Medical Evacuation Insurance/Repatriation

[Weatherby]

Hello all,

Good info in most all posts. I use Tripprotector Preferred. These are the only ones I have found that will extract me to MY.....MY.....hospital of choice. GR, Medjet, etc...will extract you but only to the nearest capable facility. If my back is broken in Zimbabwae, being moved to NetCare Pretoria East in Moreleta Park SA does little to help what me or my family will need. They will cover all medical expense and extraction to your front door if needed. They will fly a spouse to you then both of you back from the brink of hell.


As for "adventure"......experience some first then comment.

[Ray Hammond]

Weatherby is right..however, Medjet is NOT medical insurance. It's a club, for repatriation.

Your friend in CAR might have just gotten lucky...because I know they have no small planes to get in and out of the bush with, but use contractors.

I would trust more to the outfitter to get you out of the bush, and to a local hospital, then MedJet.

Again, the important thing about Medjet is they are NOT going to fly you home, but to the nearest hospital that can take care of you.

And, if you are hurt badly enough to need that service, I wouldn't want to fly to the states anyway to start getting treatment.

Huntit, in the US we have medical insurance (most of us) that utilizes a card system...you go to hospital, they take your card, and rush you into emergency and begin taking care of you if your life is threatened.

But on the other side of the world, they don't TAKE our cards...they want funds deposited in teh bank account of the hospital as a "reserve" before they begin handling a patient.

When people are active in Africa and most often getting injured, our medical insurance folks are typically at home, enjoying their evenings.

Having a credit card limit increased until the next day when they can get in touch with your carrier is a little work, but definitely worth it.

As to being here, or in Africa, I'd have to say millions of Canadians would disagree with you- the hospitals in our northern tier of states are filled with Canadians getting treatment they cannot get in Canada or can't get in a timely manner.  I don't see them flying off to Southern Africa for treatment!        

Safari Club, unfortunately, is only in it for the money. I can tell  you this from firsthand experience in dealing with them on this issue.
They use who offers them the largest fees from the transaction, bottom line. I make a living reading policies and contracts and I've read through Medjet and a half dozen others...you are not getting what you're made to "think" you're getting from most of the repatriation clubs.

It's important to have, once you're stabilized, but getting triaged in country if you've had a stroke, heart attack, or other life threatening event is critical to the success of any future care you would be given stateside.

[Don Thomas]

With all due respect Dartwick, I think your post is naive. I imagine I have spent as much time in dangerous situations in the Bush as anyone here, and if I fall off a cliff and die, so be it. But I do not plan to die unnecessarily of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix, and I'm sure not going to stand by and watch it happen to Lori. Don

[Ray Hammond]

I'm with you, Don.

[Weatherby]

Originally posted by Ray Hammond:
In the end the best possible way to handle this is to have a credit card limit increased temporarily to 100,000 dollars while you are on your trip.

Hey Ray,   Just noticed this quote of yours. I have a friend who is about 300,000.00us into a bowel obstruction while in Pakistan. A hundred G's ain't what they use to be.

[Ray Hammond]

You are right...but the 100K will get you started until your insurance can be contacted.

Once they do and get everything set up you are then fine as wine...as your health coverage will be paying for everything well before you get to 100,001 dollars.

It's just that first step that's the toughie when overseas.

[Weatherby]

No insurance.

[Don Thomas]

Just back from the Bush in AK, where I spent some time thinking about my last post (in response to a post that seems to have disappeared) and realized I didn't really explain myself very well. Think about it. If you fall off a cliff and get a compound fracture of your femur, are your friends going to walk off and let you die? Of course not. They are going to hike out, fly out, or otherwise do what has to be done to get you the help you need. At that point, an evacuation will begin; it will possibly be dangerous and almost certainly expensive. Expect a BIG bill, for an amount that whoever got you out of there and provided you with definitive care deserve. Then, you can stiff them, or you can come up with the money, possibly be mortgaging your house and jeopardizing you family's finances. If you are in a foreign country, you may not be allowed to leave until you've done this (I have seen that happen). So, the argument isn't about decreasing the "adventure". It's about taking responsibility for what you are doing. Do everyone a favor and get the insurance. Don

[tmccall]

Originally posted by Dr. Ed Ashby:
I won't bother with all the details, but I was left stranded in an African county without a single cent, no credit cards left, and no passport or identification papers. The collect calls to Discover Card, Master Card and Visa only resulted in "we will cancel the card and issue you another one - mailed to your home address". It took over six weeks for me to actually get my hands on the first one of those replacement cards.

On the other hand, as soon as they verified my autheticity over the phone (against the information in their files), the call to AMEX resulted in: (1) cancellation of the missing card; a free hot meal; (2) a place to stay; (3) near immediate issuance of a replacement card PLACED RIGHT INTO MY HAND; (4) arrangements for me to get a generous amount of cash for my immediate needs (from a local bank) on that newly issued AMEX card (5) WITHOUT ANY IDENTIFICATION PAPERS; (6) an appointment with the nearest American Consulate to get a new temporary passport issues, (7) as well as directions on precisely how to get there and (8) who to speak with (a person they had already contacted and briefed on the situation); (9) a personal toll free contact number and identity code number to call them back, should I need any further assistance ... and (10) ALL of that they made happen ON A NATIONAL HOLIDAY WEEKEND in the country I was stranded in!

Like their adds say; I won't leave home without it!

Ed
TGMM Family of the Bow

Wow!  Great story.  

Having been stranded overnight in Southeast Asia, I have a pretty good idea of the level of comfort this provided for you.  I'm convinced that, on my next trip overseas, I'll be carrying an AmEx card.

[Don Thomas]

Unfortunately, I had exactly the opposite experience with Amex about 20 years ago. The story is too long to go into here, but they tried to hold me responsible for what was clearly a fraudulent claim, even though I handled the situation exactly as they told me to on site. The service from the company was absolutely terrible. Today, I wouldn't use an American Express card to break into my own car. Don