Medical Evacuation Insurance / Health Insurance

Bobby, im also a vet on comp. The vfw has endorsed a fixed wing evac but you would need to contact national. Armed Forces Vacation Club.com offers us free membership if youre a legionaire. You could book ahead anywhere in the world ahead of time for routine care. Best Regards, Rick Estes former Airborne Ranger. Purple Heart Recpient.

A recent experience of a neighbour has highlighted the potential cost and complications of medical treatment and evacuation from Belize. He became ill, was flown to Belize City, was taken into ICU and the lack of diagnostic facilities here made medivac essential.

Lack of medical insurance or ready cash delayed his evacuation, his health deteriorated and the bills in Belize continued to mount. Six days in ICU cost ~B$50,000. Medical evacuation from Belize City to Florida costs between US$18,000 and US$29,000, depending on the level of medical support needed on the flight.

None of the medical evacuation companies will take you anywhere unless you have confirmation of acceptance from the receiving hospital outside Belize, which requires valid insurance or quite a lot of money.

Soooo... you mean to say, yet another insurance plan is a scam/waste of money? SHOCKER

RCart wrote:

Soooo... you mean to say, yet another insurance plan is a scam/waste of money? SHOCKER

What is the name of the "insurance plan" you are shooting at?

Medical Evac. But all of them.

RCart wrote:

Medical Evac. But all of them.

ALL of them???   

BTW "Medical Evac" is a type of coverage within a broader plan, it is not the name of a company.

Please give us the name of the company, and/or the name of the plan you had a bad experience with, and what was that bad experience?

It is far too easy here for a person to post a drive-by trashing of something without any facts.
Facts please.

lmao

It's far too "easy"? To what? Have an opinion?
What are you? The thread police?
You're all like "You can't just come up in here and have an opinion without answerin ta me"?
'Drive by' what? I think insurance, the entire industry, is predatory. If you disagree, than state your own opinion, but don't act like I owe you some sort of online debate ya troll!

If somebody does agree, hell, add me and maybe we can laugh about it over drinks IRL!

P.S.- Med Vac IS a plan you can purchase all by itself btw, but don't ask me, go google it.

Take care

RCart wrote:

lmao

It's far too "easy"? To what? Have an opinion?
What are you? The thread police?
You're all like "You can't just come up in here and have an opinion without answerin ta me"?
'Drive by' what? I think insurance, the entire industry, is predatory. If you disagree, than state your own opinion, but don't act like I owe you some sort of online debate ya troll!

If somebody does agree, hell, add me and maybe we can laugh about it over drinks IRL!

P.S.- Med Vac IS a plan you can purchase all by itself btw, but don't ask me, go google it.

Take care

During the last two weeks I have spent hours researching, comparing policies containing Medical Evacuation, Medical Reimbursement, and many more features I hope to never use. I have been reading reviews, as well as the policies (line by line), and talking to agents for Yearly travel insurance plans. So when this drive-by attack showed up here, I had hoped it might lead to some useful information... So Ok, now that we know  your opinion is not based on facts about any particular plan or company, we can all rest easy.   

In my research I found for yearly and business plans one needs to drill down through the companies website to get to the meat. I zeroed in on two companies as the industry leaders worth more than a casual look early in my research.  Neither of them offers Medical Evacuation on its own, but rather as one part of a broader plan. Now as for Med Vac. all on its own we already subscribe to one using helicopters to local hospitals here in Texas, but that is a far cry from expat needs outside of the USA.   

The two companies are AIG Travel Guard, and Allianz.
I have not made my decision yet between them for the wife and I. The business policy  from AIG Travel Guard cost $259/person, The policy from Allianz cost $450/family. In 2015 I bought the business policy from  AIG Travel Guard, but fortunately never had to make a claim. This coming year we will be traveling a lot more to new places in addition to our usual 6 months in our 2nd home in Belize so for peace of mind we figured its time to again purchase this coverage.

I have medical evacuation insurance through AirMed Intl. (airmed.com). I know, and have worked with these guys. Not that expensive and more than worth it if you need it. They have transported Henry Kissinger and the like.

The only problem with AirMed is that you have to reside in the U.S. Are there any of these companies that will provide emergency evacuation if you live in Belize?

If you retain your US citizenship it might not be an issue, I would check with them. Even if you just have a  US Post Office address it might be sufficient.

Don't you also have to check if the plan is a Primary Insurance Plan that doesn't require you to have medical insurance in your home country? Aren't most of the plans secondary which is purchased in addition to your home country plan?