Air Ambulance Spam

[Diggin It]

Y'all get mail spam from air ambulance carriers trying to get you to sign up for annual memberships?

Rates are a few hundred dollars a year whether you use them or not.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Well, first hand knowledge.... If you subscribe, there is no additional "charges" to you, should you use the service. They will only attempt to bill your insurance (which usually won't pay). I have personally known of patients being billed for 75-100K. That's a big number to be on the hook for.

 

[Diggin It]

This one isn't as bad as past ones I remember. $65/yr with small discounts if you do a multiyear plan.

 

[kcflhrc]

This came up a while back also. Check your Health Insurance Coverage, my United Health Care already covers Air Ambulance at 100%

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

That's not bad. I would definitely read the fine print. Not everyone could benefit from these, like if you were twenty-something, but....

About 10 or so years ago, I had a friend that lived about an hour and a half drive from the nearest hospital. He was thrown from his horse about an additional half hour from his house. He had to travel that distance while injured just to phone for help... By the time the first responders got there he was in bad shape.

They airlifted him by helicopter. He got a bill for $128,000. His insurance paid 50k, he owed $78K. After negotiating a reduced bill, he ended up owing $35K. He is still making monthly payments. He was 49 at the time.

Like I said, cheap insurance that you may never need, but...

 

[Diggin It]

I would definitely read the fine print.

'Members must be natural persons."

:shocked:

 

[Industrial Toys]

Our Air (Orange) Ambulance bilked the taxpay for millions! I'm sure everyone has forgotten.

 

[AllDodge]

They have airevac around here, and have the same spill. I checked with mine and wife's insurance, and the Ins pays if the physician/EMT on seen signs off that air ambulance is the only thing that can be used due to time/location.

CK you policy, they all differ

 

[turnkey4099]

Our local (Spokane, wa) air ambulance also sells such insurance but I have never had an solicitation to buy other then through the fire department/ambulane here in Wa and that was very low key. Most everyone knows about it and a lot of them have it. My insurance pays full and I have used it twice.

 

[oosik]

No. My insurance pays for air ambulance service in full.

 

[groundcover]

Know a guy that used to sail , got a air policy through divers network I think. Got sick and had to be flown back to the US, best money he ever spent !

 

[WVBill]

Know a guy that used to sail , got a air policy through divers network I think. Got sick and had to be flown back to the US, best money he ever spent !

If you vacation outside the United States (for US residents), consider Medical Repatriation Insurance also. Most medical insurance, if it covers you outside the US (Medicare does NOT) will only cover transportation "to the nearest hospital" - which will probably be in whatever country you are visiting. If you have a six week (for example) recovery in the hospital you probably wouldn't want to stay in Belieze that long. MedJet Assist is the one I carry. If I'm more than 150 miles from home anywhere in the world, they will transport me to the hospital of my choice so I can spend that recovery time under the care of my doctor near my family. This is not the same as air ambulance insurance which covers you from an accident scene to the hospital, although I suppose some air ambulance insurance policies might cover both.

 

[dmccarty]

Know a guy that used to sail , got a air policy through divers network I think. Got sick and had to be flown back to the US, best money he ever spent !

DAN has medical evacuation insurance that many sailors have signed up for coverage. I was following a blog about a guy who had a nice trawler in the Pacific and was doing charity work. One of his crew went for a swim and got bitten in the thigh by a shark. While there was a "hospital" on the island it surely was not some place could treat this kind of injury. The crew had evacuation insurance, I don't remember from whom but they were Australian, which was where the air ambulance was based. It took a day or so for the jet to fly out to the island to pick up the patient to fly back to Australian. Can't imagine the cost of that ride. I think the air ambulance had at least a doctor and nurse on board. The bite victim survived.

If you vacation outside the United States (for US residents), consider Medical Repatriation Insurance also. Most medical insurance, if it covers you outside the US (Medicare does NOT) will only cover transportation "to the nearest hospital" - which will probably be in whatever country you are visiting. If you have a six week (for example) recovery in the hospital you probably wouldn't want to stay in Belieze that long. MedJet Assist is the one I carry. If I'm more than 150 miles from home anywhere in the world, they will transport me to the hospital of my choice so I can spend that recovery time under the care of my doctor near my family. This is not the same as air ambulance insurance which covers you from an accident scene to the hospital, although I suppose some air ambulance insurance policies might cover both.

When we flew to Scotland to hop on a boat to cruise around Scotland and Ireland, we got trip insurance that included evacuation. Just seemed the prudent thing to do and did not cost much at all. Thankfully, we did not need any insurance but I was really glad we had the coverage when we went back to the boat one evening after a BBQ and the tide had gone out. It was raining, the tide had dropped around 12-15 feet, and we had to climb down a metal ladder to the floating dock. I went down the wrong ladder and it stopped about 5 feet above the dock. I just dropped the distance which was kinda stupid. Should have climbed back up and gone down the other ladder.

My understanding is that in NC, heart patients are transported between hospitals by air. This happened to a family member. They needed to transfer to cardiac care hospital but the weather was so bad they could not fly but they would NOT transport by ground. The family member was stable and had to wait for the weather to clear. We see LOTS of copters flying to a hospital about 30 miles from us.

Insurance coverage sure is needed for air transportation.

Later,
Dan

 

[KYErik]

Check your health insurance policy. My "mid grade" employer provided health insurance policy paid 100% for a $12K air ambulance transport 9 years ago after I had a motorcycle accident.

 

[bunyip]

We have ambulance cover that includes air ambulance, about $100 pa unless you are unemployed/student or pensioner and it is free.
Daughter got a 10 minute chopper ride about 15 years ago when she came a gutser on a cross country horse event, it would have cost $10K if we hadn't had insurance.
Private health insurance may reimburse the premium depending upon your level of cover.
The insurance is for the State service but is reciprocal and we are covered in any State but not overseas.