Note that the emergency medical evacuation, particularly in cases #2 and #3 (above) need to be arranged by the insurance company. So be sure that you are in contact with them. This can be very helpful in several ways: Firstly, you will know that they are going to pay for what can be very expensive, and secondly, they have experience and knowledge in this area and can be sure you have the best care and transport they can arrange for you (be it by plane, boat, or other conveyance).
For purposes of comparing outbound plans, I am going to review the coverage for emergency medical evacuation that we have available from our many companies. I will list them from most flexible and then from highest coverage to lowest. Please note that the cost of premiums are not necessarily listed from highest to lowest.
The most generous coverage for emergency medical evacuation is offered by
International Medical Group (IMG) because they allow a rider on their plans (for an additional charge) which will allow you to include non-life threatening coverage as well as natural disaster evacuation. The best coverage is in their
Patriot Platinum International plan. The coverage for emergency medical evacuation (without the rider) is up to the maximum of the plan (which can be from $1 million to $8 million). The Evacuation Plus Rider (available up to age 65) adds coverage up to $50,000 for non-life threatening medical evacuation and $10,000 for natural disaster evacuation. The other IMG plan (
Patriot International) offer up to $500,000 for emergency medical evacuation on the basic plans. The Evacuation Plus Riders to these plans add $25,000 for non-life threatening evacuation and $5,000 for natural disaster evacuation (this rider can only be purchased for individuals under 65 years old and only on individual policies).
The fixed benefit plan by IMG has more modest coverage.
Visitor's Care only offers up to $50,000 for emergency medical evacuation for plans B and C or $25,000 for plan A. No rider is available for this plan. Note that
Patriot Go Travel International does NOT cover emergency medical evacuation or repatriation.
The next best coverage is offered by
Trawick International which covers up to $2 million for emergency medical evacuation. No additional rider or coverage is available. This coverage is available on their
Safe Travels International Cost Saver plan and the
Safe Travels International plan.
Liaison Choice covers up to $500,000 for emergency medical evacuation and purchased for less than 364 days of coverage, you may buy additional time, to a total of 364 days. And finally, the
WorldMed Outbound plan covers up to $250,000 for emergency medical evacuation.
That summarizes the plans available for travel outside the US. Note that if your travels include the US, then you must list that as your destination country and some of these options are not available to you. If you are going to the US and another country, you can split up the trip and use different plans to cover each portion of your trip. This may (or may not) save you some money since coverage in the US is always more expensive.
I hope you have found this information useful. Note that coverage and benefits change year by year, so be sure to check an updated brochure to make sure the benefit has not changed recently. While we try to keep the site up to date, this is not always possible. However, the brochure will specify all the coverage for the policy. Please feel free to give us a call with any concerns or questions you may have.
As always, we wish you safe and happy travels!
