Anyone with experience with medical evacuation insurance

Geor, it sounds as though you are referring to a policy separate from a conventional travel insurance plan. The few times we have purchased travel insurance we have been able to include evacuation and repatriation in one policy, along with trip cancellation and health coverage. I have not used either of the companies you reference.

Last time I bought travel insurance through Travel Guard I was insured for medical evacuation. I did not asked for it. They put it there automatically.

Ah, that's who we used, same as Ilja. All included; there are others too.

I have a membership with Divers Alert Network that includes really great medical/evac/repatriation insurance. Never had to use it, but it's only $35/year, I think for an individual membership. You don't have to be a diver to belong, and coverage is for any incident, not just diving injuries or problems.

I use www.squaremouth.com and www.insuremytrip.com to compare policies for purchase. Medevac and the like are included with the policies.

I have been fortunate not to have to make a med-evac claim. That said, if you buy travel insurance, the medical/medical evacuation is the disaster that you should insure for. Losing a bag or having an overnight (12+ hour) delay claim is negligible compared to a traumatic injury requiring a chartered medically staffed evaluation flight.

AIG Travel Gurad's Basic and Silver plans are comprehensive coverage that include $100K and $150K of med-evac coverage. Some firms offer med-evac only at a lower premium cost. My advice is to always read the fine print as to what i covered and exclusions. Some policies have an exclusion for participating in "races". Others clarify the exclusion to exclude "professional" events.

I have had a policy with Medjet Assist for number of years. Although I have never had to use it, it's inexpensive and worth it to me for the peace of mind.

The down-side of relying on the evacuation insurance that's included in regular travel policies is that the insurance company – in all its warm, fuzzy humanity – is the entity that decides Whether or not you're to be evacuated. After seeing an insurance company decide someone could get surgery in a small city in Egypt, I decided to carry separate evacuation insurance.

With Medjet Assist, as long as the doctor caring for me and my home doctor agree that I can safely be transported, they will transport me home at my request or the request of the family member or traveling companion. This coverage also applies within the United States as long as you're a certain distance from home – I think it's about 150 miles.

In my experience, every policy of travel insurance we have bought through InsureMyTrip has included evacuation coverage, usually at the 50K to 100 K level. We get insurance mainly for the cancellation coverage, in case a medical emergency prevents us from making the trip. It happened to a travel companion and we were fully reimbursed for prepaid, non-refundable expenses.

Evacuation coverage is interesting in that the,y are able to provide high limits at very little cost. This suggests that it is rarely used. Indeed, my only friend who faced a serious mediaca emergency in Europe ( heart attack in Austria on a ski trip) declined to be evacuated. His words., as reported by his wife, we're " Hell no, why would I want to leave? They have the best strudel in the world right here, even in this hospital,". He stayed there and had whatever procedure he needed there ( I do not recall,if it was a stent, pacemaker, or something else).

So I can't say if evacuation coverage is really needed for European trips---but if you want it, most standard policies include it. Medical coverage is the important one for us.

Do you have a serious medical condition, or a specific concern? Just asking because I think most travelers don't feel they need this kind of extra insurance. Of course it's up to you and your specific circumstances. I assume you are aware that in many European countries (although not all - Europe is big), they have excellent medical facilities - as good and in many cases better than in the US. If I was going to any of the developed European countries, and I was just planning to do ordinary tourist stuff, unless I had a specific medical issue/concern, I'd have to think pretty long and hard before paying for special medical evacuation insurance. If I was going to do extreme sports (jumping off a mountain in a wing suit) in some less-developed corner of Europe (I dunno...maybe Moldova - do they have big mountains?) or otherwise expecting to be at significant risk of major injuries, then yeah, I'd load up on insurance. But for museum-hopping or sipping lemoncello on the Amalfi Coast - evacuation insurance sounds like a needless expense to me.

I say that as someone who just renewed my own scuba diver medical insurance (as mentioned upthread), but I'm about to head out to a VERY remote corner of the South Pacific for a week of scuba diving while living on a boat - a long way from medical facilities. Diving anywhere has some elevated risks. Diving way out in the middle of nowhere, where the closest "clinic" is in a tiny, remote town in a developing country perhaps multiple helicopter rides away, the risks are even higher, and I figure it's worth it for have extra insurance. But if I was just going for a beach vacation in Tahiti....I don't think extra evacuation insurance would be justified.

Just my 2 eurocents. Hope your trip is uneventful and you return home safe and sound with no surprises other than good travel memories.

We didn't use to buy it, but now we always do. But, as the others have said, I make sure to buy a policy where the evacuation is included in the price of the whole policy. I mainly buy it for the cancelation option and for the evacuation option. It only takes hearing a couple of stories about where it was needed and the person ended up with 50k plus in bills!

In our family, we do have preexisting conditions and they are covered also, IF you purchase the policy within ten days of your first purchase (flights, hotels etc). Read all the fine print and you can even call and talk to someone at Insuremytrips.com and they can walk you through the options.

Travel Guard has a separate policy called MedEvac Per Trip Plan. It is included if you buy one of their pricey standard policies, which I don't bother with. I'm not to worried about covering cost of inconveniences.

The Medevac rates are based on length of trip and your age. Prices go up to a per day rate for trips over 30 days, so start to lose their pricing advantages over other companies like MedJetAssist.

Keep in mind that med evac may well be included and actually the preferred cheaper option for the travel insurer. The insurer may want to get you home to your home medical coverage as quickly as possible in order to stop paying for expensive or extended overseas med treatment.

There was a recent story of a traveller insurer threatening to cut coverage because the insurer was insisting to move the patient, while the doctors and family reffused to do so because they believed that moving the patient posed a substantial danger to the patient.

Another example was when a co- worker's mother suffered a serious stroke and was hospitalized for an extended period of time in Asia. At one point, the insurer stopped coverage to try to force the family to move the mother back to Canada. The family paid for treatment on their own until it was safe to move the mother. Eventually the insurer Reimbursed the family after several months of reviewing all of the medical info. I believe the mother had pre-existing conditions and history of strokes but had made full disclosure prior to trip and had paid higher premiums than normal for full coverage for the additional risk.

You need to read policy carefully and if you have pre-existing conditions, you may have to disclose and pay the extra coverage. The insurer will look for reason to deny coverage. For example you should not change your prescription of your prescription medication 3 months prior to trip; if you do, under ordinary travel insurance, that would usually be a breach of conditions which may result in denial of coverage.

".. if you buy travel insurance, the medical/medical evacuation is the disaster that you should insure for"

I completely agree with this, and I disagree that if one does not have some pre-esisting condition, then they don't need or wouldn't want med evac coverage. It is truly the one thing that could cost a lot of money, in relative terms to flight-hotel cancellations, lost luggage, and minor health needs. I perceive the age demographic of most people reading and posting here to be 50+; I personally would not go without it-and I'm a quite healthy 56. If I were 25 years old, with no wife and kids, I may feel differently.

Med. evac insurance is necessary regardless of age. The three people I know who have had to be medically evacuated did not have problems related to age or a preexisting condition. One went over the side of a mountain road in a bus. Another was stabbed on the beach by a crazy person in Mexico. The third suffered 3rd degree burns from boiling water. None of the three had purchased medical evacuation insurance and had to pay out of pocket. Nearly $30,000 in each case and all were in Central America/Mexico. Not nearly as far as Europe which is far more expensive if you need to be medically evacuated.
You need to buy it no matter who you are.
We have always used Travelguard.

Here's another vote for Diver's Alert Network (DAN) For just $55/year, our DAN Travel Assist membership gives us evacuation insurance and more, whenever we're 50 miles or more away from home. So we keep it in force all the time.

DAN was highly recommended by a friend who broke her leg in Switzerland and was evacuated home with absolutely no issues. You don't need to be a diver to use it. Here's a link to their handbook which more fully describes their services.

Thanks to everyone for responding to my question. After reading all of the comments I sense that some folks do not understand the type of evacuation insurance about which I am asking. Specifically, the so called evacuation service that is bundled with a comprehensive trip insurance policy that covers such things as lost luggage, flights that have to be rebooked and paid.... My guess is that some of these evacuation services only bring you to the nearest medical facility that can treat your problem. This is great if you are in some remote location where there are no facilities nearby. To pick on DAN's evacuation service which has been mentioned by several people their service is described as follows: (copied from their handbook):

"Emergency Evacuation means that, due to Medical Necessity, the Member or Covered Family Member requires immediate transportation from the place where such person has a medical emergency to the nearest appropriate medical facility where appropriate medical treatment can be obtained....DAN TravelAssist will not pay Transportation to transport the Member or Covered Family Member to their place of permanent residence if there are closer medical facilities which are capable of attending to the Member’s medical condition.

Repatriation means that due to Medical Necessity, the Member or Covered Family Member requires follow-up care
or rehabilitation services for the Sickness or Injury, and is deemed medically fit to travel by commercial air or ground
transportation to either:
• the person’s place of residence;
or
• the region where the person is living and/or working at the time of the Sickness or Injury;
or
• a different medical facility for further care, treatment or evaluation."

I am thinking about the worst case scenario where I need or prefer to return to my home in the United States while being disabled due to the illness or injury. Here is what MedJetAssist provides:

"When a member becomes hospitalized as an inpatient due to an illness or injury while traveling 150 miles or more from home, either within or outside the contiguous United States, MedjetAssist will arrange air medical transport services to the hospital of the member's choice in their home country."

What I want to insure against is the $100,000 bill for flying me back to the United States, perhaps with the company of a nurse. I am not convinced that DAN and other insurance companies that bundle evacuation service with a travel insurance policy will be so generous. Sounds like DAN will cover repatriation only using a commercial airline which might not be adequate if one has a serious problem.

I did talk with an agent of insuremytrip.com and he said that the only two companies that provide evacuation service that includes guaranteed repatriation to one's hometown using air medical transport service. That is why I posed the initial question. I would also like feedback from anyone who actually received air medical transport service as part of a package trip insurance policy.

If your primary goal is to "...insure against is the $100,000 bill for flying me back to the United States..." then it sounds to me like the MedJet Assist is the way to go. There is nothing I know of that prevents you from having a "regular" policy for flight interruptions and etc. and a separate MedJet policy that will return you to your home area. That is what we do. Perhaps a call to MedJet will clarify any questions.

I'd probably go with one of the two companies that the agent recommend from insuremytrip if that covers what you are looking for. Sounds like you have your answer...?