Emergency Medical Transport Insurance

[gordofuchs]

I am curious if there is anyone that has actually utilized emergency medical transport insurance to be transported to their preferred medical facility during a life threatening event. We will be on the road for six months and evaluating weather or not to obtain the insurance. I am mainly looking for feedback on real life experiences.

Thanks in advance,

Gordofuchs
Cleveland, Ohio

[Bob_C]

Not used mine yet, but have Sky Med...

[sdennislee]

We worked on the north slope of Alaska, Prudhoe Bay. While there I know of 4 medevacs of our employees.

Each of the 4 cost between $26,000.00 to $30,000.00 mostly due to distance. Prudhoe is roughly 500 miles north of Fairbanks, closest definitive care and 800 miles to Anchorage. Given the distance jets rather than helicopters were used. Significantly more cost to operate.

Given jets were used once on the ground there was another $600.00 charge for the ambulance to transport the patient to the receiving hospital.

As the employer we provided the insurance for work site medevac, work related illness/injury or not. The insurance picked up 100% of the cost assuming you complied with their paperwork requests. One employee was tardy and was personally on the hook for transport costs, fortunately HR to the rescue, pun intended.

While away from work we encouraged our employees to sign up for a similar plan through our group offering. One plan covered the family no matter where they were. As a group plan it was very reasonably priced, less than $50.00.

Medevacs are rare therefore insurance costs are far lower than you might think for such an elaborate and exciting ride.

Medical Transport insurance is like any other insurance you purchase, you have to weigh risk vs reward.

When medics roll up on you on the side of the road they make their transport decision in the first 10 minutes. You are either a Load and Go (Big Ouch) or Stay and Play (Small Ouch). Transport decisions on-site are solely based on your condition and mechanism of injury. They do not factor in whether or not you have medical transport insurance. The 10 minute time limit on transport decision is a pretty hard line number, as this time factors in to the Golden Hour, meaning you need to be in an ER receiving definitive care within 1 hour for the greatest survival chance. You will be transported from the scene to a hospital.

I have no idea how they evaluate medical transport form one hospital to the next, if the first hospital is not capable of treating you. Perhaps transport insurance would factor into the decision at this juncture. Maybe a bumpy ambulance ride vs the really cool helicopter ride.

The difference at the end of the day after transport and treatment are complete is who pays for the transport, you or your insurance company.

[sdennislee]

You guys should pool your resources, same topic http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/presc...am-417841.html

If you follow the thread above you will see a link to FMCA, specifically FMCAssit. Free medical transport insurance for FMCA members.

[Solask]

I guess I don’t understand the need for this type of insurance even if I’m on the road for 6 mo of the year. On Medicare with an advantage plan. 90% of the time, I’m not far from a large city and if I have a heart attack while 6 states away, I’ll recuperate where I am. It’s not an issue with insurance coverage..

[Alan24601]

You must get a decision from FMCA before transport or they do not pay. There plan is very limited in scope and many rules. I would not count it as a replacement for a defined policy that works when you need it.

[sdennislee]

A bigger question than can probably be covered in a forum discussion.

A heart attack is a short stay, in most cases. Couple stints and away you go with all kinds of diet and exercise tips and some new meds.

Other conditions can lead to very long term care where a person might want to be closer to relatives, meaning home. I assume it would be very stressful to be with your loved one in the hospital recovering from something serious and be 6 states away from their support group. I had an employee admitted today, currently in ICU with a bacterial infection and losing blood volume. We are working to get his wife and children to the hospital to be with him. I know she would prefer to be with him at home where her relatives could lend support. Different for different people.

You also need to look at your current health care insurance as some companies provide some amount of transport insurance. Medicare part B has some provisions. Next is it medical or non-medical transport. Non-medical can be something as simple as getting you to your Drs appointment. Although, I believe the purpose of this thread is medical transport, something bad has happened and need to be in the hospital quickly.

Not everyone has their heart attack in a big city near a hospital with a cath lab and the like. Others break a leg in a remote mountain area, many reasons you may not be a simple ambulance ride away. It's worth looking in to your insurance to see what they pay and don't pay for related to transport. Not all healthcare polices cover transport, some cover part but not all.

It's certainly an individual decision, my guess is very few have it. For most they will pay the ambulance copay of few hundred bucks.

It's definitely worth looking at your current health care policy to understand what the will cover.

[docj]

Originally Posted by Alan24601

You must get a decision from FMCA before transport or they do not pay. There plan is very limited in scope and many rules. I would not count it as a replacement for a defined policy that works when you need it.

In addition, this plan is repeatedly incorrectly described as one that will return you home, when, in fact, it is only required to get you to the closest medical facility that can provide appropriate care for your condition. Furthermore, returning your MH to home or any other described benefits, necessitate that your evacuation has first been approved. In other words, no benefits will be paid unless the plan has agreed to take you to another medical facility.

[dons2346]

Originally Posted by Alan24601

You must get a decision from FMCA before transport or they do not pay. There plan is very limited in scope and many rules. I would not count it as a replacement for a defined policy that works when you need it.

In a situation where you have FMCAssist, you will be dealing directly with the carrier, Seven Corners, not FMCA to obtain service.


I know of two incidents where the Assist program worked to transport patients.


One, a member had a stroke and was transported to the local hospital. It was determined that better care could be obtained at another location and he was transported at zero cost.


Two, a member with pancreatic cancer was stricken with advanced problems while in Iowa being in a facility there. It was determined she could be better served in WA so she, along with a traveling nurse was transported back to WA. Unfortunately she has passed.


What you need to know about FMCAssist is that they do not pay transportation to the first point of treatment, only to a secondary treatment facility and you must contact Seven Corners before service is requested as they do not reimburse expenses you might incur before you contact them.


The Assist program will return your coach home if needed. Here again proper arrangements must be made. They will pay up to $5K to do so. Also will return pets, your remains when you croak if need be, plus some other benefits.

[sdennislee]

Originally Posted by docj

In addition, this plan is repeatedly incorrectly described as one that will return you home, when, in fact, it is only required to get you to the closest medical facility that can provide appropriate care for your condition. Furthermore, returning your MH to home or any other described benefits, necessitate that your evacuation has first been approved. In other words, no benefits will be paid unless the plan has agreed to take you to another medical facility.

I would not rule it out because of this. Lots of insurance policies have provisions for pre-approval of care. It's like any other insurance you buy, you need to evaluate the cost vs the reward and am I willing to comply and do I find their strings to fair or overly burdensome. I would hope people do not purchase insurance, RVs, or biodegradable toilet paper simply because they read a post in a thread on the forum. Do your research and find what is right for you.

Now on the other hand if you are willing to blindly purchase something based on a single internet forum post I have a Class C that is perfect for you and should buy it now before someone else does. Trust me sweet deal, can't possibly go wrong.

[ThePowells]

This is the link to last weeks discussion on the same topic.


http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/fmca-...-416603-2.html Notice in the last posting that I took up the challenge and actually called FMCA and spoke with "Aaron" and asked the question. If this an issue for you, please take 5 minutes and call and speak to member services and get it from the horse's mouth.

[firedoc]

We do have air transport insurance. Seems very reasonable.

[RVWalker]

Originally Posted by sdennislee

We worked on the north slope of Alaska, Prudhoe Bay. While there I know of 4 medevacs of our employees.

Each of the 4 cost between $26,000.00 to $30,000.00 mostly due to distance. Prudhoe is roughly 500 miles north of Fairbanks, closest definitive care and 800 miles to Anchorage. Given the distance jets rather than helicopters were used. Significantly more cost to operate.

Given jets were used once on the ground there was another $600.00 charge for the ambulance to transport the patient to the receiving hospital.

As the employer we provided the insurance for work site medevac, work related illness/injury or not. The insurance picked up 100% of the cost assuming you complied with their paperwork requests. One employee was tardy and was personally on the hook for transport costs, fortunately HR to the rescue, pun intended.

While away from work we encouraged our employees to sign up for a similar plan through our group offering. One plan covered the family no matter where they were. As a group plan it was very reasonably priced, less than $50.00.

Medevacs are rare therefore insurance costs are far lower than you might think for such an elaborate and exciting ride.

Medical Transport insurance is like any other insurance you purchase, you have to weigh risk vs reward.

When medics roll up on you on the side of the road they make their transport decision in the first 10 minutes. You are either a Load and Go (Big Ouch) or Stay and Play (Small Ouch). Transport decisions on-site are solely based on your condition and mechanism of injury. They do not factor in whether or not you have medical transport insurance. The 10 minute time limit on transport decision is a pretty hard line number, as this time factors in to the Golden Hour, meaning you need to be in an ER receiving definitive care within 1 hour for the greatest survival chance. You will be transported from the scene to a hospital.

I have no idea how they evaluate medical transport form one hospital to the next, if the first hospital is not capable of treating you. Perhaps transport insurance would factor into the decision at this juncture. Maybe a bumpy ambulance ride vs the really cool helicopter ride.

The difference at the end of the day after transport and treatment are complete is who pays for the transport, you or your insurance company.

Thank you for that explanation. I found it well written from the voice of experience on this topic! My friend flew search and rescue in Alaska for a number years and runs the operations for life flight here. He recommends it as I travel to many remote places including out of US. I'm in my 40s with no current health issues but the small fee for the service is great piece of mind.

[momdoc]

We have sky med and would never leave home with out it. Covers us world wide.
We had a friend in the Dominican Republic who needed evacuation and cost for his family was 49K.
If I am in the middle of no where or vacationing out of the country I like knowing I have a "way out"