When you’re dreaming of wandering sugar-sand beaches, exploring historic landmarks, skiing the powdery alps, or whatever other activity you fantasize about when you think about travel, you probably don’t imagine yourself needing a helicopter or jet for emergency medical care.
No one wants to think about accidents. But the truth is many travelers every year need to be medically evacuated from faraway locations to be transported to proper facilities, and medically treated along the way. In the U.S. alone, more than 550,000 patients every year need an air ambulance, according to the Association of Air Medical Services. That number is likely even higher when it comes to Americans needing medical evacuation services abroad. Oftentimes these air ambulances are lifesaving.
The costs of these critical flights can be exorbitant. For example, if you needed to be air-evacuated from Thailand, Forbes magazine estimates the costs could be between $165,000 to $225,000. For some people, it would take a decade to pay off the charges, or worse, cause a bankruptcy. Your normal medical insurance will most often not cover these costs.
The good news is that medical evacuation insurance is easy to purchase. A medical evacuation insurance policy will cover the costs of your medical care and air transportation. Many policies on the market will cover up to $1 million. All policies, however, are not created equal. So how can you compare policies?
4 Questions to Ask to Compare Medical Evacuation Insurance Policies
1) The first and easiest question to ask is how much of your air evacuation and medical services will be covered by your policy?
2) Secondly, are there any distance restrictions to air ambulance coverage?
3) Next: Do you have any age or pre-existing condition restrictions on your policy?
In terms of these first three questions, many travel insurance providers on the market will have the same, or similar, answers. Our fourth question, however, will probably be the clear tie-breaker. The last question to ask is...
4) Under your travel insurance policy, who provides your air ambulances and medical evacuation services?
Most travel insurance policies on the market outsource their air ambulance services to a lottery of outside providers. This means, when you’re waiting to be air-lifted out to save a limb or life, you really don’t know who is going to be picking you up. When you’re dependent on the paramedics in the air ambulance to be highly qualified to save your life, when having a reliable pilot to fly you to safety is critical, when a safe, small plane or helicopter is essential to your retrieval, do you really want to be uncertain of who will show up?
ARREVA members do not have this uncertainty because ARREVA's comprehensive travel insurance policies come with REVA Air Ambulance and Medical Transport. services. When an ARREVA member is in need of an air ambulance and medical transport, they are guaranteed the services of REVA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, domestic or abroad. REVA has been a leader in the air ambulance and medical transport business for more than 30 years.
More About REVA Air Ambulance & Medical Transport
REVA’s air-ambulance team has completed more than 30,000 flights in 70 different countries.
Under ARREVA plans, individuals can use REVA services both domestically and internationally (anywhere more than 300 miles from their home city). This means even when you’re not traveling abroad, you have added medical protection when you take adventures in the U.S.
REVA’s more than 350 employees are trained and educated to standards higher than those set by industry and government oversight agencies. We have been recognized numerous times by government and industry agencies for excellence in safety and service.
REVA has a fleet of 16 fixed-wing, dedicated air-ambulance aircraft augmented by a hangar of more than 150 luxury aircraft available through our partner Directional Aviation and Flexjet. Our fleet is located at strategic bases around the world, so our reach is global.
REVA’s medical crew consists of highly qualified specialists in emergency care, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and respiratory therapists. Our aircraft are configured with critical-care and life-support equipment that sets the standard in the industry.
The heart of REVA’s services is our highly advanced, highly efficient Communications Center ”The ROC”. The hub is capable of providing assistance 24 hours a day to ensure our clients a smooth, comfortable journey. When it comes to our clients, our collaboration is personal. Our clients are our first priority. We offer comfort. We offer compassion. We offer complete care.
Our Flight Nurse Case Managers tailor each transport to a specific client through a pre-flight assessment in conjunction with the attending physician.
Other Benefits of Being an ARREVA Member
In addition to having 24/7 access to REVA’s professional fleet of air ambulances and medical transport teams, ARREVA members also get comprehensive medical coverage through our partner Star Indemnity, and 24/7 travel concierge and translation services through our third arm, World Travel Protection. With three arms of services (air evacuation, medical and travel concierge), ARREVA provides one of the most comprehensive travel insurance products on the market. Our members can rest easy knowing they have a 24/7 advocate on their side should they come across any kind of hurdle while traveling.
Whether you stumble into a medical issue, have an emergency, suffer a trip delay, require a translator, or just need some general travel assistance, ARREVA is standing by to help you as you explore the globe.
You can learn more about our plans and benefits here. Or reach out to us anytime at 877-842-0007 to speak to one of our friendly specialists. We look forward to hearing from you.
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