Emergency air evacuation insurance is among the most valuable and most misunderstood initiatives in international travel and global medical coverage. For frequent travelers, expats, digital nomads, and corporate employees placed abroad, medical emergencies can occur anywhere, and when they do, the need for an urgent air ambulance evacuation, medical repatriation, or critical lifesaving transport becomes a significant challenge if they are not properly insured.
Expats Global Medical has witnessed the consequences of the absence of adequate coverage and the critical role of rapid medical evacuation in lifesaving scenarios. The purpose of this guide is to educate travelers and overseas employees about what emergency air evacuation insurance covers, what problems it solves, the evacuation costs and the top global emergency transport companies, and how our team at Expat Global Medical assists travelers and expatriates in getting complete and affordable coverage almost anywhere in the world.
What is Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance?
Emergency air evacuation insurance is also referred to as air ambulance insurance, medical evacuation insurance, or medevac insurance. This service includes transfers and transits via:
- Medevac helicopter evacuation from remote locations
- Fully equipped medical airplane transfer and evacuation inter-regionally or inter-continentally
- Hospital transfer to another hospital
- Hospital repatriation to one’s home country
- Medical escort accompanying the patient
Expat Global goes the extra mile to collaborate on the ground and aerial evacuation needs to provide a smooth and medically supervised transport service.
Importance of Air Evacuation Insurance
Most domestic insurance policies and plans don’t cover international transport and air evacuation besides being extremely costly.
What People Usually Pay for Air Evacuation
- For the United States, Air ambulance transfers are typically between $20,000 and $60,000.
- If you need to be evacuated from another country, be prepared to pay between $80,000 and $250,000.
- From the continent of Africa to Europe, the evacuation costs are between $60,000 and $150,000.
- If you need to be repatriated and you require medical attention the costs exceed $200,000.
- If you are in a popular tourist destination, costs will be more than expected. For instance, evacuating from Thailand or Mexico typically costs about $15,000 to $70,000.
Expat Global Medical helps travelers get the right insurance needed for the circuit to avoid the high costs and get coverage for air evacuation in case of an emergency.
What does Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance Cover?
Your policy should include the following:
- Emergency Medical Evacuation. This is the immediate transportation to the most appropriate medical center.
- Medical Repatriation. This is the transportation back to the home country of the insured once the insured’s medical condition has stabilized.
- Hospital Transfers. This is the transportation from one hospital to another when the hospital has different medical facilities or medical staff.
- Air Ambulance Medical Escort Flights. This will depend on the condition of the patient.
- Complete Medical Coordination. This should include the provision of an emergency response team with multilingual capabilities.
- Travel Companion Coverage. This is coverage that allows a family member or friend to travel with the patient.
- Return of Minor Children. This is coverage that ensures the safe and appropriate transportation of dependent minor children back home.
- Repatriation of Remains. This is the transportation that occurs when an individual dies in another country.
At Expat Global Medical, we work with clients to ensure that travel requirements are in sync with policies that offer global and seamless coverage.
Read More: Expat Medical Insurance vs. Travel Insurance: Which One Do You Actually Need?
Who Needs Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance
This type of coverage is a must:
- Expatriates living overseas
- Long-term digital nomads
- Regular international business travelers
- Adventure travelers to remote locations
- International students
- Overseas retirees
- Passengers on cruises
How does Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance work?
When an emergency occurs:
Step 1: Reach out to the 24/7 Emergency Hotline.
A medical team will assess the situation and perform a quick triage.
Step 2: Medical Evaluation.
The team of doctors will decide if an evacuation is needed.
Step 3: Starting Transport
Transport could include a helicopter, air ambulance, or medical escort.
Step 4: All Arrangements are Taken Care Of
Visas, landing permits, hospital coordination, and medical clearances.
Step 5: Repatriation
When a patient is stable, they might be moved to a medical facility in their home country.
Step 6: Insurance Covers Costs
Assuming the transport is medically necessary.
At Expat Global Medical, we know how to cover the medical transport case with world-class insurers and we know how to activate seamless worldwide emergency medical transport services in a matter of minutes.
Cost of Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance
It’s rather cheap compared to the actual cost of an evacuation and the expenses that could be incurred.
Average Premiums
- Travel insurance including evacuation: $50 – $300 per trip
- Annual evacuation coverage: $120 – $400
- Expat international medical insurance: $600 – $5,000 per year
- Evacuation memberships: $100 – $600 annually
Experts in ExpatGlobalMedical.com assist expatriates and travelers with comparing plans, pricing, and coverage.
Best Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance Providers
Best Emergency Air Evacuation Insurance Providers are global leaders in Emergency Medical Evacuation, repatriation, and Global Health Protection. These provider companies have partnered with Expat Global Medical (ExpatGlobalMedical.com) to provide their clients with dependable, cost-effective, and comprehensive international medical and air evacuation services.
1. Cigna
Cigna Global is an international health and air evacuation insurance provider. They have been serving expatriates, international corporate workers, and long-term international travelers for many years. Their evacuation and repatriation services include medically escorted air transport and hospital-to-hospital transfers, and local care is inadequate, return to home services. It doesn’t matter where the emergency occurs, Cigna Evacuations are coordinated with Cigna’s 24/7 Global Assistance services.
Cigna is perfect for individuals and families living overseas for long periods due to their flexible plan options, high limits per benefits, and access to large international hospital and specialist networks. Expat Global Medical is partnered with Cigna Global to offer clients Cigna Global plans for expatriates, corporate employees, retirees, and nomads focused on high-level medical evacuation coverage.
2. IMG
IMG Global is best-rated, and most popular among travelers, digital nomads, overseas students, missionaries, and expatriates because of their variety of travel medical and long-term international insurance plans. IMG’s emergency air evacuation coverage includes air and ground ambulances, medical escort, repatriation of remains, evacuation in crisis/disasters, and other evacuation services. Patriot Travel and Global Medical plans are most affordable and have great evacuation coverage, and claim processes are convenient.
IMG’s contracts with leading air ambulance companies mean they can quickly respond to the medical emergencies in less developed countries. With Expat Global Medical, IMG guides customers in choosing plans fit to their travel profile, including travel patterns, risk levels, and destinations to provide reliable coverage anywhere in the world.
3. GeoBlue (Blue Cross Blue Shield Global)
oBlue, offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield Global, offers top-of-the-line international travel medical and evacuation coverage for travelers and expatriates and international professionals. GeoBlue’s evacuation program Air 7, coordinates with more than 7,000 pre-approved medical facilities across 190+ countries and offers local transport to medical centers for secondary executive flying if there is inadequate local medical treatment.
GeoBlue boasts a medical evacuation package that includes a full suite of medical evacuation services: advanced aeromedical evacuation units with in-flight medical care and medical bed-side monitoring, medical repatriation, and complete medical logistics control (inc. medical civil clearances, admission to medical facilities, and hospital control clauses). GeoBlue is optimal coverage for high net worth travelers and corporates. Expat Global Medical offers best-in-class GeoBlue medical evacuation plans and international healthcare for clients requiring exceptional and global standards.
4. Lloyd’s of London
Lloyd’s of London is known for offering flexible global insurance packages, which also offer air evacuation and high-risk medical transport. Instead of offering insurance as an individual company, as with most competitors, Lloyd’s operates as a market of separate underwriters, making it possible for travelers with different needs and higher risk to fully customize their insurance. This evacuation coverage specifically caters to remote-workers, journalists, corporate travelers, and professionals traveling to conflict-zone countries.
Policies from Lloyd’s of London include air ambulance transport, medevac from remote areas, search and rescue, and repatriation and crisis evacuation. Due to the remote and troublesome nature of some destinations, Lloyd’s plans are a frequent choice for such travelers. Expat Global Medical collaborates with the Lloyd’s syndicates to provide Lloyd’s clients with evacuation insurance that standard carriers do not offer.
5. Best Doctors Insurance
Best Doctors Insurance has specialized international health and evacuation coverage for expats, multinational executives, long-term travelers, and global families who need top-tier medical services. Their evacuation services include air ambulance flights, ICU-equipped aircraft, international medical coordination, hospital transfers, and repatriation if needed. Best Doctors provides treatment and access to elite medical facilities and top-tier specialists in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
One of the best services they provide is getting a medical second opinion, which is crucial in helping members validate a diagnosis and treatment plan before traveling or being evacuated. For individuals with a need for broad, high-quality global medical evacuation protection, Best Doctors has some of the most outstanding coverage on the market. Clients through Expat Global Medical can obtain customized Best Doctors plans that provide extensive medical evacuation along with primary high-limit global coverage.
Why Expat Global Medical?
Established in 1992, Expat Global Medical has been a dependable provider for over 30 years now, offering:
- Medical insurance globally
- Insurance for travel-related medical incidents
- Air evacuation and repatriation insurance
- Partnerships with Cigna, IMG, Lloyd’s, United Healthcare, GeoBlue, Best Doctors, Transamerica, John Hancock, and American Fidelity
Expat Global Medical has relied on affordability and dependability within the global health insurance market for expatriates, nomads, and travelers circumventing the globe.
How do you select the best evacuation insurance?
Be cautious of the following plan exclusions:
- Global coverage
- Substantial evacuation coverage (between $250,000 and $1,000,000)
- Repatriation benefits
- 24/7 support that’s multilingual
- Insurance covering high-risk activities (adventure sports)
- Quick to pay claims
Expat Global Medical is equipped to assist with the scrutiny needed to analyze the length of the trip, destination risks, and lifestyle to best pair you with a provider, when you reach out to ExpatGlobalMedical.com.
Conclusion
Insurance for emergency air evacuation is part of the protection you need when you travel internationally. You need to be made certain that there is someone to help you get the care you need, that there is financial coverage, and that there’s a plan in place that gives you peace of mind and protects you during times in which someone is required to act quickly. Whether you travel, are a digital nomad, global adventurer, or expatriate, Expat Global Medical offers peace of mind protection in the evacuation plan you choose and offers coverage no matter where in the world you are.
For further information, ExpatGlobalMedical.com is the best place for you.
