Medical Evacuation Insurance

[Dennis.G]

Per DAN:
"If DAN Boater in consultation with a local attending physician determines that you or a covered family member requires emergency medical evacuation, DAN Boater will pay up to $150,000 per covered member directly to the provider for covered expenses incurred during evacuation."

If you are in a hospital in Mexico (or elsewhere), it seems to me there is a strong cost incentive to both the Mexican hospital and DAN to not evacuate you, as long they can make the case that appropriate medical services are being provided. Regular medical insurance (mine at least) would not cover the hospital expense excepting for emergency room treatment (an additional medical policy would be required to cover costs).

[chouliha]

In discussion with the president of DAN 5 years ago when we were trying to sort out "What residency meant to DAN with regards to cruisers" it was explained to me that DAN will move you to the closest hospital that can treat you. It does not mean it will bring you back to your home town. BUT this was a number if years ago and thing could have changed since then.

[CarlF]

Another "more expensive" option is MedJetAssist. If you are admitted to a hospital more than 150 miles from home, they will evacuate you at your request to your choice of US hospitals with no strings - not even a requirement of "medical necessity".

https://medjetassist.com/

[Dennis.G]

Originally Posted by chouliha

In discussion with the president of DAN 5 years ago when we were trying to sort out "What residency meant to DAN with regards to cruisers" it was explained to me that DAN will move you to the closest hospital that can treat you. It does not mean it will bring you back to your home town. BUT this was a number if years ago and thing could have changed since then.

DAN Boater and DAN World (different from DAN diver) will bring you back to home country, but only if they deem it "required". Would love to hear experience in how that has actually worked out for someone.

[s/v Moondancer]

Dennis,

I am a retired doctor and full-time cruiser and I am frequently asked for advice. I have organized two medical evacuations through DAN:

One was a cardiac case and they sent a Lear Jet from Miami to Bonaire within 9 hours and paid all of the $28,000 costs.

The second was an orthopedic problem and DAN paid for commercial airfare from Panama to Seattle and covered the patients $8,000 deductible for the surgery.

In both instances it was necessary to speak to the doctor on call for DAN at Duke Medical School

[Dennis.G]

An important detail with GEOS evacuation plan is that it only covers you if out of country for up to 90 days at a time. That was deal killer for us, and we ended up buying SkyMed policy.

[Emerald Sea]

A point to keep in mind. Some med/travel insurance companies only allow for repatriation by commercial airlines, flights - and other related conditions. Thus if you need to be repatriated outside an area where there aren't regular commercial flights (non-commercial) then you'll be paying for these. A point to keep in mind if this is important to you.

[Tkeeth]

My wifes company uses medjet. 250 a year.

[Time2Go]

I have used GEO BLUE
Can't vouch for their performance though, never needed
to test it.
I just got a quote for coverage for the
ARC Europe of 300.00
But that has to sit atop your regular medical insurance
and I don't know if it is available for Canadians
I have a Delorme InReach also but I believe their insurance
Is for SAR expenses and not medevac, just tried to
Do a bit of research on this but Delorme is now owned by Garmin
and their online intergration sucks at this point.
Can't find answers to this question anywhere.
Cheers
Neil

[sck5]

I use medjet. They only do the evacuation but they do it with far fewer questions asked than others. And they do it to your home. They dont require a finding of medical necessity but ask only that you be under the care of a doctor wherever you are (if there is one) who can certify that you are sick. They arent all that expensive.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Some good tips in here. Also, this issue's been fielded before, so it might be worth searching using some of the key phrases found in this thread. Cross checking things rarely hurts.