family member | Health And Wellness Tips

Does My Credit Card Cover Air Ambulance Services During Travel?

Credit cards seem to fill the pockets and purses of nearly every traveler around the world. Premium credit cards frequently offer benefits and perks for travelers. These little extras lure consumers into using their specific credit card to make travel purchases. If you use credit cards when you travel, it is important to learn about the specifics for your particular card.

Does your credit card cover lost or stolen items away from home? Does the card cover air ambulance services in an emergency? Learning about such benefits will help you prepare for your next trip whether it is across the country or around the world.

Begin your quest for answers by digging out your paperwork from your credit cards. Start combing through the fine print to see what your premium credit card covers and what exclusions apply. After doing a little detective work, you will undoubtedly realize that you do have some coverage during your trip away from home. Credit card companies will typically pay for lost or stolen luggage or other personal goods during a trip, but this feature is only effective after a deductible has been applied. Of course, all credit card agreements are different, so check your card to be certain.

If a medical emergency should arise, the credit card coverage may pay to have you transported to the nearest medical facility. Your premium credit card may even pay to have someone fly to be with you. Yes, this is quite a nice benefit, but the card will not cover expenses to fly you home on an air ambulance to the hospital of your choice to be near family and friends. Also, it will not cover the added expenses of hotel rooms, food, and other expenses associated with the family member traveling and staying in the area so far from home.

Due to this vulnerable situation, many cardholders decide to purchase a membership to an air ambulance service that will cover any fees associated with getting the patient home. Such a company will charge a set fee, typically charged monthly or annually. For this fee, the covered person or family can choose to fly via air ambulance from any hospital far from home to the hospital of their choice. All of this is at no additional cost. Since such a flight home on a medically staffed air ambulance is expensive, this membership can save a great deal of money. One trip on an air ambulance can cost between $10 and $75,000.

Even a premium credit card won’t cover those expenses.

Before traveling away from home, it is crucial that you learn the ins and outs of your coverage from a credit card. Even premium credit cards with fabulous benefits may leave you open and vulnerable in a medical emergency. All credit card agreements vary, so read the fine print very carefully.

If you are not guaranteed coverage of a flight home on a medically staffed air ambulance to the hospital of your choice, then you are not adequately covered with your credit card. Additional coverage is necessary to protect yourself, your family, and your wallet.

Disadvantages of Using a Broker to Secure Air Ambulance Transportation

If you or someone you love are in need of transportation via air ambulance, you may be confused about where to look to locate such a service. Frequently, patients and families will turn to a broker in order to secure air ambulance services. The use of a broker can help you to locate air ambulance services to meet the needs of the patient, but this is not always the best plan of action.

Using a broker to secure air ambulance travel for a patient can have many disadvantages. It can be wise to take the time to search for air ambulance service on your own whenever possible.

Since the broker is a middle man, he does not own the aircraft, fly the air ambulance, or staff the flight. The broker merely finds an appropriate air ambulance service at the lowest price available. Although this may sound like a great opportunity, it really is not a beneficial situation.

After the broker locates air ambulance transportation, he adds his fee to the final cost.

Using a broker does not ensure a higher level of quality for the patient. In fact, they have no system to analyze quality control for patient care. Dealing directly with the air ambulance service company, the patient can receive the best rate for the service.

Going through a broker to locate air ambulance services will tie your hands and leave the patient unable to deal directly with the service provider. On the other hand, patients who forego the broker can contact the air ambulance service provider directly. This allows the opportunity to discuss any personal questions or concerns. During this stressful time, patients and their families need reassurance. Direct contact between you and the air ambulance company can be very comforting and provide much needed peace of mind about the quality service and medical treatment the patient will receive.

Using a broker to secure adequate air ambulance transportation services is much like using a broker to locate the perfect child care provider for your children. Regardless of the excellent reputation of the service provider, it is important and crucial to have trust and confidence in the service provider for the best results. Yes, the broker will find appropriate services, but will everyone feel confident about the broker’s decision? Making the decision for the best air ambulance service provider through your own resources will add a sense of comfort and assurance.

If the circumstances arise that you or a family member require the services of transportation by air ambulance, you may want to skip the services from a broker and do the legwork yourself. There are several advantages to locating the air ambulance service on your own. Without the use of a broker, direct contact between you and the service provider is useful to answer any questions that may arise.

A sense of confidence arises with the patient and the family during this interaction. Also, dealing directly with the air ambulance service provider can create an opportunity to receive the highest quality service at a great value. Going through a broker merely marks up the cost of such services.

Can Family Travel With the Patient in an Air Ambulance?

When a loved one is dealing with serious medical conditions, everyone wants to help and be supportive. The family of the patient wants to be involved and informed about what is going on. Just like the doctors and medical staff, a patient’s loving family wants what is best for the patient. When the patient must be transported, many issues of concern arise. If a loved one must fly in an air ambulance, can someone from the family come along for support?

The goal of transporting the patient is often to reach qualified healthcare quickly and conveniently. This is especially true for many patients whose lives are dependent on the speed in which they get to the appropriate hospital and treatment. In some cases, the patient will fly in an air ambulance just a short distance to a local hospital, in other cases, a patient may travel across the globe for medical services.

Each specific case is looked at individually. There is no one right answer to this question. In some cases, it is imperative to the patient that they only travel in the air ambulance with the medical staff. Frequently, this is due to space limitations in the aircraft. For example,, if the patient has just been involved in a severe car accident and must be air lifted to a trauma hospital in a helicopter, there may not be adequate room aboard the aircraft for the medical personnel to properly care for the patient if another person is seated in the area.

On the other hand, if the patient must fly long distances for medical treatment, larger jet aircrafts may be more suited to the medical mission. If this should be the case, chances are high that there will be the necessary room for a member of the family to accompany the patient safely while en route to the destination.

Doctors, medical staff, and family all know that the patient is more relaxed when they can travel with someone they know and care about. For this reason, whenever possible, accommodations for a support person are made during the trip in an air ambulance. Of course, if the medical mission is compromised by the addition of another person into the cabin, for any reason, family members will be asked to refrain and meet the patient at the destination by using other forms of travel.

During this stressful time, all efforts are made to make the patient the most comfortable and relaxed as possible, while keeping safety as the top priority. If someone wants to accompany the patient on the air ambulance to the destination, by all means, ask. If it is feasible, the medical staff will welcome the family member aboard the aircraft. If the request is denied, take heart that the decision was based solely on the safety of the patient and the flight crew.

Travel by air ambulance can be a complicated issue, but the mission is to safely get the patient from the point of origin to the destination as quickly as possible. In some cases, patients are not permitted a support person during the flight, but whenever possible, a family member is encouraged to travel with the patient.

Will Insurance Cover Air Ambulance Transport?

Air ambulance transportation can be extremely expensive. The cost of one trip in an air ambulance can take a chunk out of the wallet and savings. In some instances, an air ambulance transport can cost over $100,000. With such extreme fees, it seems that people can’t afford to be critically ill or injured. Will insurance cover such high rates for air ambulance transport?

In many cases, insurance companies will cover air ambulance transport when it is deemed medically necessary. The insurance company may not cover every aspect of the transport, but the patient will not be left fully responsible for the charges. It is important to learn exactly what your insurance will cover and under what circumstances.

The key term here is “medically necessary”. If the doctor feels the patient must be transported by air to another health care facility to receive proper treatment, then the insurance company will typically go along with the charges and pay for the air ambulance transport of the patient. On the other hand, if someone is hurt or ill while out of the country and simply wants to fly home for treatment, the insurance company may not look upon this situation very favorably.

In such a case, the patient may be left vulnerable to all incurred charges for the air ambulance service. To protect yourself from this situation, it is possible to purchase air ambulance coverage while traveling. Such insurance is often reasonably priced in annual or monthly installments on an individual, family, or group basis. This type of coverage will protect you, your family, and your wallet.

Typically, the air ambulance service coverage is not only reasonably priced, but available to nearly everyone. Consumers are often concerned about exemptions and denials for pre-existing conditions, but frequently there are no such exclusions in this type of coverage.

When a patient requires air ambulance services, it is standard procedure for the air ambulance company to secure payment prior to the flight whenever possible. If it is not possible to prove that insurance coverage for air ambulance service can be secured, the patient or a family member must pay the charge up front in the form of a credit card, wire transfer, money order, or other verifiable payment. For many families, coming up with this large sum of money would not only be difficult, but nearly impossible.

Keeping this in mind, it is important for you to learn what coverage you have for air ambulance services. If you are unsatisfied with the current coverage the insurance plan offers, it may be time to consider other options to protect your finances in the event of an emergency. During a medical emergency, stress is high for the entire family.

Although no one wants to use air ambulance transport, it is important to concern yourself now with this issue. Contact the insurance company today to verify the ins and outs of coverage for air ambulance transport before you really need this service. Your health and your wallet may depend on this information in the future.