Personal Finance Essentials
What Is Medical Evacuation Insurance?
Travel Cancellation and Medical Evacuation Insurance > What Is Medical Evacuation Insurance?
Medical evacuation insurance – sometimes called medevac coverage – is one of the most important and most overlooked components of any travel policy.
Medical evacuation insurance – sometimes called medevac coverage – is one of the most important and most overlooked components of any travel policy. It ensures that if you suffer a serious medical emergency while traveling, you are not left to navigate a foreign health care system alone and without financial support.
Specifically, medical evacuation insurance ensures you can:
The cost of medical evacuation without insurance can be staggering. An air ambulance from a remote international location to the United States can run $50,000 to $200,000 or more – an expense that standard health insurance and Medicare will almost never cover outside the country. Medical evacuation coverage eliminates that risk entirely.
This coverage matters even if you’re healthy. A hiking accident, a car collision or a sudden cardiac event can happen to anyone. The question is not whether you’re likely to need evacuation – it’s whether you can afford to pay for it without insurance if you do.