Have you used med evac ins?
 

thursdaysd - you said you had used med evac ins. Would you share the company name? Would you use them again?

Anyone else have experience with medical and/or medical evac ins???? Any recos for or against a company??

wintersp - yes, I used Traveler's Emergency Network - http://tenweb.com/. I needed the insurance when I broke my wrist in Switzerland. They wanted the hospital to fax the doctor's report to verify the claim. Then there was some confusion as they had changed underlying insurers and I had renewed the policy, but was covered by the old policy at the time. But after we got that sorted out they were great. They provided a car and driver for the two hour ride to Geneva airport, and plane tickets to JFK and on to RDU. They called me a couple of days later to follow up. I have taken out the same insurance again, but luckily didn't need it!

thursdaysd; Out of curiousity which firm did you purchase the travel insurance from? How long did the paperwork take?

StanKase - I bought it directly from Traveler's Emergency Network. I think the first time I did it over the phone, although I believe you can do it through the website. No paperwork to speak of that I remember. BUT note that I use this soley for medical evacuation, and they clearly state on the website it is not "insurance", although for my purposes I didn't see the difference.

The reason they clearly state that it isn't "insurance" has to do with state by state regulations for insurance. Living in the state of Washington, they couldn't even sell to me!

Another option is to purchase "travel" insurance that in some cases will include med-evac plus several other benefits. For our upcomming trip we went with this, the first time that we have ever purchased any kind of travel insurance. The web site that I used is http://www.quotewright.com/

But tatersalad, that's by far the most expensive way to buy med evac insurance. I pay $41 per year for two of us for med evac.

Kathie - thanks for the explanation - it's bizarre that you can't buy it in Washington! I think TEN cost me $128/year last time I bought it, but it's only good for 90 consecutive days at one time, and I tend to travel for longer. I'll be looking into DAN for the next trip.

Thank you thursdaysd for your information. There is plenty of 'theoretical info' but ins is one of those things that can be different in reality. I'm sure some companies are more dependable and easier to deal with than others.

ExpertTripPlanner-didn't you mention being evacuated in South America?

Does anyone know a place to find 'experience ratings' of the different companies (other than the companies own websites!)????

Kathie, do you know of anyone who has actually used DAN?

Has anyone had negative experiences?

I have read accounts by people who have used DAN's med evac (in ITN) and discovered I have a friend who has a friend who was med evac'd with Dan. They use a very well-regarded med evac company. I did my research before joining DAN a few years ago, and have renewed every year since.

I just joined today because our travel doc recommended we have evac insurance when we visit Myanmar - $44/year for a family membership (for my wife and I).

Kathie and Craig - thank you for your input. I have looked at the DAN site and it really sounds good. I see the limit is 100,000. I had a yr long travelguard policy for last year (for going to Myanmar) and just pulled it out to review (I saw somewhere here to look at the exclusions) and saw a 25,000 limit on med evac. I don't believe that would work for SEA!

The Europeans, British and Canadians seem to have access to more comprehensive and cheaper solutions-as a whole.

As I said clarify that the Emergency Evacation is for ANY reason not just a diving or snorkeling emergency.

wintersp, you're so right that you want $100,000 in med evac.

Yes, Stan, it is for ANY medical emergency, not just diving. You can read it on their website. I also confirmed with them on the phone when I first purchased.