In a recent press release, Squaremouthrecommended travelers purchase between $50,000 and $250,000 in emergency medical evacuation coverage depending on their destination. If you are traveling far from home and/or to a remote location at your destination, you’ll need more coverage than on a trip that’s closer to home and where there are medical facilities close by.
Evacuation limit recommendations from industry experts
Squaremouth’s recommendation is based on average medical evacuation costs from a number of travel insurance providers.
Here are a few specific recommendations:
- A Florida citizen traveling within the U.S., perhaps on a hiking trip in Yosemite, will probably find $50,000 in emergency medical evacuation to be enough.
- A New York senior citizen traveling in the Caribbean, Canada, or Europe, however, should have at least $100,000 – $150,000 in emergency medical evacuation coverage.
- A California businessman traveling in Asia, Africa, or Australia will need closer to $250,000 in medical evacuation coverage.
The rule of thumb here is: the more remote the location and the farther the traveler is from adequate medical facilities, the more medical evacuation coverage they’ll need.
One recent unfortunate story about a traveler seriously injured in a motorbike accident in Indonesia demonstrates the financial reasons for having travel insurance protection with emergency medical evacuation coverage. This man’s family may have to sell their family home in order to transport their son home where he can receive medical care and recover. It is our sincere hope that this family receives some help from the community and we wish them the absolute best.
Remind me again, what is evacuation/repatriation coverage?
Remember that emergency evacuation/repatriation coverage ensures that an injured traveler can be evacuated to a medical facility where treatment can be received. Once the traveler is stabilized, this coverage also ensures that the traveler can get back home – even if it means a specially equipped and staffed medical flight.
If you suffer a heart attack on a cruise in the Caribbean, for example, this coverage will help you get to a medical facility where you can receive proper care, and then it will also get you back home because, after all, the airlines won’t allow sick patients on board and your cruise ship has traveled onward.
This coverage also ensures that a traveler’s body is returned home for proper burial should they die on their trip. That’s the ‘repatriation’ portion of this coverage.
