Rick Steves recommends travel insurance that doesn't require an authorization for emergency evacuation in Europe. Failure to get an authorization may result in a sharp reduction in the isurance coverage. Does anyone know of an insurance company that doesn't require this type of authorization before be airlifted off an alp, etc. This sounds like a convenient way for insurance companies to avoid paying a large evacuation bill.

Thanks, John

Do you mean authorization to be evacuated back to your home country?

If you're really talking about the possibility of needing an airlift from a remote mountain location, then you need to do some serious homework and ask lots of questions. The typical medical evacuation insurance policy probably wouldn't cover high-risk activities.

The pre-authorization requirement in most policies means that the local attending physician (and not you or your traveling companion) determines when and if evacuation to the home country is medically safe and/or necessary. It might look like a way for the company to avoid paying an evacuation bill, but you can imagine the liability issues involved if you check yourself out of the ER/hospital against medical advice and fly many hours without proper medical attention.

In this situation, "evacuation" doesn't mean being moved by emergency personnel to a local hospital or off a mountainside. It means air-evac back to a hospital in your home country . . . . .

No policy will deny emergency treatment - in fact you wold be evacuated off a mountian without any referene to insurance - in europe - as here - they don;t just let people die in the streets. Although - if you're doing something against the rules you may up paying a lot for it (I believe they charge for rescues of skiers who ski forbidden areas).

And the evacuation they refer to is back to a hospital in the US. And they require OK because they don;t want people who are unstable on planes - the MD must say you need to return for treatments - and will survive the flight.

(I was on a flight out of New York once on which a traveler who had recently had surgery in Israel wanted to fly onto Chicago - even though he was obviously having serious trouble breathing. They found an MD on board - and after consultation with the pilot disembarked the passenger to a local hospital - despite his and his wife's protests. They didn;t seem to get that flying is a real risk immediately post-surgery for some procedures.)

Hi M,

>Rick Steves recommends travel insurance that doesn't require an authorization for emergency evacuation in Europe. <

RS isn't always right.

All of the evacuation insurance policies that I have seen say that they will pay to have you taken to the nearest appropriate medical facility.

In Europe, this is useless, as the authorities will do that for free.

If you are planning to be taken home if you are ill or injured, that requires youar attending physician and the insurance company physician to agree that you can safely travel AND that you can't get the care you need in country.

Again, that is useless in Europe.

If you want insurance coverage to have a loved one come to your side and/or to have your remains returned home, that is available.

OTOH, I would prefer to be cremated and have my ashes repatriated. Much cheaper.

Hope this helps.

PS,

After spending some weeks researching the subject, I have decided not to bother with it.

I've debated whether we need this coverage and so far have declined to purchase. If you travel very frequently, however, or have an underlying medical condition or are elderly, this insurance might be a good idea. And there are parts of the Third World where I would not want to rely on the local medical facilities if I could be evacuated.

BTW, the cost for this coverage is very reasonable.

Here's one company I've heard good reviews on:

www.medjetassistance.com

Here is an evacuation scenario.
My 30yo niece on an overland excursion in Venezuala. Bus drives over a cliff. Her spine is broken.
Local hospital not capable of this. She is airvacced to Miami and treated there. When she is capable, she is airvacced back to B.C. Canada where her recuperation under medicare is 'free' to the insurance company. She is still a quad, but a live quad with a good job and financially independant.
I do not know about the authorization process, but the airvaccing saved her life.

I guess the salient point to that story is the 'local hospital not capable'.
I doubt if any European country could not provide care of comperable quality as long as your insurance pays for it.

Thank you so much for all of your responses to this question. The consensus seems to be that the pre authorization is not needed for emergency evacuation from the scene of an accident. That was our major concern. We'll be in the alps and on mountain roads for much vacation and accidents can and do happen. We won't be ice climbing or paragliding on this trip, but I've been known to trip over a shoe lace in my living room. Next stop Switzerland.

John