Medical Evacuation Insurance Coverage Explained

What is Medical Evacuation & Repatriation Insurance?

Medical Evacuation Insurance is a common medical benefit that assists travelers who are critically ill or injured by providing emergency transportation to a quality medical facility for treatment.

This coverage, sometimes referred to as medevac insurance, is found within most travel insurance policies and can pay to transport you to the nearest appropriate medical facility and provide en route care when adequate treatment arrangements are not available locally, even if that means returning you to the USA for treatments.

Your policy’s emergency medical evacuation service can transport you via air ambulance, commercial airline, rescue boat, or other type of vehicle fitted with medical equipment if it’s deemed medically necessary. Most policies can also repatriate your remains if you suddenly pass away while traveling.

This coverage is especially important if your trip occurs in areas with sparse or subpar medical facilities, such as when you are visiting a remote destination, traveling to foreign countries, participating in adventure sports, or taking a cruise.

What Does Medical Evacuation Insurance Cover?

Medevac insurance covers the cost to medically transport you to the nearest adequate medical facility, or back to your home country, in the event you sustain a serious or life-threatening injury or illness while traveling.

It pays for the full cost of your medical transport via the most direct and economical route while ensuring the proper medical provisions based on your condition.

This includes paying for all medical supplies, required documentation, and services needed during your transfer.

If you pass away while traveling, this benefit can also coordinate and pay for the cost of returning your remains to your home country, typically including required documentation and a basic casket.

Below is a closer look at the expenses and scenarios covered by most medevac insurance policies:

• Transportation to the Nearest Adequate Medical Facility: If the local hospital or facility you arrive at is unable to treat your condition, this benefit may cover the cost to transport you to another facility to receive appropriate medical services and a superior level of care.
• Transportation Back Home: Coverage for emergency long-distance air transportation back home if the attending physician or medical professional believes it’s in your best interest.
• Hospital Companion: If you are traveling alone, some plans cover the cost of a round-trip ticket for a close friend or family member to visit you in the hospital.
• Traveling Companion: Reimbursement for your travel companion’s hotel stay, meals, and transportation expenses so they can remain nearby while you receive medical treatment.
• Return of Children: If you’re traveling with children, this benefit may cover the cost to transport them back home so they can be in the care of a close friend or relative while you are treated.
• Repatriation of Remains: If you pass away during your trip, this benefit may cover the cost to return your remains to the city of the burial site, as well as cremation, embalming, and other necessary expenses.

It’s important to note that every policy is unique, and coverage limits and exclusions differ by policy. Ensure you read the fine print and full statement of coverage before purchasing to ensure you fully understand what is excluded.

Common Medical Evacuation Exclusions

While emergency medical evacuation coverage can be applied to a wide range of scenarios, it is not all-encompassing.

While exclusions can vary slightly by policy, most plans won’t cover medical evacuations and emergency care relating to the following scenarios:

• Evacuations that were not pre-authorized or arranged by your insurance provider
• Expenses not certified by the treating physician or otherwise deemed medically unnecessary.
• Non-medical evacuations, as this is a separate benefit
• Evacuations due to Pre-existing conditions, unless stated otherwise in your policy
• Evacuations due to participating in an adventure sport or activity that was excluded from your policy’s coverage
• Transportation to your “Hospital of Choice”, unless stated otherwise in your policy.
• Evacuations relating to substance abuse, medical tourism, elective surgeries, normal pregnancy scenarios, or childbirth.

How Does Medical Evacuation Insurance Work?

If you are hospitalized for a medical emergency and think you need to be transferred to a more adequate facility, the first step is to contact your travel insurance company’s 24/7 emergency assistance hotline.

The provider’s emergency assistance team will work with the local hospital and the treating doctor to evaluate:

1. If you need to be medically evacuated
2. What the most appropriate destination is for your treatment
3. The logistics for your transport based on your current medical condition and location

If you are incapacitated and cannot speak for yourself, the local hospital will typically contact your insurer for you. We recommend keeping your travel insurance information in your wallet in case of these types of scenarios.

Who Decides if a Medical Evacuation Happens?

It’s important to note that transfer to a better facility is not up to the patient.

This decision is made by your local treating doctor in conjunction with your travel insurance provider’s emergency medical assistance team.

Your doctor will confirm your condition and make recommendations for treatment, and your insurance provider will evaluate if your transfer is medically necessary and meets your policy’s terms and conditions.

Eligibility Requirements

Medical evacuations only occur when they are deemed medically necessary, and you are unable to receive adequate treatment at the medical facility where you are currently being treated.

It’s important to highlight that your evacuation must be pre-approved by your insurance company, except in some extremely rare circumstances where immediate life-saving action is required.

Most policies also require notification within 24-48 hours of your health emergency to qualify for coverage.

Types of Medical Evacuations & Repatriations

Policies do not guarantee that all medical transfers will take place in an air ambulance or medically equipped plane.

Once you have been approved for transfer, your policy and provider will dictate the type of transfer you receive based on your medical condition and what is deemed medically necessary.

Common types of evacuations include:

• Air or Ground Ambulance transfer
• Commercial Stretcher
• Commercial airline with a supervised medical escort
• Repatriation of remains (in case of untimely death)

Who Pays for The Medical Evacuation?

Although most travel insurance plans function on a reimbursement model, Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance is one of the few types of coverage that works as a direct payment model. This is largely due to the high cost of medical evacuations and the need to provide an urgent, often lifesaving, service.

That said, policies require you to get pre-approval for your medical evacuation.

If you pay out of pocket for medevac services and request reimbursement, most policies will deny the claim. Therefore, it’s important to notify your insurance company of your condition as soon as possible.

Verify your plan’s requirements before traveling, as many policies require you to contact your provider within 24-48 hours of an incident to receive coverage.

How Much Does a Medical Repatriation Cost?

The CDC notes that a medical air evacuation can cost anywhere from $25,000 to more than $250,000.

The cost of a medical evacuation varies greatly depending on your location, the severity of your medical condition, and the distance to the nearest appropriate medical facility. Traveling to remote destinations with limited healthcare facilities and emergency services can also result in higher medical transportation costs.

Given the potentially exorbitant costs of an emergency medical evacuation, we recommend investing in a travel insurance plan with coverage limits on the higher end that can provide you with peace of mind and limit your out-of-pocket expenses.

How Much Medevac Insurance Do I Need?

Since medevacs are responsible for some of the costliest travel insurance claims, we recommend policies that offer at least $100,000 in emergency Medical Evacuation coverage, regardless of your travel plans.

If you are taking a cruise, visiting a remote destination, or participating in hazardous activities, you may need higher coverage limits. In these situations, we recommend no less than $250,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage.

Most travel insurance companies provide high coverage limits for this benefit, with options ranging from $50,000 to up to $2,000,000.

How Do I Get Medical Evacuation Coverage?

Most travel insurance policies come standard with Medical Evacuation & Repatriation coverage.

If you are buying a policy on Squaremouth, our online quote tool lets you filter for plans that include emergency medical evacuation coverage at varying coverage levels. We recommend comparing quotes from at least 2-3 different travel insurance providers to find the best value for your money.

If you can’t decide on a plan, have a look at our list of the best medical evacuation insurance plans for 2025.

You can also contact our award-winning customer service team for help finding a policy or to get answers to questions like how much coverage to purchase for your upcoming trip. Our team is available at 1-800-240-0369 from 8 AM to 10 PM EST.

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FAQs: Medical Evacuation and Repatriation Insurance

Is Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance Worth It?

Yes, Medical Evacuation insurance is one of the most important benefits you can include in a travel insurance policy due to the amount of financial protection it provides if needed.

A medical evacuation due to a serious illness or injury can cost anywhere from $25,000 to over $250,000, especially if you’re traveling abroad or in a remote area. Purchasing a travel insurance policy that includes evacuation coverage is a smart investment, regardless of your destination.

When Should I Consider Emergency Medical Evacuation Coverage?

• International trips, especially to countries with limited healthcare infrastructure
• Cruise vacations
• Adventure trips that involve high-risk activities
• Trips to remote or rural areas, where local medical care may not meet your needs
• Senior travelers or those with medical conditions, for whom a quick transfer to advanced care may be critical

Will My Standard Health Insurance Policy Cover Medical Evacuations?

Most primary health insurance plans, such as Medicare or employer-sponsored policies, do not provide coverage abroad. However, your primary health insurance may cover emergency medical transportation services within the United States.

If you’re an American citizen or U.S. resident planning a trip overseas, consider purchasing a comprehensive travel insurance policy that includes medevac insurance coverage, as well as other popular coverage benefits like Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Travel Delay, and 24 Hour Travel Assistance Services.

What’s the Difference Between Medical Evacuation Insurance and Emergency Medical Coverage?

Emergency medical coverage reimburses medical bills, whereas medical evacuation coverage is designed to arrange transport and deliver you to a proper healthcare facility for treatment.

To understand where one benefit begins and the other ends, it can be helpful to see a real-world example. Imagine you are hiking in a remote area and fall from a cliff and are severely injured.

In this example, local emergency services will come to rescue you and transport you to the nearest medical facility. If you are billed for this initial local transfer, this usually falls under your standard emergency medical coverage. You would need to pay the bill and file a claim for reimbursement with your insurance provider.

If you reach the hospital and find out that the local medical facility is not adequately suited to treat your condition, your medical evacuation and repatriation insurance can take over and pay to send you to the nearest adequate medical facility for your specific condition, even if that means sending you back to the USA for treatment.

Once you arrive at the hospital and begin treatment, your emergency medical coverage can reimburse you for any bills you receive for treatment.

Do Credit Cards Provide Emergency Evacuation Insurance?

Most credit cards do not provide insurance coverage for medical expenses or evacuations while traveling. The majority of travel credit cards are designed to cover travel purchases made using the card, such as airfare and accommodations, if you’re forced to cancel your trip.

That said, certain premium travel credit cards like the Chase Sapphire range include some medical evacuation coverage, but it’s still lower than our recommended limits of $250,000 of medevac coverage.

We typically recommend supplementing your credit card’s insurance with a medical-only travel insurance plan to ensure you are adequately covered. These plans are the most affordable options as they focus solely on emergency medical and evacuation benefits, without including trip cancellation coverage.

What is an Air Ambulance Membership?

Air ambulance companies like MedJet Assist and Global Rescue offer annual memberships to access their services, specifically designed to cover medical evacuations while traveling.

Similar to travel insurance, these memberships can arrange and provide reimbursement for emergency medical transportation services both domestically and abroad.

However, unlike travel insurance, these memberships typically don’t include other forms of travel protection, such as reimbursement for medical treatment or trip interruptions. They are strictly built to provide emergency evacuation insurance. Therefore, we do not recommend these as a substitute or replacement for travel insurance.

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Please be aware that coverage and eligibility requirements for this benefit differ by policy.

Looking for a policy with Medical Evacuation & Repatriation coverage?

Enter your trip information on our custom quote form. Once you receive your results, select the Medical Evacuation & Repatriation filter to find the best policy for your trip with the coverage that you need.