Last Updated: 10/2/20 | October 2nd, 2020
A Note on COVID-19: Understanding how medical evacuation insurance works is more important than ever. Medjet recently announced they would begin transporting members hospitalized for COVID as of October 19, 2020. For more information on their current COVID coverage, click here.
While most budget travelers are content with a standard travel insurance package, today I wanted to talk about one specific aspect that I get asked about a lot: buying extra medical evacuation insurance.
When I first started roaming the world, I assumed that standard travel insurance would cover the cost of getting back home should I get injured abroad. Isn’t that what their “medical evacuation” coverage does?
I was shocked to discover that, more often than not, that isn’t the case.
Turns out, just because you get injured and require medical transportation doesn’t mean you get sent home.
If you read the fine print, most travel insurance companies only cover your medical transport to the “best” medical facility near where you are. This is what they call the “nearest acceptable facility.”
They decide where you go, not you.
They decide what the best facility is.
They decide what is suitable.
And once your travel insurance company sends you to a hospital, they have fulfilled their evacuation obligation to you. That means that if you’re not sent home, you could be liable to then cover the cost of getting home — which can be a lot of money.
Now, this is not to say that “regular” travel insurance is bad. It just means that people think it covers a lot more than it does and are often upset when they find out otherwise. I mean, I love travel insurance (I never leave home without it), but it’s important to know its limitations. Always read the fine print!
This is where comprehensive medical evacuation coverage can come in handy in addition to your existing travel insurance plan.
What is Medical Evacuation Insurance?
First, let’s get one thing clear: Medical evacuation insurance is not the exact same thing as travel insurance (and vice versa).
Of course, travel insurance generally includes medical evacuation insurance, but travel insurance is specifically designed to protect travelers from financial loss in the event of trip interruptions and cancelations, as well as injuries while abroad.
Cut yourself on a rock while hiking? Travel insurance will help.
Baggage lost or delayed after a flight? Travel insurance will help.
Someone pickpocket your phone? Travel insurance will help.
For most travel and medical emergencies, travel insurance will suffice.
But where it often falls short is when you need to be repatriated.
Most travel insurance plans do include decent coverage for medical evacuation — but they only take you to the nearest facility that can handle your emergency. This means:
- No guarantee of going home
- No guarantee of going to the absolute best medical facility to assist you
- No guarantee of someone on the ground to walk you through the process — you’re usually left to handle all of that on your own.
And for some people, that’s not good enough.
Why is Medical Evacuation Insurance So Important?
When I was stabbed in Colombia, I went to a local hospital. I was on my own, left to navigate the process with what little broken Spanish I knew. While I received basic medical care, it was not exactly the best in the world. I flew back to the US shortly after that to get the care I needed.
I was lucky that I didn’t require surgery and that I was able to handle the situation on my own. I didn’t necessarily need medical evacuation insurance for that incident.
But not everyone will be that lucky. Earthquakes, monsoons, hurricanes, floods, and fires do happen — and the list goes on.
Each and every year, 10 million travelers are hospitalized abroad — with over two million requiring medical transportation!
And should you need to be evacuated due to an injury, weather event, or political crisis, you definitely don’t want to be stuck with a pricey repatriation bill. After all, evacuation and transportation aren’t cheap. Costs for a medical evacuation or medical transfer can range from $30,000 to upwards of $200,000.
Yes, you read that right: $200,000!
Unless you have that kind of money lying around, you’ll want to make sure the insurance that you buy covers you for medical evacuation, transportation, transfers, and repatriation. You don’t want to be stranded at a foreign medical facility — especially if that facility doesn’t provide the degree of care that you need.
While these sorts of emergencies are rare, it’s much better to pay a small fee now than to risk going bankrupt because of an unexpected injury. Because $200,000 is a LOT of money!
Just as important as the financial argument for medical evacuation insurance is the fact that having comprehensive coverage gives you peace of mind. You and your loved ones can relax, knowing that, should the worst happen, you have a company there that is ready and able to help you get through it. The last thing you want on your vacation is to be fretting about the fine print on your insurance policy.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve had to deal with all sorts of hiccups on the road, from minor inconveniences, like a broken camera and lost baggage, to more serious situations, like when I burst my eardrum.
Take it from me: peace of mind is worth the price.
That’s why it’s important to be prepared.
That’s why more and more travelers are ensuring they have medical evacuation insurance AND joining medical transport membership programs to ensure they can get all the way to a hospital at home.
Our Recommended Company
Medjet is a membership program that offers comprehensive medical transportation services all around the globe. They have access to hundreds of air ambulances, expert medical transport escorts and staff, 24/7 located all over the world, and if you also have their security coverage, you have 24/7 access to a global network of security and crisis experts for in-country response and evacuation if you need it!
Medjet has the best reputation for medical transport services. They were the first medical transport program in the US and have been doing it for almost 30 years. They specialize in hospital-to-hospital transport, making it the go-to company for travelers concerned about medical evacuation and repatriation. All the travel pros I know use it.
Where most insurance companies will just take you to the nearest medical facility, Medjet will make sure you get to a hospital at home.
Additionally, Medjet:
- Allows you to choose what home hospital/medical facility you want to go to.
- Arranges medical transfer regardless of medical necessity (this is where most travel insurance evacuation coverage falls short).
- Provides service both within the US as well as abroad (any time you’re 150 miles or more from home it works).
- Does not have any “adventure travel” exclusions like most insurance medical does.
- Can initiate security response and evacuation even if there is no government warning to do so.
However, it is also extremely affordable — I’m still a budget traveler after all! Medjet offers both short-term and annual plans. An annual membership can cost as little as $295 USD per year, which is amazing value if you’re an avid traveler.
If you’re looking for coverage that goes above and beyond what most companies offer, you’ll want to consider Medjet — especially if you’re concerned about the cost of a medical evacuation.
It’s also the perfect choice for anyone looking to do adventurous activities or travelers who are heading into a region where extreme weather events (such as hurricanes or floods), fires, or earthquakes are common.
Nobody likes to imagine something going wrong on their trip. But accidents and emergencies do happen. Make sure you have the evacuation insurance coverage you need on your next trip. You won’t regret it!
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Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
- Medjet (for additional repatriation coverage)
Need to book your trip?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. The are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.
Babs Roth
When I was 65, I was in Amsterdam and slipped and fell. Broke my back. My husband was insisting that they fly me back home to the US, thinking that he’d need to know their language to help make my medical decisions, etc. But I could not be moved. He even sent my xrays, MRI, etc to an American neurosurgeon. Same answer— do not let me travel. Hospital in Amsterdam did exact protocol that would have been done in US. But I only was worried about the cost of that Medivac flight! I lucked out. Had awesome care, 14 days inpatient, had most trouble finding follow up care here in the US! The care in Amsterdam was superb, I did PT after I got home, and was able to return to work the following year. But we should have this evacuation coverage, in the future. We will. Thanks, Matt. (We didn’t know about it until now.)
Tony Page
In Australia, and as far as I know elsewhere, most credit card insurance for international travel provides medical evacuation as part of its overall coverage. In a past life, I was a lawyer, and have read through all the fine print in these CC policies with a cynical eye. Frankly, they provide more than adequate coverage for most travellers, unless you are carrying unusually expensive gear and personal items.
I checked out some of the other policies, and for the most part could not see any advantage in paying separately, provided you can live with the eligibility requirements; these days this is often a case of paying for your return ticket with the card, and travelling within a certain maximum duration, although there are still cards that have a simple pre-trip lump sum payment (e.g. $500) qualification. Note that this is for international travel, not domestic (unless a domestic leg is the first part of your international journey).
I appreciate that Matt’s website is mainly targeted at the US market, which may indeed be different, but if you can satisfy the requirements and are happy with the limitations, it’s certainly worth looking into this “free” insurance. That $295 Medjet fee would more than cover many CC annual subscriptions, and get you perhaps 100,000 frequent flyer points as well. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my mother used to say…
NomadicMatt
Every country has different insurance laws and every credit card has different insurance limits so it’s all about what works best for you and where you are from! Nothing is ever universal!
David Hunter Bishop
OK, now I’m confused. World Nomads, which you also tout, offers on its website, “Emergency Medical Evacuation & Repatriation.” Were you not covered by World Nomads? Why do you also need Medjet?
NomadicMatt
In Colombia? Yes, I was.
But the difference is between coverage levels and exclusions. MedJet covers more with higher limits, no pre-existing conditions, and less paperwork. Travel insurance companies (all of them) typically are a litter stricter on what they allow. It’s all in the policies no one ever reads lol The Planet D recently used this and their post is pretty insightful: https://theplanetd.com/medical-evacuation-insurance/
Kristina
Hi Matt,
We are planning to live overseas in a few years (we’re from LA) and are debating Medjet and World Nomad plans. Should we get both plans? or one or the other? Would it be best to just get the ‘all inclusive’ Medjet plan to cover everything?
For reference, we are 37-40, no kids, no pre-existing conditions.
Thanks!
Sue
We considered World Nomads but as we are traveling on a sailboat their policies don’t work for us. The minute you are more than 52 miles from a port the policy is null and void.
Frosty
Hi Matt! You might want to mention in the article that MedJet only covers residents of the USA, Canada and Mexico (source: MedJet correspondence received today). For people resident elsewhere it looks like Ripcord is an option, I’m sure there are others but I’m still researching.
Also as a general comment, I decided to get MedEvac insurance because a friend had a random but quite bad accident in Central America a few years ago and — without MedEvac — had it dealt with locally, and then later in the US they had to re-do the surgery multiple times, with all that implies. Seems like a “membership” is a worthwhile insurance if you can possibly afford it, and it seems like they run about 350 per year so if you travel more than once it’s a pretty good deal.
Great website!
Heath D
Hi,
I’m looking into booking a trip to Turks & Caicos Nov. 2020. With the COVID requirements the country has, travelers are required to have insurance that covers COVID medical costs, full hospitalization, Rx, and air ambulance. Would MEDJET cover these requirements, or do they mostly specialize in evacuation and transportation? Thanks.
NomadicMatt
Safety Wing, World Nomads, and Allianz cover medical! World Nomads is my favorite.
Kristin
Matt,
Thank you for the useful information and Medjet looks like a great option for when I was long-term traveling. However, I’m preparing for a two week trip to Belize and looking for short-term medical evacuation and repatriation coverage back to the US? Do you have any suggestions?
NomadicMatt
Regular travel insurance might cover you but call MedJet. They still might have something for your needs.