Medical Care When Traveling
As a family flight expert, nurse, and mother, I am eager to share this information with you. I have written about travel insurance to cover costs of interrupted or canceled trips due to unforeseen events, delayed or lost luggage, and any medical costs of care away from home.
However, have you ever thought about what you would do if you or your child or spouse were hospitalized with an injury or sickness when traveling? What if it was in a foreign country? Or even if it was domestically - what if it was far enough away that you would need to stay in a hotel, take time off of work to stay longer with them, rent a car, etc. Think of how fast those bills would add up. Who would care for the rest of the family?
Unexpected hospitalizations can quickly be devastating financially. Health insurance and travel insurance will usually cover the cost of medical evacuation for you or your family member to the nearest facility for care. But you do not have a say in where that hospital is and what type of care you will receive. That might mean a hospital in a tiny town with a geriatric population. Imagine your loved one - especially a pediatric patient in that situation.
When I was almost out of college, I lived on a Greek island for a while. My boyfriend at the time had a motorcycle. His friend was out on a ride with us one day when a car hit our friend’s motorcycle.
I was a 4th year nursing student and although I was relatively new to the hospital scene, I knew enough to know that I would rather get on a plane headed home-”bleeding out” -than to be treated in that Greek hospital where our friend was taken for treatment.
A medical transport internationally can cost over $75,000 just to get home! AND, insurance will not cover this expense if there is a medical facility nearby that they deem appropriate for your care.
I recently did more research on this and found a great solution for the traveling family! In fact, this is a great solution for anyone who ever travels farther than 150 miles from home!
Med Jet Assist is a membership program that is your ticket home in the event of hospitalization. In fact, it is your ticket to ANY hospital that YOU choose if you are hospitalized more than 150 miles from home.
What does it cost you? Once you have paid your yearly membership fee, your medical transport is FREE! And here is the best part - all it takes is a call. For any reason, whether you are in the next state or in the jungles of Africa, if a member is hospitalized, Med Jet Assist will send a staffed air ambulance to pick them up.
Staffed to care for you according to your condition, the medical team consists of a physician, nurse, paramedic, and respiratory therapist. A private aircraft and staff dedicated to your care, equipped to be an intensive care unit returning you to your home hospital or to the hospital of your choice.
I bet you think the membership cost is outrageous right? It’s not! For $350 per year a whole family (up to 5 kids) is covered! For my family of 3, that means that it is only a bit over $100 per person for a whole year! Short-term memberships are available as well.
With the cost of hotels, rental cars, missed work, food, and the stress of unfamiliar surroundings for loved ones- the cost of one full year’s membership would be surpassed before one night is over if hospitalized away from home.
And here is another big difference - travel insurance is purchased per trip. A Med Jet Assist membership covers you and your family on multiple trips for the entire year. It even covers you at home. Let’s say that you require a specialized surgery not performed at a hospital near home. Med Jet Assist can help with that as well!
My family are now Med Jet Assist members. I am relieved to know that when we are in Europe next week, and on the Italian cruise near the coast of Africa and out on the ocean, Med Jet Assist is just a phone call away. I do not have to worry about being stranded with a sick child at a small island hospital or clinic.
And like I said about travel insurance, nobody PLANS on getting sick or having an accident. However, things happen. And for less than a domestic airline ticket, you can provide your family with private medical transport for an entire year!
No pre-existing condition declined if members are under 75 years old!
Perfect for the business traveler, unaccompanied minor, and anyone who travels - this is really something that should be as automatic as booking a ticket for travel.
I believe in Med Jet Assist so much, I am proud to announce that Jet With Kids is now an approved reseller of Med Jet Assist memberships!
As an RN, I can tell you that not one of my hospitalized patients ever planned on being patients.
As a Mother, I can tell you that my healthy infant son was in intensive care twice for an unexpected heart condition. He showed no signs of this until one night when his heart was racing at 302 beats per minute.
And as a Family Flight Expert, there is nothing like offering you the security of knowing that you have your own medical team and private air ambulance on call 24 hours 7 days a week 365 days per year, no matter how far away your travels take you.
And don’t leave home without Med Jet Assist! (You’ll be taking with you the same protection that the NFL players had when they traveled to London to play football!)