm also one that does not figure that everything needs to be covered and do not figure on catastophic illnesses or accidents that some do....... Check out http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/ to see what options there are.

[Philob]

Questions for those of you who buy trip insurance:

 

How much coverage do you buy for Emergency Evacuation (Transportation) and why? Is $100,000 enough?

 

Also, how much coverage do you buy for Medical Expense and why? Is $10,000 enough if one already has medical insurance?

 

Most US medical insurance will NOT cover you outside of the US (check your policy territory definition). Persons that travel overseas for work may have an endorsement or seperate overseas coverage.

 

I have coverage with one of the Blue's and they only provide a referral and a "bill me later agreement" with the referral, but I eventually still have to pay 100% of the overseas med costs.

 

As I posted before, a family friend got sick in China, med-vac'd to Hong Kong where he stayed for more than a month because the doc's wouldn't clear him for air travel. Costs where in the six figures, but most covered by trip med insurance.

 

I never leave the US without at least $1million in coverage.

[klfrodo]

It's all very tricky and subjective. What works for me may not work for you. You're doing the right thing by asking questions and doing your research.

 

Be careful of the language. Emergency Medical Assistance is just that for the most part. They will assist in finding a place that will attend to your needs. It does not mean your costs are covered.

 

Myself... I go for 50K evac and 25K coverage. I also make them primary. I don't want to have to fight for a year while insurance companies determine who's going to pay what.

[phoenix1181]

We're on a TA from Spain in November and opted for a million evacuation and 100k medical. A med flight locally is absolutely outrageous............ :( I can't even imagine what an evac from a cruise ship would cost! (and I don't want to find out) I also made the medical primary.

 

My regular insurance covered medical costs incurred in the Caribbean last year :) , but I'm not taking any chances. I'm perfectly willing to pay for coverage I don't use knowing that without it, I could be in debt forever............ :eek:

[Putterdude]

We witnessed a lady fall on an excursion in Maui this winter and the ship had to leave without her. We would definitely carry that coverage as to amount, I would think that a number between $10 and 25 K would be enough.

[AF-1]

Contact your insurance company and ask them if you are covered for the destinations you are traveling to. I would get medical insurance with emergency evacuation; emergency evacuation will transport you from the ship to the nearest hospital. It does not always transport you back to the USA. Check with the trip insurance company and ask that question. Better yet you may want to get a travel agent and have them ask all the questions.

[PurpleCow]

Also check with your credit card carrier(s). I recently found out that my AMEX platinum card covers us for medical care and evacuation if we're more than 100 miles away from home, whether we booked or paid for the trip with that card or not. It won't prevent me from getting med evac coverage, though. I figure that insurance is only expensive when you don't have it when you need it.

[CaribQween]

We had the exact same questions. "How much could it really be for medical evacuation and medical bills if there was an emergency?" And the more we thought about it, the more we didn't want to find out. So we decided to compare the difference in premiums for higher and lower limits. We just put "compare travel insurance" into a search engine and found websites that would allow us to compare many different companies and all different limits. We found that the difference we would pay for higher limits was not very much at all and well worth the peace of mind we would get from having the higher coverage. For another $50 or so, we got $1M medical evac and $250k medical coverage. It might seem like overkill at first, but its always better to have too much than too little. If you're paying that much for a beautiful vacation, don't let an unexpected emergency ruin it all for a very long time to come. And always make sure to read through the entire terms and conditions to find out exactly what is covered and under what conditions before buying. For example, trip insurance may have a pre-existing condition waiver but you may have to purchase the insurance within a certain number of days after putting the first money down on your trip (cruise deposit, etc.) in order for the waiver to be valid. Read the fine print.