BajaNomad

Medical Evacuation Insurance

CortezBlue - 1-16-2010 at 10:10 AM

A few weeks to a month ago somone mentioned another evacuation insurance company. I have tried to search for the information, but I was unable to find the name of the company. Does anyone remember the post I am talking about??

Thanks

woody with a view - 1-16-2010 at 10:16 AM

www.skymed.com

Evacuation Insurance

bajaguy - 1-16-2010 at 10:34 AM

Cortez...... I have this and am very happy with it

http://www.medexassist.com/

Pescador - 1-16-2010 at 11:50 AM

When my wife developed cancer but still wanted to spend as much time in Mexico as possible I researched all of the different offerings since I am an insurance agent. You need to read all of the offerings quite carefully because some will only transport you to the border, some will only transport you if you have a life and death emergency, and others are nothing but a glorified calling service. Some policies have a pre-existing clause and will not transfer you if you have a flair up of a disease that you had prior to purchasing the policy. I ended up signing up with the company listed below because they seemed to have more of what I considered important and their price was a little lower than some of the other companies. We only used the policy once but felt that it more than paid for itself since she was transported from our house in Mexico to her doctor in Fort Collins, Colorado and it all happened in just a few hours from the initial call.

vandenberg - 1-16-2010 at 05:15 PM

I am a SkyMed rep. for the Baja area (3Years). SkyMed is a 20 year old air evacuation company with a great reputation for evacuating critically injured members, to the USA and Canada for a very reasonable membership fee. If you want any further information you can e-mail me directly at
skymedloreto@gmail.com
or
http://www.skymed.com/loreto
Regards Barbara Vandenberg

David K - 1-16-2010 at 05:20 PM

Barbara, can you tell us the airports that Skymed will fly to... With L.A. Bay not officially open now, is the closest airpoerts to central Baja just San Felipe and Loreto... or will they land at any open runway (paved or dirt)?

Rancho Grande at Gonzaga Bay has a beautiful 5,000 foot runway... but it is dirt, for example.

Thank you!

vandenberg - 1-16-2010 at 06:34 PM

Because of regulations we are limited to International Airports with facilities to service jet planes. In southern Baja that includes Loreto, La Paz, Los Cabos. Ground air ambulance service is available most places to take you to the airports. Regards Barbara

Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee

jeans - 1-16-2010 at 07:36 PM

It was 5 years ago this January when my mom broke her hip in Gonzaga. A week earlier she had signed up for a $30 membership to Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee. They arranged for a Coast Guard Evacuation and she was picked up a 2:00am and flown back to Sharps Coronado. It was a flawless evacuation coordinated by Celia Diaz of BEMCC.

Celia had to track down the nearest doctor in Colonia Delicias to verify to México City that there was no alternative but to allow the CG, then coordinated with both countries to make it happen... all within a few hours of my getting the satellite phone call at 6:00 on a Sunday night.

If my mom had been close to where an evacution service could go, or near pavement allowing ground transport, the CG would not have been an option.

Here's the story I wrote

Their house was at Papa's but this happened while visiting a friend at Alfonsina's and the whole camp rallied.. More than a dozen bought BEMCC memberships on the spot.

BEMCC is not an insurance company nor do they provide evacuations. Celia is a liason between all the parties involved, and an advocate for her members.
...and I am her advocate :yes:



[Edited on 1-17-2010 by jeans]

thefishaholic - 1-16-2010 at 09:46 PM

We have what seems like a great policy with Good Sam Club.
Includes spouce travel w/patient to nearest hospital in USA. They get your rig to border.
Includes transporting your pet.
Must be a member of Good Sam.
Cost $119 year.
Haven't had to use it tho.

Pescador - 1-17-2010 at 05:12 AM

Medjet will often use a King Air when it needs to go into secondary strips and still transport you to your home hospital.
I also am a member of Binational Emergency Medical Committee, because I think that Celia can arrange things to happen in Mexico as well as anybody in the world, but I understood from the begining that it was not an evacuation policy and only added to the policy that I have.

CortezBlue - 1-17-2010 at 05:19 PM

Well, so far, I have not seen the company that was mentioned. It was about $99 per year. Currently I use my AMEX Global Travel Shield that is about $200 per year and provides insurance for medical services and for evacuation is required. Just checking out to see what else is available.
Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee only provides operations to help you, but you still have to pay the bill. Seems a waste as a good friend of mine had to pay nearly $20K to get his diabetic son who went into coma in Rocky Point to Phoenix.

SPOT GEOS

bajaguy - 1-17-2010 at 05:27 PM

Evacuation is available through the SPOT GEOS rescue plan:

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=104

oladulce - 1-18-2010 at 08:28 AM

I switched to MedjetAssist a few years ago because they will transport you from anywhere in the world. Something to consider if you have upcoming travel plans.

I'll keep Medjet because, as Pescador mentioned, you tell them where you want to go rather than simply being transported to the "nearest appropriate medical facility" which is the policy of all the other evacuation coverages I've had, or have looked in to.

Even more important to me is, it sounds like with Medjet you have more say so in what constitutes the "medical necessity" for evacuation. I do not want to be haggling with someone on the phone about the severity of my condition if my appendix just ruptured or one of us has just been bit by a rattlesnake.
And it goes without saying, in case of an accident or as we get older, cardiac incidents.

Because of our distance to pavement and to a big town, it's worth every penny to me to have some say-so in case of emergency. Time is tissue, as they say.

You're right about Binational CortezBlue, you are not paying them for your medical transport. But what we've done in the past is to provide BEMCC with our Evacuation Insurance company contact info to keep on file and we made signs in Spanish stating "in case of emergency contact" with BEMCC's phone number and placed a sign on each visor in our truck. That way if we're both unconscious or incapacitated we'd have a better chance of getting the help we would need.