Travel Insurance for a long-term, open ended trip >4 months w/no set value
Jul 4, 2013, 10:32 am
#16
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Matre-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,946
Dianne, before weighing in and with all due respect, I strongly suggest you at least read the information about the product before you comment on it. 
DAN membership-included Travel Assist provides for medical evacuation and repatriation. A friend with scary middle ear issues called and consulted with TravelAssist, they found a specialist for her to consult (it's nice you want to remain in control, but what if you are in no position to do so or do not have the necessary knowledge?). Once she was moved to the nearest major hospital for evaluation and treatment and then stabilized, she was then repatriated to her home town, Sacramento CA, to her HMO for continued treatment.
I have seen DAN Travel Assist purchase a block of seats on a flight (the block is curtained off) and a medical attendant accommodated to allow for a stretcher evacuation - as well as J for repatriated patients.
How much did you say you pay for MedJet for a year? MedJet Assists sounds like a great service, and one you can afford and works for you; I am glad you are here to recommend them. I would personally not hazard a comment on MedJet Assist other than to say I have heard good things about them, but have absolutely no experience with them at all - no "what ifs", "here's the rubs" or anything. To do that could even look like I was attempting to smear or even libel them.
But DAN fills a niche, does a great job for what they do, has no age restrictions, does not require the precipitating instance to be dive-related, has no exclusions (zip-lining, parachuting, flying small aircraft, etc.) and merely requires you be 50 mi / 80 km away from home and to call the TravelAssist experts - for $35 a year / $55 for the entire family.
They also offer an annual travel package that covers the basics for people who travel as I have on occasion - one year exploring remote areas of Mexico and Central American with my old VW camper van. Covers me for basic theft etc., $10,000 medical (not great for the truly catastrophic, but OK for most stuff we will encounter traveling, especially when backed up by medevac and repat), doesn't require formal providers and specified amounts.
But please, I am a longtime member of DAN, medic - first aid, rescue and master diver, dived in many countries (some where the prescription is "when in pain, take the plane" - and a recompression facility for Papua New Guinea's Kavieng or Milne Bay is in - Cairns, Queensland. And DAN will cover it, plus repatriation to the US if needed,) and know many dive professionals and "civilian" divers who have used and benefited from DAN, so please do not taint DAN (or other providers you may nothing about) with your negative experiences with other companies or with speculative "what-ifs" and "but here's the rub" not based on anything genuine, OK?
FlyerTalk is about helping others, making recommendations based on knowledge and or experiences, etc. - not trashing companies we have no knowledge of and inserting negativity where none is warranted. I am truly glad MedJet works for you, that you and your husband overcame your challenges successfully, and that you prevailed against the company that attempted to deny you vital services (which, ironically, you chose not to name for us). Your experience-based knowledge in recommending MedJet is valuable; your opinions that happened to reflect negatively on DAN not so much, IMO. (Since you posted your doubts publicly, I have to post this publicly as well.)
DAN membership-included Travel Assist provides for medical evacuation and repatriation. A friend with scary middle ear issues called and consulted with TravelAssist, they found a specialist for her to consult (it's nice you want to remain in control, but what if you are in no position to do so or do not have the necessary knowledge?). Once she was moved to the nearest major hospital for evaluation and treatment and then stabilized, she was then repatriated to her home town, Sacramento CA, to her HMO for continued treatment.
I have seen DAN Travel Assist purchase a block of seats on a flight (the block is curtained off) and a medical attendant accommodated to allow for a stretcher evacuation - as well as J for repatriated patients.
How much did you say you pay for MedJet for a year? MedJet Assists sounds like a great service, and one you can afford and works for you; I am glad you are here to recommend them. I would personally not hazard a comment on MedJet Assist other than to say I have heard good things about them, but have absolutely no experience with them at all - no "what ifs", "here's the rubs" or anything. To do that could even look like I was attempting to smear or even libel them.
But DAN fills a niche, does a great job for what they do, has no age restrictions, does not require the precipitating instance to be dive-related, has no exclusions (zip-lining, parachuting, flying small aircraft, etc.) and merely requires you be 50 mi / 80 km away from home and to call the TravelAssist experts - for $35 a year / $55 for the entire family.
They also offer an annual travel package that covers the basics for people who travel as I have on occasion - one year exploring remote areas of Mexico and Central American with my old VW camper van. Covers me for basic theft etc., $10,000 medical (not great for the truly catastrophic, but OK for most stuff we will encounter traveling, especially when backed up by medevac and repat), doesn't require formal providers and specified amounts.
But please, I am a longtime member of DAN, medic - first aid, rescue and master diver, dived in many countries (some where the prescription is "when in pain, take the plane" - and a recompression facility for Papua New Guinea's Kavieng or Milne Bay is in - Cairns, Queensland. And DAN will cover it, plus repatriation to the US if needed,) and know many dive professionals and "civilian" divers who have used and benefited from DAN, so please do not taint DAN (or other providers you may nothing about) with your negative experiences with other companies or with speculative "what-ifs" and "but here's the rub" not based on anything genuine, OK?
FlyerTalk is about helping others, making recommendations based on knowledge and or experiences, etc. - not trashing companies we have no knowledge of and inserting negativity where none is warranted. I am truly glad MedJet works for you, that you and your husband overcame your challenges successfully, and that you prevailed against the company that attempted to deny you vital services (which, ironically, you chose not to name for us). Your experience-based knowledge in recommending MedJet is valuable; your opinions that happened to reflect negatively on DAN not so much, IMO. (Since you posted your doubts publicly, I have to post this publicly as well.)
The DAN policies look good, but here's the rub. Most evacuation coverage only covers getting you to the nearest hospital THEY deem acceptable. If I'm injured in a remote place, I want to be able to select the hospital myself and be airlifted to that facility. MedJetAssist does that, you get to select your hospital, even one back home.
I learned about this the hard way. My husband contracted a deadly disease when we were 500 miles from home, I have written about it before on FT. After his first MONTH in the local hospital he needed to be evacuated to a hospital in our home town for secondary care and then rehab. The evacuation insurance said they would buy us two seats on Southwest! Husband was still unable to sit up and he was on all kinds of monitoring. He could only travel on a stretcher with a nurse.
I had to fight with our evacuation insurance company for NINE DAYS before they agreed to pay for the $7,000 flight, and I had to use lots of ancillary pull to get the flight covered. I always buy regular travel insurance, but now keep MedJetAssist membership, too.
I learned about this the hard way. My husband contracted a deadly disease when we were 500 miles from home, I have written about it before on FT. After his first MONTH in the local hospital he needed to be evacuated to a hospital in our home town for secondary care and then rehab. The evacuation insurance said they would buy us two seats on Southwest! Husband was still unable to sit up and he was on all kinds of monitoring. He could only travel on a stretcher with a nurse.
I had to fight with our evacuation insurance company for NINE DAYS before they agreed to pay for the $7,000 flight, and I had to use lots of ancillary pull to get the flight covered. I always buy regular travel insurance, but now keep MedJetAssist membership, too.
Last edited by JDiver; Jul 4, 2013 at 9:56 pm Reason: edit a bit
Jul 5, 2013, 2:00 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Rio Rancho, NM - USA
Programs: DL, UA, WN, Amtrak, Hyatt, Accor
Posts: 1,793
Thank you for your comments JDiver. I have never used DAN, but if you look back through this thread I was the person who originally suggested the organization (although not by name) for the original poster. That being said, I'm a longtime FT member who has experience with evacuation insurance that few others have.
When I was going through the ordeal of trying to get the insurance company to honor their contract for transporting my critically ill husband, I was doubtful that they would do the right thing. So I started phoning medical ambulance companies in ABQ to get quotes. I spoke several times to the local owner of an air ambulance service. She asked me the name of the insurance company (which I can't recall now) and groaned when I told her. She had been in business for about 20 years and I realized she was in a position to have knowledge of the good and not-so-good insurance companies. She emphatically told me that MedJetAssist was the only really good medical evacuation company, in fact she stated that it's often very difficult for her to actually get payment from others.
Nowhere in my comments above have I made negative comments about DAN, in fact it sounds like it might be just the program for the OP. Over the years I have always tried to share my knowledge and experience with other FTers, in a positive way. The bottom line is any consumer thinking they might need evacuation insurance needs to very carefully dissect the contract to see what it and what isn't covered.
What I can tell you is that MedJetAssist is an excellent program for people who want to cover emergency evacuation. The OP might not be very concerned about that, but if s/he's undertaking adventurous activities in remote areas s/he should be. Young people often don't think about such things, hence my comments on previous posts. I have a friend who had a stroke at home, was saved by a local neurosurgeon, but she was in very serious condition and could not travel by car or commercially to the rehab hospital in Denver. Her MedJetAssist membership provided the right transportation for her. Keep in mind a one-hour flight runs at or above $8,000. Most people don't have a clue what's involved.
Finally, the evacuation coverage we had was through the Marine Corps Association. Like most similar organizations that offer such benefits they contract out their coverages for members. I finally had to contact the CEO of the MCA to help me, fortunately the retired general remembered working with my husband years before. He had to lean very hard on the insurance company to get them to provide my husband's flight, without the general's help we would've been out thousands of dollars. I have no idea whether DAN's evacuation coverage is good or not. I do know that MedJetAssist's is.
When I was going through the ordeal of trying to get the insurance company to honor their contract for transporting my critically ill husband, I was doubtful that they would do the right thing. So I started phoning medical ambulance companies in ABQ to get quotes. I spoke several times to the local owner of an air ambulance service. She asked me the name of the insurance company (which I can't recall now) and groaned when I told her. She had been in business for about 20 years and I realized she was in a position to have knowledge of the good and not-so-good insurance companies. She emphatically told me that MedJetAssist was the only really good medical evacuation company, in fact she stated that it's often very difficult for her to actually get payment from others.
Nowhere in my comments above have I made negative comments about DAN, in fact it sounds like it might be just the program for the OP. Over the years I have always tried to share my knowledge and experience with other FTers, in a positive way. The bottom line is any consumer thinking they might need evacuation insurance needs to very carefully dissect the contract to see what it and what isn't covered.
What I can tell you is that MedJetAssist is an excellent program for people who want to cover emergency evacuation. The OP might not be very concerned about that, but if s/he's undertaking adventurous activities in remote areas s/he should be. Young people often don't think about such things, hence my comments on previous posts. I have a friend who had a stroke at home, was saved by a local neurosurgeon, but she was in very serious condition and could not travel by car or commercially to the rehab hospital in Denver. Her MedJetAssist membership provided the right transportation for her. Keep in mind a one-hour flight runs at or above $8,000. Most people don't have a clue what's involved.
Finally, the evacuation coverage we had was through the Marine Corps Association. Like most similar organizations that offer such benefits they contract out their coverages for members. I finally had to contact the CEO of the MCA to help me, fortunately the retired general remembered working with my husband years before. He had to lean very hard on the insurance company to get them to provide my husband's flight, without the general's help we would've been out thousands of dollars. I have no idea whether DAN's evacuation coverage is good or not. I do know that MedJetAssist's is.
Last edited by Dianne47; Jul 5, 2013 at 2:22 pm Reason: accidentally posted without completing final paragraph