Travel Assistance - Advantage

HISTORY OF EMERGENCY EVACUATION:
Emergency air evacuation systems in the United States have been based substantially on the successful operations developed by U.S. military services, both for fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft.

By the 1970's, a number of independent air ambulance companies were well established, and by 1983 there were over 50 hospital based air evacuation programs in the United States and several hundred more throughout the world. Besides their specialized aircraft, air ambulance companies employ extensive networks of doctors, nurses, paramedics and medical technicians.

IMPORTANT

Timely medical care for seriously ill or injured patients:

• Lowers the cost of future medical expenses
• Shortens their recovery period
• Lessens the chance of permanent disability
• Lowers medical bills
  

Staffing is typically done with two people, usually combining a registered nurse with either another flight nurse, a flight paramedic, a flight physician, or a flight respiratory therapist.

Because millions of people constantly travel on business and vacations, emergency air evacuation and aero-medical assistance have become an everyday occurrence, both within the U.S. and abroad.

Any illness or accident can become life-threatening in the absence of modern medical care, especially in the many remote or undeveloped regions of the world now requested by American travelers. In particular, severe illness or injury while traveling is especially catastrophic to senior citizens and their families.

Nevertheless, most American travelers fail to plan ahead for these emergency situations, and only a small percentage of them have any kind of air-ambulance association or insurance coverage. Furthermore, travel agencies are reluctant to advise travelers of the potential for these unpleasant and life-threatening emergencies.

RISKS OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL:
Medical facilities for the treatment of serious illness or other emergency situations are also lacking in many frequently visited, not-so-remote destinations popular with American travelers, such as the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe, and certain South American countries.

Many medical hazards exist including shortages of medicine and technological equipment, poor hygiene, limited blood supplies, untested blood supplies and even knowing whether the treating physician is a licensed doctor. Also, in remote destinations travelers risk contracting serious diseases including polio, hepatitis and typhoid which have substantially been eliminated in this country.

THE NEED FOR EMERGENCY EVACUATION:
As trauma centers regionalize across the United States, many Americans have no option but to airlift their loved ones to larger, metropolitan cities where medical centers are properly staffed and equipped to handle emergencies. Distance and terrain dictate the use of air medical flights when speed is a significant factor to the well-being of the ill or injured.

At home or abroad the ordinary citizen is unfamiliar with the difficult and complex procedures required to arrange an emergency air evacuation flight. Air transportation schedules and airport clearances, the type of aircraft to be used, the kinds of medical equipment and personnel, and other such technical matters all exert a material impact on the quality of care and expense during the flight.

The seriously injured or ill person normally is in no condition to make the flight and financial arrangements, especially in the many cases where the patient is not even conscious. It is up to the family to make the time-consuming arrangements for their loved one who is suffering through a medical emergency hundreds of miles from home.

In addition to frequent accidents and serious illnesses requiring medical evacuation of living persons, the highly mobile nature of our society results in a significant number of deaths of travelers while away from home. Arranging for the transportation of the remains of deceased persons is both extremely traumatic and expensive for family members or loved ones. Considerable legal procedures and other "red tape" are involved in transporting the remains of the deceased person, especially from a foreign country. Additionally, some major medical coverage limitations preclude payments for medical services in certain geographical locations. It is therefore highly desirable to be transported to facilities where they are covered, so that the necessary treatment will be paid for by the patient's existing major medical insurance.

THE HIGH COSTS OF EMERGENCY AIR TRANSPORT:
Industry sources report that air ambulance evacuation costs, on average, between $7,500 and $35,000 making them staggeringly expensive for most people. For example, a recent evacuation from Naples, Italy to Houston, Texas cost $47,000 and one from Mazatlan, Mexico to Chicago, Illinois cost $28,000. It has been estimated that even travelers who are less seriously injured and can use scheduled airlines rather than air ambulance aircraft still must pay from $8,000 to $20,000 for their evacuation.

SENIOR CITIZENS CONCERNS:
Senior citizens in particular have a difficult, if not impossible, time recovering from the financial blow to their savings due to the high cost of air ambulance services. Families also suffer undue financial burdens if the individual who is in need cannot pay for these services. Furthermore, Medicare benefits do not cover emergency medical care arising from travel to foreign countries except for very limited circumstances involving Mexico or Canada. Private Medicare supplement insurance does not help either, since it only provides benefits when basic governmental Medicare is available.

CORPORATE AND PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN DEFICIENCIES:
Most corporate and private health insurance plans have gaping holes in their coverage for travel emergencies. They do not cover evacuation or transportation to a hospital, and some of the policies contain restrictions excluding coverage on travel to certain countries or injury from dangerous activities such as skiing and ocean diving. Even where they cover foreign hospitalization, standardized plans provide no immediate help to get into an overseas hospital, since they don't provide for payment until after the insured party is treated and back home.

COMPETITIVE AIR AMBULANCE POLICIES:
Because of the expensive nature of conducting professional air evacuation operations, the prevailing policy of most international air ambulance carriers is to require payment for their services prior to boarding the injured or ill person, if no confirmable coverage is presented. This unpleasant "cash before boarding" policy of the industry creates numerous difficulties such as serious delays in evacuation while contacting family members or loved ones to bear severe financial burdens if the person needing evacuation lacks the funds.

TRAVEL ASSIST ADVANTAGE:
This travel assistance service virtually eliminates the adverse effect of the "cash before boarding" policy of most carriers. Since this plan satisfies all payment requirements of air evacuation carriers, the injured or ill person can immediately board the emergency air vehicle for transport to the final hospital destination.