Your travel plans may find you scratching an adventuresome itch, but that’s no reason to push the limits without coverage in the event you need to be relocated because of an accident. Medical evacuations can be expensive if you don’t have the right insurance. Here’s everything you need to know about this insurance so you can travel with peace of mind.

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What is Medical Evacuation Insurance?

If you get seriously sick or hurt during your international travel, medical evacuation insurance helps coordinate and pay for the cost of transporting you to a medical facility that can provide better medical care. The travel insurance industry calls this benefit “medevac” coverage.

What Does Medical Evacuation Insurance Cover?

We’ll get into the specifics on how to specifically get these things covered, but here are the benefits and services this type of plan provides:

Emergency Medical Transport

Your emergency evacuation policy pays for the expenses to transport you to the next nearest hospital or medical facility for better care and treatment if you’re critically ill or hurt.

Emergency Reunion

Your insurance plan pays for the costs for a friend or family member to visit your bedside at the hospital if you are traveling alone. Therefore, if your minor children end up unattended while traveling, this would pay for transporting them home.

Medical Repatriation

If it’s medically necessary to transport you back home, the transportation costs could be paid for by the insurance company. However, note that this must be coordinated with the assistance services associated with your travel insurance.

Repatriation of Remains

If you pass away during your trip, the travel insurance company could pay for expenses to transport your remains back to your primary place of residence or burial site.

Language Translation Services

Offers assistance when you are traveling in a foreign country and you don’t understand what the local medical provider at the hospital is saying.

What Doesn’t it Cover?

Although medical evacuation benefits cover emergency events due to critical medical conditions, there are some things it won’t. Here are the most common events medical evacuation coverage likely won’t cover:

If you’re looking for extra flexible medical evacuation benefits, enhance your travel insurance coverage with a CAP Tripside Assistance plan. This assistance plan would allow you to be evacuated directly home if you prefer. In addition, CAP would pay for a family or friend’s travel, escort, and accommodation costs while they visit you.

Why Buy Medical Evacuation Insurance?

Not all health insurance plans provide coverage in international countries. In fact, most don’t unless you have specific supplemental health coverage. Medical evacuations can cost $50,000+. Not exactly an expense you want to worry about! Without medical evacuation insurance, you’d be expected to coordinate and cover the cost of the evacuation yourself.

Who Should Buy Medical Evacuation Insurance Coverage?

You never know what could happen on your trip and having evacuation assistance could bring some much-needed peace of mind. Here are some scenarios we recommend having emergency evacuation insurance:

Individuals and families on a cruise

The medical facilities on a cruise ship are limited and if you experience a health emergency, you’ll want coverage to coordinate and pay for your evacuation to a hospital on land to obtain proper medical care. Learn more about cruise coverage and what to look for in a policy. 

Travelers headed to remote destinations

If you’re planning to travel to remote regions of the globe, where hospitalization may be nonexistent, you’ll want assistance if you’re severely ill or injured. If you’re an adventure traveler, check out more information on adventure-based travel insurance coverage.

Missionaries and foreign aid workers

Missionaries and foreign aid workers often travel to politically dangerous areas or regions damaged by natural disasters. Therefore, be sure you can access emergency assistance under your insurance if something happens to you, so you can continue doing important work.

Business travelers working abroad

When you work in a foreign country, you may have access to your own health care or universal health care. However, you won’t have coverage to be returned to your home country if something truly terrible happens without Medevac insurance. If you’re an avid business traveler, learn more about benefits we recommend traveling with.

How Does Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance Work?

Typically, the doctor treating you must authorize a medical evacuation as necessary due to inadequate medical treatment in the current area. Consequently, your doctor must also determine your condition as acute or life-threatening.

If you experience a medical emergency during your trip, it’s best to contact your policy’s 24/7 emergency provider. Their trained staff can help with the next steps in evaluating and coordinating an evacuation. Since the emergency provider will coordinate all the details, you don’t have to worry about paying out of pocket or filing a claim.

“Notifying the emergency provider is usually a requirement for them to cover and pay for the evacuation costs. Don’t forget this step!” says Terry Boynton, co-founder and president of Yonder Travel Insurance.

If the situation is dire and you aren’t able to contact them immediately, do so as soon as you can. Waiting too long might cause the evacuation not to be covered.

What Amount of Coverage Do I Need?

The team of travel insurance experts at Yonder recommends having at least $100,000 of emergency medical evacuation benefits. If you plan on traveling to a more remote location, plan on getting higher limits. Yonder’s policy options include medical evacuation benefits ranging from $100,000 to $1M.

Does Travel Insurance Include Medical Evacuation Coverage?

The short answer: most likely! Most comprehensive policies include this benefit in addition to medical expense coverage. Travel medical plans offer mainly medical coverage with only a few travel loss and delay benefits added. These typically include a selection of medical evacuation benefit maximums.

How to Get This Insurance

You must purchase comprehensive travel insurance policies prior to departure. Although medical evacuation is a post-departure benefit, purchasing it soon after booking your trip allows you to fully utilize the included benefits. Get answers to your other top travel insurance questions on our dedicated Travel Insurance FAQ page.

Additionally, if you purchase the CAP Tripside Assistance plan before you depart, you’ll have more control over what happens if you face a medical emergency during your getaway.

Comparatively, travel medical plans can be purchased at any time –even if you’re already on your trip. If you forgot to get insurance or have recently discovered its value, getting coverage that includes medical evacuation is a breeze with Yonder.

Basically, it’s likely not cheap, easy, or quick to get from one place to another in an emergency abroad. If you have reason to believe evacuation is a risk based on the way you’re traveling, evacuation travel insurance coverage is a safe bet. Make sure to protect yourself from the unknown by getting medical evacuation insurance today!

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