Two different issues: evacuation and trip insurance. Self insurance usually makes sense for the air/hotel parts, unless it's an expensive nonrefundable trip like an African safari. For medical evacuation self insurance may not be the way to go.

We're covered for evacuation through DAN which has been lauded on this forum many times.

Not to go in circles or anything but that was the question. Will DAN evacuate to "home base" at some point? They clearly state:

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.

I know you're enrolled in a clinical trial but do you know whether return to the facility administering it would fit under "acceptable level of care"?

I'm really hoping we won't need to read the small print on the DAN contract. I will only go to Hong Kong or Thailand if I'm feeling good. I may have to get some blood drawn in Thailand, but my Health Insurance will cover that. I did just run a triathlon. There's some evidence that my physical self continues at a healthy level.

I would hate to be a test case for coverage.

Gpanda, it would be terrible to be a test case for an evacuation policy, especially after what you've already been through and now that you seem to be doing so wonderfully well.

A friend of mine recently had the following experience after being diagnosed with a torn retina while at a conference in Nairobi. He had to have a medical evacuation from Kenya to AZ, but IMG has contested his claim despite his having had a $500,000 policy from IMG (which included medical evacuation. So even though he had a Drs. letter from the physician in Kenya stating that the surgery could not be performed anywhere in Kenya, IMG disallowed his "evacuation" expenses and has refused to airfare etc. He plans to appeal, but the odds of his winning aren't strong. He put in a claim for
about $4,000 of which IMG was originally going to pay only $51. He may now get about $800 out of them toward his primary
health ins. deductible stuff. It's been a medical and financial nightmare for him, however, as it took him 40 hours to get to AZ and it's likely that that affected the outcome
of the surgery. He very nearly went blind in the affected eye and is still having vision problems.

MedJet reportedly would be much faster and not have had him sitting around in airports........ Supposedly they
take one out of country in a private jet with trained medical staff on-board. The airlines refused to bump him up to
business class, even after his showing them the drs. letter that stated he needed to be horizontal.

It would certainly seem worth checking specifics out with DAN--and with Medjet.

520, who does IMG use for med evac? One of the issues with med evac insurance is that the insurance specifies who must be used to arrange the med evac. For policies like TravelAssist (through DAN) and Medjet, these are companies that are accustomed to arranging med evacs. I read of another case where someone had a big policy from a big insurer. When they contacted the insurer to arrange the med evac, the person they talked to didn't know how to arrange it and told them it would be a day or two(!). The person opted to get themselves to a medical facility in a nearby country and the insurance company then wouldn't cover it.

I just got a clarification from DAN on repatriation.

I sent an email with this query: "If I were traveling alone and broke my wrist, would the insurance cover the cost of a flight home after medical treatment, given that I was unable to continue to travel alone?"

The emailed answer wasn't clear, so I called, and the (very helpful) guy on the phone said that the answer was "no". The TravelAssist will get you to the nearest medical treatment, but it will NOT get you home after treatment.

I would renew my existing insurance with tenweb.com, which DID get me home in that situation, except it's not good for a trip lasting more than 90 days. Off to investigate Medjetassist...

Thanks, thursday. Guess I won't renew my DAN membership until I'm going again to someplace that needs evacuation.

Right, Marija. My broken wrist happened in Switzerland, and I didn't even call tenweb until I was in hospital after the surgery. DAN would have been useless.

Very interesting. I wonder what the difference was between your scenerio and the one I mentioned with the broken ankle... Thanks for doing some additional research, Thursdays.

thursdaysd, Medjetassist will let you determine the final <b>inpatient</b> facility. I believe you would not have been covered since you weren't going hospital to hospital.

That's an interesting question, Kathie. I did point out to the guy on the phone that I would not have been able to continue to travel, but that didn't seem to make a difference. I really wish tenweb didn't have the 90 day limit, as I was pleased with them (they sent a car and driver to get me to the nearest airport, and provided economy class tickets home). Maybe I'll call and see whether I can pay extra for additional coverage - they did that one time, but then refused last time.

And Marija, your point is interesting. See all the things we don't know about med evac?

i do not consider either a broken ankle or a broken wrist to require med evac, and i would not ask for it unless i was in the jungle with no medical facilities at all.... i also do not feel that either would end my trip to most places... for sure the ankle would severly alter it but not end it...

In the case I cited, Bob, it was a complex ankle fracture which required surgery.

Hi Gpanda,

As you are aware, I recently had to cancel a trip due to an accident that I had. I had trip insurance and cannot speak more highly of Travelex. (http://www.travelex-insurance.com/) I bought trip cancelation insurance as well as "cancel for any reason" insurance. I had an accident so 100% of my trip cost was reimbursed with no hassle whatsoever--I was amazed at how little hassle I got. Cancel for any reason increases the price of the premium by 50%, and pays out 85% of the cost, so it is worth it to me, it may or may not be worth it to others. There are some time limits for "cancel for any reason" and preexisting conditions, like with any insurer, but I am very happy with Travelex.

However, for a recent,real life experience with trip insurance, I was completely happy with Travelex.

Also, you can pay a tiny bit more for evacutation to a hospital of YOUR choice. It is really inexpensive.


Cheers,

Your Friend,

Boston Harbor

My wrist also required surgery, plus follow-up care hardly compatible with a three month solo trip with a backpack - I was having trouble dressing myself, never mind coping with train travel. I have traveled with a badly sprained ankle (instructions to put no weight on it), but that was on a group trip and was still very difficult. No way would I try that solo. How many pieces of luggage can you handle with crutches, Bob?

I guess it's definitely different strokes - I had a hassle with my Travelex policy - I had to return home after I broke my foot and couldn't continue my trip in Japan. Because of the weekend and being unable to reach a Japanese speaking doctor, the travel emergency assistance person was unable to approve my repatriation so I paid for it on my own. He did tell me, however, what to have the doctor write in a letter to show the necessity of my return. When I first filed my claim they treated it as a trip interruption/cancellation not a repatriation. I had to call numerous times and submit an appeal to get the monies due me. It took almost a forest to be cut down for all the paperwork I had to provide. But I did end up with almost all I requested.
Reading this thread and looking at some of the policies mentioned makes it very clear that one must read the small print of the policy - also I am thinking that it might depend on which claims rep processes your claim.....when I first called Travelex and said I wanted a form to claim for repatriation, the rep told me that was just for dead bodies....

i would hire someone when necessary....i was sure my comments would make you mad, and i see it did, but i did not mean it in a mean way....my point was its a broken wrist, not a heart attack or a blood clot, etc....

Bali trip report, not what you'd expect --- Posted by: David on Dec 12, 08 at 12:58am
Posted in: Asia