Why International Medical Transport Services are Necessar...

Your kid is jetting off to study abroad far, far away. And you, as a superstar parent, have done all that you can to ensure that your kid has a safe, positive experience abroad. You vetted the program for safety standards and emergency protocols. You scouted their housing to confirm the locks are in tact and the neighborhood isn’t sketchy, bought your child the best money belt on the market, reviewed basic street smarts over the dinner table, printed extra copies of their passport and wrote the necessary emergency numbers in multiple places. You even purchased travel health insurance.

Medical evacuation & repatriation insurance could mean your child is operated on at home rather than in an unfamiliar facility.

But the reality is, no matter how many times you review flashcards of do’s and don’ts for personal safety, no matter how many buddy systems are in tact, emergencies happen. And if your child is hospitalized in a foreign country, you should know that your travel medical insurance “medical evacuation and repatriation” coverage probably will NOT get them all the way home to you.

So you ALSO need to consider investing in additional medical transport coverage for your child. For safety concerns (you know, those scary-to-think-about things like if your child is the victim of a violent crime, or if a political riot breaks out in their city, or, gulp, if they go missing), there are medical transport + security memberships as well, that are highly recommended by a lot of travel experts.

While encouraging your student to be safe and responsible is, of course, the best prevention, it’s always important to have a clear understanding of your coverage and a solid back-up plan for if and when something does go wrong. Here's what you need to know about international medical transport services to make the most informed decision for your family's safety.

MEDICAL EMERGENCIES: Where your travel medical insurance falls short

Have you heard of the “acceptable facility” and “medically necessary” clauses? If not, you’re going to want to check the small print on your travel insurance policy and keep reading here. Essentially, if a travel insurance provider deems the foreign hospital that your child is in “good enough,” they’re going to leave them there.

If the hospital your child in is deemed “not acceptable”, they will typically airlift them to the “next nearest acceptable facility” that can treat the illness or injury, but that’s likely where they will stay. So if, your daughter is stuck in Fiji, in a less-than-stellar hospital facility, they’re transporting her to Tahiti…not transporting her back to the US. 

Why is this important? Because what’s “acceptable” to your insurance carrier may not be acceptable to you. Quality of services and facilities, language barriers between patients and doctors, the risk of capping out on your travel medical insurance benefits, and the high cost of a parent getting to, and staying in, a foreign country, to be by their child’s side are very real health and financial risks. 

Never underestimate the healing power of a hug from loved ones.

What better than to have your ill child back with their family, in their own hospital, in in-network care? Regardless of “medical necessity” and “acceptable facility” requirements.

[The Ultimate Parents' Guide to Studying Abroad]

The solution? International medical transport membership

Air ambulance insurance might sound a little excessive at first glance, but it is a small price to pay considering an international air ambulance trip, for a hospital-to-hospital transfer, can cost up to $150,000. With this perspective, the couple hundred of dollars it costs to add this coverage to your child’s travel abroad experience feels miniscule. 

Since medical evacuation costs can be outrageous, having the peace of mind of international medical transport services and coverage is almost priceless. Such coverage would include all arrangements for transport, and cover all costs related to transferring the patient from hospital-to-hospital, including:

• Cost of the air ambulance, specialty equipment, flight crew, nursing/tech staff 
• Ambulance transfers from foreign hospital to aircraft and aircraft to home hospital
• Medical escort and business-class airfare if repatriation is safely done via commercial airline (note: the best programs use nurse escorts, not just “an escort”).
• Facilitation, and language translation if necessary, of communications between attending physicians, current and admitting (home) hospitals, and family to make sure transfer goes smoothly.

The best medical transport services / types of this coverage are the membership programs that have no pre-existing medical condition exclusions, no “adventure travel” exclusions, no cost caps on medical transports, and no claims forms to be filled out after-the-fact.

For about $150 more per year, you can also add security and crisis response benefits on some medical transport memberships... That mental freedom is beyond priceless.

You need travel medical insurance AND international medical transport insurance

International medical transport coverage is not a substitute for general travel medical insurance coverage. Air medical transport programs, such as Medjet or MASA, do not cover general hospital costs, doctors visits, reimbursements for prescriptions, etc. etc. You still need travel medical insurance to cover most of these health-related expenses abroad.

Would YOU want to recover for weeks on end in a less-than-comfortable hospital facility?

What to look for in international medical transport services

Here are a few factors to consider as you shop around for high quality and trustworthy emergency medical air transport (and potentially travel security) coverage:

• It must be purchased in advance of travel. If you’re reading this now after just sending your child abroad for the semester, it’s unfortunately too late to purchase this coverage. But if you’re in the final planning stages of your child heading abroad, this can be one of the most important last-minute purchases you make for their trip! 
• Does it cover your child’s travel destination? It would stink to pay for international medical transport services and coverage just to later learn your child’s travel destination isn’t on their “covered” list. Make sure you find a plan that includes where your kid is heading!
• Pay attention to the number of days the coverage is activated for. Different medical evacuation coverage / insurance providers will have different plans that vary per travel lengths. For instance, Medjet offers regular annual memberships that cover 90 consecutive days abroad ($270 for MedjetAssist medical transport only, $419 for MedjetHorizon medical transport + security), an annual collegiate membership (enrolled students & faculty) that covers up to 20 consecutive weeks abroad (also $270/$419), family memberships (if you plan to visit) and more. With these, your child can travel abroad as many trips as they like in a year, they just need to step back into their home country every 90 days or 20 weeks depending on the type of membership. Be sure to know when your child’s coverage expires, or if they’re about to overstay any “consecutive days abroad” windows if they decide to tack onto their stay, so that they’re not unexpectedly left uninsured. You can usually add onto existing coverage prior to expiration.
• Consider adding on additional coverage for other emergencies, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or kidnappings. The likelihood of these events occurring isn’t necessarily high, but you don’t want to be in the thick of any of a security emergency and be stressed about who to call. Or not be able to communicate effectively with local authorities. A package like this should give you access to 24/7 crisis consultation and in-country response (on-the-ground teams) abroad.
• Will you need a cash advance to cover medical expenses? Some international hospitals refuse to offer services to a sick patient unless there is an upfront payment made (they do not want to be stuck waiting for insurance payments, or potential rejections). You can even buy emergency medical air transport coverage that includes a cash advance of up to $60,000 so your child is less likely to be stuck needing medical help without being able to afford it then and there.
• What does your child’s program provider recommend? Many times, international travel program organizers and providers will have preferred vendors that they recommend for buying air medical transport insurance or additional travel medical insurance coverage. Pick their brain about who they recommend and why, and do your research to ensure you find the best, most comprehensive, and easy to work with medical air transport coverage provider possible. Googling queries like “Medjet reviews” or “best medical transport programs” can help in selecting the best medical evacuation coverage or insurance for your family.

Don’t let your child remain “stuck” in a foreign hospital

International air ambulance coverage can mean the difference between your child stuck abroad or closer to you.

When something goes wrong, you just want to get your child home. Elevate your travel medical coverage and consider investing in medical evacuation and repatriation coverage before your child sets foot abroad.

Explore More Travel Resources on GoAbroad.com

This article was written in part by Medjet. Medjet was the first to pioneer the air medical transport and travel security membership program concept over 30 years ago, is still the best at what it does, and is highly recommended by hundreds of travel experts and publications like Forbes, Conde Nast Traveler and USA Today.

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