Anyone who thinks that medical evacuation insurance is a waste, must read Don Causey's harrowing report in the July Hunting Report concerning his nightmarish experience after being injured while hunting in Cameroon last May.

No insurance. Total cost of the multi-continent medical evacuation: US$120,000+. Terms of payment: In advance.

I just got done reading the article. After reading it, I'm signing up for MedJet.

I work as a deep sea diver doing oilfield work in various places around the world. Last year while working in mexico's bay of Campeche a member of our crew came down with what we thought was bladder infection, when he got to the doctors office on the beach in Del Carmen he was told that he had advanced cancer of the kidney and that there was little they could do.

Our company arranged a life flight for him from Del Carmen to Houston Tx, where a specialist thought he might be able to do something with a new treatment.
Andy ended up living after they "killed" the kidney and removed it. The life flight (4 hour flight) cost $78,000.

quote:

Originally posted by boomer453:
The life flight (4 hour flight) cost $78,000.

boomer453

WOW, well the good news is now the lawyers can sleep easy as their charges pale in insignificience what the Emergency Rescue chaps charge/d ///

I dont care which way they (try to dress it up) that is [ DAYLIGHT ROBBERY ] or am I over sensitive after the castigation I got for saying our standard observer rate is $175 per day

I gues it comes under the ( XPERT CHARGES ) category .... Like the guy whom was called out late one night to the Nuclear Power station when a red light came on, his BILL was 5,005 dollars for 5 seconds work

The itemised Bill was / $5 for throwing the switch AND $5000 for knowing which switch to throw (-:

Pter

A 30 minute ride in the Life Flight helicopter can run $20,000.

500grains,
you are right there. $17000.00 as we just found out for my wife's flight as she needed a quadruple bypass. Just a short hop from flagstaff to glendale.

quote:

$17000.00 as we just found out for my wife's flight as she needed a quadruple bypass. Just a short hop from flagstaff to glendale.

Wow! Why does it cost so much? Did you happen to get a break down of the costs?

This thread gives me a new appreciation of the helicopter that lands at our big hospital several times a day!

Do they charge extra to have an observer ride along?

This is just one of the componets of the run away health costs. With insurance coverage who cares and guess what if that flight is paid by an insurance carrier I would bet the bill would be less the half of rate paid by an unisured individual.

If there were no insurance I would bet health care costs would be a great deal less - expensive but not prohibitive.

We booked Med-Jet for our last trip....21 day coverage cost us only 130 USD per person and was in force for 21 days.

The deal is that if you can get trnsport to any suitable airfield they will send over a jet complete with RN, PA and a doc if necessary....all expenses covered from airport to airport, doc fees, everything!!

Getting to and from the airports is on your dime, but this is an excellent plan if you are going anywhere outside of the us.

Jeff

Tex21,
An actual cost break down has been asked for but not recieved. The bill only states that half the cost is for mileage/maint and the other half is for the use of the aircraft.
As for insur. The insur does not want to pay and as yet havent as they state the flight wasnt needed and we had a choice to take an anternative transport.(life or death situ and no choice given)
This flight and this fight have been going on since april and still the insure has yet to listen the cardio doc, the ER team or anyone else.

You know after reading these posts I'm going to look into medjet. I never gave something like that any thought, Thanks everyone!

Is Medjet the best one? The only one? Can anybody post a web site to check out...

this is why I need to thank Saeed again, for such a great forum!

Here is some background info on helicopter costs. I work for a Houston based offshore oil company exploring for oil & gas in the gulf mexico. We are currently drilling a well about 160 miles offshore in 3500' of water. We have a daily helicopter flight to the rig - these are big helicopters w/ all the bells & whistles, as they are flying a long ways over open water, carrying large crews. Our costs are broken down into a day rate for dedicated use of the helicopter and a per hour flight charge. Here are our costs: dayrate = $5200 and $3500 per flight hour. It takes about 1-1/2 hrs flight time one way.

Just as a point of comparison (and I have no interest in this company other than as a policy holder), the cost of a MedJet Assist Plus policy for an entire family (including up to five children) is $424 for one year, and less than $400 per year for a multi-year (3 or 5) plan. This is short money considering the coverage provided.

The policy covers all members of the family no matter where in the world they are (even in one's home country) as long as it's more than 150 miles from home.

If you or a family member are injured severely enough as to be unfit to fly commercial, the cost of private helicopters, jets, etc., is astronomically high.

And if any insured person happens to be killed, MedJet will fly the body home. Pretty grim, I know, but also reassuring for those who hunt dangerous game while on holiday.

Here's a link for those who want to check it out:

MedJetAssist

Thanks MR!

I'm checking into it today.......

I don't know if it is the same one, but when I had my scuba gear and did some diving I had arranged with a company that would air lift to the nearest hyperbaric chamber if heaven forbid it was needed. I always considered it well worth it just for the extra peace of mind, more because I cared about my life than the money.

Red

Dago Red....you are a wise man!

Jeff

The funny thing about insurance is you are beting on having to use it.The insurance company is beting you do not.

To my knowledge MedJet will only transport you from airport to airport. They will not fly to the bush to pick you up. For this reason I went with CSA Travel with a set amount for medical and evacuation ins.

James

I believe what James says is correct. However, I think MedJet is still a good deal. I just signed up for it. Remember, if you buy an annual membership, MedJet coverage is not limited to just your trip. But, it might not be a bad idea to have both.

http://www.medjetassist.com/

http://www.csatravelprotection.com/

-Bob F.

I am amazed that Don Causey, publisher of the Hunt Report, did not have medical evacuation insurance.

My eyes must be shot, I went to the CSA web site and couldn't read any of the fine print (that being all the print) and couldn't find anything about med evac ins i e chopper to airport or local hospital. I have had mejet for the last couple of years and each premium basically covered on Africian hunt but just checked my card and the current policy expires two days after my return from this years trip.

The company I work for has had very good support from International SOS. They offer a little more than some of the others for not much more money. A friend of mine was hauled off the Kamchatka peninsula after two heart attacks and couldn't have been more impressed with the way they responded.

http://www.internationalsos.com/

quote:

Originally posted by J Bennett:
To my knowledge MedJet will only transport you from airport to airport. They will not fly to the bush to pick you up. For this reason I went with CSA Travel with a set amount for medical and evacuation ins.

James

I had this concern also and would like to add a point of clarification.

MedJet will not guarantee that they can fly you out of anywhere.

But, as long as there's a decent landing strip (or even a spot suitable for a helicopter to land on) that you can get to somewhere in the vicinity, and as long as there's a charter service that MedJet can contract with to fly to that strip from a nearby "civilized" area, MedJet will supervise and cover the charter to get you out and to the hospital in the "civilized" area.

From there, MedJet will also cover the airport to airport transport to the hospital of your choice.

This covers most situations I can envision getting myself into, God forbid.

If you want more, there are 24 hour, global rescue companies that typically serve corporate big shots who work in dangerous neighborhoods (e.g., some locales in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, etc.) that will guarantee to fly you out of anywhere at any time--on reasonable notice of course.

For these, it helps to have a GPS device so that you can give them your exact coordinates. It is, of course, up to you to stay alive until they get there. Also, the premiums are just a bit higher.

Does anyone have any experience with Travel Guard Inurance, specifically the Sportsman Package. It seems they cover your guns, flights, delays, medical and medivac.
Travel Gurad Sportsmans Insurance

FWIW we advise our clients who are hunting East Africa to join AMREF for the immediate medivac and then have another insurance policy for tretment and getting them home. We've never had to use any of the insurances but the AMREF people have a great reputation in the industry. BUT they only offer immediate medivac and transfer to the nearest centre of medical excellence.

The two most popular treatment/repatriation companies that I know of are Interntional SOS & Medjet - but again I've no personal experience of them..... The other treatment/repatriation policy that looks good to me (and the one I use myself) is the lonely planet policy which offers worldwide cover.

quote:

Originally posted by Balla Balla:

quote:

Originally posted by boomer453:
The life flight (4 hour flight) cost $78,000.

boomer453

WOW, well the good news is now the lawyers can sleep easy as their charges pale in insignificience what the Emergency Rescue chaps charge/d ///

I dont care which way they (try to dress it up) that is [ DAYLIGHT ROBBERY ] or am I over sensitive after the castigation I got for saying our standard observer rate is $175 per day

I gues it comes under the ( XPERT CHARGES ) category .... Like the guy whom was called out late one night to the Nuclear Power station when a red light came on, his BILL was 5,005 dollars for 5 seconds work

The itemised Bill was / $5 for throwing the switch AND $5000 for knowing which switch to throw (-:

Pter

Peter it is time for you to move on about the observer rate. Both are rip offs in my opinion. One involves possibly saving a life and the other is just a rip.

We operate in the Canadian tundra of the NWT. When I approached Medjet about their operation, they made it clear that they'd use a charter or chopper to get anyone out of anywhere to a strip suitable for their aircraft. I provided co-ordinates ahead of time and a list of the preferred charter operations for their files. Now I reccommend their insurance to all clients and feel safe.

~Arctic~

Arctic,

Sounds like an interesting place to hunt !

What contact info do they give you for emergency calling up there - do you get just a number to call on your sat phone or do you get radio frequencies etc as well?

Just talked .to MedJet and they told me that they
will get you out. Need to be fixed wing as i understand it. As many camps are close to a strip. In Tanz they have some flyig dr's in medical air craft. You seem to get something for your money, you pray you won't need.
gene

$130 is a deal for this coverage.