Emergency Evacuation/Repatriation Coverage

This coverage provides for medically necessary evacuation to a medical facility, medically equipped flights to return home, or the repatriation of mortal remains to your primary residence. (A repatriation definition is provided below.)

Contents (click to jump down) What does Emergency Evacuation/Repatriation cover? Repatriation definition What is NOT covered Is there coverage for non U.S. citizens? Important notes about this coverage What type of policy covers this? How much coverage does each company provide? Summary

Let us tell you a story

Carol and her young son, Jacob, were on a skiing holiday in Switzerland. Carol’s husband, Richard, had to remain at home due to concerns about a buyout at his employer.

On their second afternoon, Carol was skiing some distance behind Jacob when her ski caught an icy edge and she tumbled off the slope into a deep ravine. Jacob witnessed the accident and was able to ski down to alert the rescue teams who found Carol nearly buried in snow, unconscious, and bleeding. The team at the bottom of the slopes worked with Jacob to call his father in the States and Richard contacted their travel insurance provider for assistance. Carol was air-lifted to a nearby hospital where they began treating her injuries. Richard was able to join his family with emergency travel assistance from the travel insurance plan operators. A week later, when Carol was stable and able to travel, their travel insurance provider arranged a commercial flight to send the family home.

What does Emergency Evacuation/Repatriation insurance cover?

The emergency medical evacuation coverage provides benefits payable up to the policy limit in if the insured suffers a medical emergency and requires transportation. It’s important to understand that this coverage is not medical coverage. Instead, it is coverage for medically necessary transportation.

The method of evacuation is determine based on the patient’s condition and location. For example, in less severe cases (such as a broken leg) a patient may be transported by air and then transferred to commercial airline service. In other cases, evacuations are complex procedures involving:

• evaluation of transportation requirements such as oxygen, special equipment, altitude, etc.
• coordination of admission to an appropriate medical facility
• identification of appropriate air transportation and medical escort if necessary
• coordination of ground transportation at both ends of the evacuation
• immigration and flight clearances
• assistance with travel arrangements

If you are seriously ill or injured during your trip, this coverage will determine the closest medical facility appropriate to your needs and make arrangements and pay to transport you to that facility. After receiving medical care, this coverage provides assistance arranging and paying for you to be transported by commercial transportation carrier to either:

• your primary residence,
• a location of your choice within the United States, or
• a medical facility near your primary residence or, with some plans, location of choice in the United States.

In many policies, emergency medical transportation coverage also includes the following benefits:

• Bringing a friend or family member to the medical facility where you are being treated.
• Returning your dependent children to your home or to a location of your choice.

Repatriation definition

The term repatriation is not familiar to most travelers, so we’ve provided a definition here. Repatriation coverage means that the travel insurance company arranges for and handles the transportation necessary to return a covered person’s body to his or her home or to a nearby funeral or cremation facility.

This benefit will arrange and pay for reasonable and necessary expenses, including, but not limited to, expenses for embalming, an appropriate container for transportation, and shipping costs to transport your remains via the most direct and economical route.

Some travel insurance plans also provide non medical evacuation services or security/political evacuations.

What is NOT covered

This benefit does not include funeral, burial, or cremation expenses or related containment expenses for items such as urns or coffins.

Is there coverage for non U.S. citizens?

Yes, there are some travel insurance plans that provide this coverage for non U.S. citizens. Specifically:

• Diplomat America from Global Underwriters
• Inbound Guest and Inbound Immigrant from Seven Corners

Important notes about this coverage

• All medical evacuations must be approved in advance and coordinated with the travel insurance plan agents
• Emergency evacuation and repatriation coverage does not extend to your home country
• In a situation of repatriation, your representative must contact the travel insurance provider to make arrangements
• Some plans provide reimbursement to bring a friend or family member to your bedside if you are hospitalized for at least 7 days
• Some plans provide reimbursement to return dependent children home if you are hospitalized for at least 7 days
• Benefits paid for evacuation and/or repatriation are less the cost of your unused return travel ticket

What type of policy covers this?

All travel insurance companies offer at least a few plans ‒ both travel and medical plans ‒ with emergency medical evacuation and repatriation benefits. In some travel plans, the travel insurance company may not provide additional benefits for the return of dependent children or a bedside visit.

How much coverage does each company provide?

POLICY	COMPANY	RETURN OF CHILDREN	BEDSIDE VISIT	POLICY LIMIT	REPATRIATION LIMIT
QuickTrip Protector	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$300,000
Classic	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$500,000
Annual Business Traveler	Allianz		Yes	$250,000
Annual Travel Protection	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$100,000
Deluxe	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Drive Protection	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$15,000
Med Evac	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Basic	Allianz	Yes	Yes	$50,000
Custom	CSA	Yes *	Yes	$250,000
Custom Luxe	CSA	Yes *	Yes	$1,000,000
TravMed Choice	FrontierMEDEX	Yes *	Yes *	$100,000	$20,000
TraveMed Global	FrontierMEDEX			No limit	No limit
TravMed International	FrontierMEDEX			No limit	No limit
SafeTrip	FrontierMEDEX	Yes	Yes	No limit	No limit
TravMed Abroad	FrontierMEDEX	Yes	Yes	No limit	No limit
Plus Scholastic	FrontierMEDEX	Yes	Yes	No limit	No limit
Essential	Global Alert	Yes	Yes	$50,000
Preferred Plus	Global Alert	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Preferred	Global Alert	Yes	Yes	$500,000
Diplomat LT	Global Underwriters		Yes	$300,000	$20,000
Diplomat International	Global Underwriters		Yes	$300,000	$20,000
Diplomat America	Global Underwriters		Yes	$300,000	$20,000
International Group Medical	Global Underwriters		Yes	$5,000-$75,000	$5,000-$50,000
TravelGap Voyager	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$500,000	$25,000
Trip Protector Preferred	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$1,000,000
Global Citizen (annual)	HTH Worldwide			$100,000	$25,000
TravelGap Multi-trip Gold	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$500,000	$25,000
TravelGap Excursion	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$500,000	$25,000
TravelGap Multi-trip Silver	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$250,000	$15,000
Trip Protector	HTH Worldwide		Yes *	$1,000,000
Advantage Complete	MH Ross	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Advantage Asset	MH Ross	Yes	Yes	$50,000
Advantage Bridge	MH Ross	Yes	Yes	$500,000
RoundTrip Elite	Seven Corners			$500,000
Liaison Worldwide	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
Liaison Silver	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
RoundTrip Economy	Seven Corners			$250,000
RoundTrip	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$350,000
RoundTrip Choice	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Liaison Majestic	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
Liaison International	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
Liaison Reside	Seven Corners			$25,000-$50,000	$20,000-$25,000
Wander Frequent Traveler	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
Inbound Immigrant	Seven Corners			$10,000	$7,500
Liaison Continent	Seven Corners	Yes	Yes	$300,000	$50,000
Liaison Student	Seven Corners		Yes *	$100,000	$25,000
Liaison Traveler (multi-trip)	Seven Corners	Yes *	Yes	$20,000
Inbound Guest	Seven Corners			$50,000	$7,500
Liaison Reside Prime	Seven Corners		Yes *	$250,000	$25,000
Missionary	Seven Corners	Yes *	Yes *	$50,000	$7,500
Travel Plus	Travelex			$2,000,000
Business Traveler	Travelex			$1,000,000
Travel Lite	Travelex			$50,000
Basic	Travelex			$100,000
Travel Select Advantage	Travelex			$500,000
Business Traveler	Travelex	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Travel Max	Travelex			$1,000,000
Travel Select	Travelex			$500,000
Silver	Travel Guard			$150,000
Savvy Traveler	Travel Guard			$100,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Sportsman’s Travel **	Travel Guard		Yes	$500,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
TravelRite	Travel Guard		Yes	$100,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Worldwide Health International	Travel Guard	Yes	Yes	$500,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Platinum	Travel Guard		Yes	$1,000,000
Tee, Tour, and Travel **	Travel Guard		Yes	$500,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
My Travel Guard	Travel Guard			$100,000
Basic	Travel Guard			$100,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Adventure **	Travel Guard		Yes	$500,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Pack ‘n Go	Travel Guard			$300,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Business Traveler	Travel Guard		Yes	$500,000	(included in Evacuation limit)
Gold	Travel Guard		Yes	$500,000
MedEvac (annual)	Travel Guard	Yes	Yes	No limit
Basic	Travel Guard			$100,000
WorldMed	Travel Insurance Services		Yes	$100,000-$500,000	$20,000-$50,000
Study USA	Travel Insurance Services		Yes	$500,000	$100,000
Select Elite	Travel Insurance Services	Yes	Yes	$100,000
InterMedical	Travel Insurance Services	Yes	Yes	$50,000-$75,000	$7,500
Select Basic	Travel Insurance Services	Yes	Yes	$25,000
Visit USA	Travel Insurance Services			$75,000-$150,000	$20,000
Select Plus	Travel Insurance Services	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Trip Protector Lite Expanded	Travel Insured	Yes	Yes	$100,000
Trip Protector Lite	Travel Insured			$200,000	$100,000
Worldwide Trip Protector	Travel Insured	Yes	Yes	$500,000
Worldwide Trip Protector Gold	Travel Insured	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Atlas Travel Medical	Travel Insured	Yes	Yes	$500,000	$50,000-$1,000,000
Protect-a-Group	TravelSafe	Yes	Yes	$100,000
Vacation Classic	TravelSafe	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000
Vacation	TravelSafe	Yes	Yes	$1,000,000

* Limited maximum payout
** Optional upgrade

Summary

• All medical evacuations and repatriations must be approved and coordinated with the travel insurance provider
• Not all plans provide for the return of minor children or bedside visits
• Emergency evacuation and repatriation coverage does not extend to visits to your home country