Emergency Medical Transportation

[luvdoggiez]

DW and I are full timers out of Sacramento California. Though we still work full time for our employers, we are considering some sort of 'Air Ambulance' insurance. I talked to someone from REACH the other day and it sounded like a good idea, but in areas that have multiple air ambulances, REACH may or may not be the company dispatched to handle the transport from the crash site to the hospital. We are wondering if anyone has any thoughts on subscriptions they have signed up for (Goodsam Emergency Medical Transportation for instance), and what you thought about it.

We appreciate your insight!

Safe Travels!

Eric and Carol Anderson

[bokobird]

If you become an FMCA member, they provide that for you as part of membership. Totally worth it.

[1bigmess]

How about you figure out where and approximately when you'll be travelling and then look for the service that you think will serve you best? There's more than one of these services.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by bokobird

If you become an FMCA member, they provide that for you as part of membership. Totally worth it.

Well worth the cost of membership.
Have never used it but before the late DW was diagnosed with liver cancer we made over 15 trips to the ER for vomiting blood and just knowing the service was there if needed was a blessing.
Plus the Advantage tire buyinv program easily saved me close to $1,000.

[Do26]

Do you have Kaiser? If so, you are covered...

[TomandGloria]

We have SkyMed, pretty cheap insurance if you ever need it.

[elorig1]

I have both SkyMed and FMCAssist. I plan to keep both. Their benefits overlap less than one would think. If I get seriously sick or injured I will probably use SkyMed because Skymed is about rescuing me and getting me home as soon as I want to go (for example before my open heart surgery - so my own cardiologist can be involved) in an air ambulance. I would not look forward to spending the money to have the operation done out of my healthcare insurance network by a doctor I don't know of and in a strange hospital in a strange place. SkyMed gets me home by my choice and timing; NOT when some "administrator" behind a desk decides I'm well enough to go home by commercial airline.

On the other hand, if I'm hospitalized for something relatively minor while vacationing in Aruba - I might want to stay there for a few weeks to enjoy my recovery and then have my ticket paid for to fly home commercial. For that decision I could use either SkyMed or FMCAssist. I'dd probably use FMCAssist and keep my SkyMed benefits until I need a rescue, not an "assist".

[RMD3819]

Any comments on the Coach-Net plan?

I didn't even know they had one until I signed up for road service and this is included.

[elorig1]

I don't see where Coach-Net has anything to do with emergency medical transportation. It does protect RVs though...

I haven't been able to find much mention of "ambulance" when I search the literature put out by the assistance plans. It looks like the assistance plans don't start coverage until you get to the hospital. After that they cover medically necessary medical transportation between hospitals.

I did find protection from ground and air ambulance costs from the scene of vehicular accidents in the SkyMed material. They cover costs from whatever air ambulance company the folks at 911 dispatch in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

With prepaid air ambulance insurance like Reach it looks like you would be covered if 911 dispatches one of their helicopters. But if there are several helicopter ambulance companies that provide service wherrever your accident happens what are the chances that one of the other companies would be dispatched?

At least that's how it looks to me.

[1bigmess]

They are plans that work to provide their service once you have gotten to a hospital and are stabilized. The trip to the hospital would be covered either by traditional insurance, or by you personally if there is no insurance coverage available for whatever reason for transportation to the hospital. No one will want to load an unstable patient on a plane for a multiple hours long flight to get you to your preferred hospital or your home country.

[elorig1]

Understood. I was replying in the context of the original post by luvdoggiez about "transport from the crash site to the hospital". In that context it looks like none of the "assist" plans (FMCA, Good Sam, MASA, EA+, etc) provide much coverage. For us older folks on Medicare that is important because Medicare (including Medicare Advantage, Tricare-for-Life, Medigap policies, or just about any other healthcare insurance) does not fully cover what could be a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. I have heard that the maximum Medicare approves on an air ambulance charge is $6-7 thousand dollars. If that's correct then 80% of that would be the max they would pay. If the helicopter bill comes to $30,000 then who pays the difference? Do we have some Medicare experts lurking out there who could confirm/deny/correct that?

[RMD3819]

Here is the Coach-Net plan:
https://coach-net.com/Portals/0/Down...-09-151726-907

[elorig1]

Thanks for the info on the Coach-Net Assist America plan. I didn't know that it existed. In the context of how this thread started, Coach-Net Assist America, like all the other assistance plans I mentioned previously, does not provide coverage for transport from the crash site to the hospital. I also notice that Assist America's medical repatriation benefit does not take people home until after they have been discharged from the hospital and can fly commercial. And Assist America's "Compassionate Visit" benefit only applies if a member is traveling alone and will be hospitalized for more than seven days. So far, SkyMed is the only one I have found that says that it: provides covereage from the scene of a vehicular accident to the hospital; repatriates members home in an air ambulance before normal discharge from the hospital (after stabilization and the member's decision to be moved and admitted to their home hospital); and provides for a family member or friend to visit starting on day 1 of the hospitalization regardless of whether the member is traveling alone. If I am wrong about this I hope someone will speak up.

[whciv]

I called FMCA and it sounds like the FMCAssist only kicks in when your transport is "medically necessary". Our healthcare plan will be in Texas as we want a evacuation plan that would transport us back to our in-network hospitals in case of an emergency. Does anyone have experience with FMCAssist? Is there a better option. So if lets say a heart attack hits us and we decide we want to be transported back to our home heathcare network for treatment once stabilized. Thanks.