Safe Travels

Medjet offers peace of mind when away from home

Written by Dave Mahanes / Photos courtesy of Medjet

Have you ever considered what would happen if you fell ill or were injured while traveling? Do you ever worry about being stuck in a sub-par facility far from home? While many people purchase travel insurance to cover a medical emergency abroad, most people do not realize that the medical evacuation coverage of most travel insurance (or fancy credit card benefits) is only to the nearest hospital capable of treating you. The insurance provider gets to determine what is “adequate”, not you, and that facility is typically where you stay until you’ve recovered to the “fullest extent possible.” Getting moved home by air ambulance, just because you prefer to be treated in a hospital at home, is not covered, and can cost anywhere between $30,000 to $180,000.

Even before COVID was a concern, over 10 million travelers were hospitalized abroad annually, and millions more while traveling domestically. Recently, I learned about Medjet—a protection program for travelers that addresses this issue and provides incredible peace of mind while you’re away from home.

As a Medjet member, if you are hospitalized 150 miles or more from home, Medjet will arrange, and pay all costs associated with medical transfer to the hospital of your choice within your home country. Unlike insurance, Medjet has no “medical necessity” or “adequate facility” clauses, no monetary caps, deductibles, or claim forms, no out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, there are no medical questions for travelers under the age of 75, so preexisting conditions are covered. So is Covid.

Medjet has access to hundreds of air ambulances and highly trained medical professionals that are on-call 24/7, year-round. Medjet provides coverage for both personal and business travel, and both international and domestic travel. It can be just as scary to be in an unfamiliar hospital a few states away as it is to be stuck in one halfway around the world. Travel medical emergency referrals, monitoring, telephone foreign language interpretation, and message relay to loved ones are all included in these packages. And God forbid, if necessary, transport of mortal remains is also included in their package.

For those who want the ultimate safety and security when they travel, the MedjetHorizon membership would be the best option to address your travel needs. In addition to all the medical transport benefits, MedjetHorizon offers access to a 24/7 robust travel security network for in-country response to a broad range of security issues, including terrorism, violent crime, political threat, hijacking, natural disaster, kidnapping for ransom, blackmail, and extortion, wrongful detention, the disappearance of persons and pandemic. Their international crisis response network is customized to your personal situation—which may involve evacuation, security extraction, and legal referral assistance.

For MedjetHorizon members hospitalized less than 150 miles from their primary address, if their local hospital cannot treat their illness or injury, Medjet provides air medical transfer to a specialty hospital, anywhere in your home country. MedjetHorizon also provides personal travel advisory services that offer members inside information regarding security, public health, and safety concerns worldwide. Additionally, since many hospitals abroad now insist upon cash payment upfront and many no longer accept credit cards, MedjetHorizon members can obtain an emergency medical cash advance of up to $60,000.

Given the potential cost of being medically transported by air, and the other services offered, Medjet is relatively inexpensive. Individual and family annual membership fees for MedjetAssist (their medical transport only membership), are $295 and $399 respectively. MedjetHorizon charges annual fees of $444 for individuals and $578 for families. Shorter-term options for 8, 15, 21, and 30 days are available for both programs, as well as longer-term options (and cost savings) for 2-,3-, and 5-year memberships.

Given the unsettling events happening around the world today, and the ongoing concerns about Covid, Medjet is a great safety net of protection, providing peace of mind while traveling.