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A first person Medevac nightmare (no insurance)


GeezerCouple
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Here is a first person report of an unfortunate situation where someone did NOT purchase travel insurance.

This was posted yesterday on another forum we participate in (a financial forum):

 

"Re: Do You Purchase "Medical Evacuation Insurance" When You Travel?

 

  • Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:41 pm

wrote:
Tue Jul 31, 2018 7:36 pm

Does anyone have any actual experience having to be "medically evacuated"?

Yes, to my family's detriment.

 

My aged parents treated my family to a week in St. Thomas, planning to spend quality time with the grandchildren they live 500 miles away from. The first evening we were headed out to dinner, my wife and I were busy corralling our boys (aged 2 and 6 at the time) and had crossed a two lane road ahead of my parents. They had crossed the first lane of traffic in a crosswalk when they were struck and run over by a local taxi driver. My father sustained broken bones in both feet plus a concussion that his neurologist is convinced has exacerbated the onset of dementia. My mother's leg was crushed by a front wheel at mid-femur. Complicating her treatment was that she had already had knee replacement. The head orthopedist at the hospital took one look at the x-ray and declared he did not have the equipment or specialized expertise to operate.

 

I was left trying to figure out how to get them evacuated safely to their home state of MD. My father was incapable of traveling alone and my mother needed an air ambulance. She also preferred to return to her specialist in MD for the leg reconstruction. My cell coverage was spotty and I was an emotional wreck. The air ambulance company REVA was willing to send a plane if we paid them $20000 upfront. Thankfully we had sufficient lines of credit available for immediate payment. What I didn't appreciate at the time (and honestly don't recall them mentioning though I admit I should have done a better job of understanding) was that their final bill would top $500000. They ended up being partially paid by my parent's health insurance for the evacuation flight to Miami, but at first for only one way. It took a two year fight for my mother to get the correct reimbursement paid. The added stress of dealing with the different bills, insurance companies and lawyers was not good for my mother's recovery, so I wish they'd had the insurance for that reason alone.

 

My parents are still supposedly on the hook for several hundred thousand dollars, though their attorney has advised ignoring the bill for now as REVA's attorney has indicated they don't pursue these claims (from my vantage they seem to be in the business of overcharging in the hopes of an insurance payout).

I will definitely purchase medevac coverage on trips in the future."

 

Yes, this was a more complicated case than most, but most of us wouldn't want a bill anywhere near half (or even a quarter!) of what this was.

And the distance was only from the US Virgin Islands to Maryland.

Note that this was "in the USA", in case that ever matters...

 

ALSO: Here is a link to a few similar medevac services:

 

https://expeditionportal.com/buyers-gui ... -services/

 

We might consider one of the others, given MedJetAssist's requirement that one already be admitted to a hospital as an inpatient. What if the "problem" includes getting to a hospital?

 

GC

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