Travel and Medical Assistance

[dale farley]

FMCA members will be getting another valuable benefit as part of their membership, starting 1 Oct 14. The addition of Travel and Medical Assistance will be added, free of charge, as part of the membership fee. This is something we don't think about too often, but a friend of mine was transported from Yellowstone to Chicago and it cost him $28,000 out of pocket. http://www.fmca.com/join-family-motor-coach-association/member-benefits/3595-fmcassist-travel-assistance-and-medical-evacuation.html

[Reagan Sirmons]

Dale...don't rely on this policy...we had a friend last year injured while skiing...he was hospitalized and it was recommended he be sent to Houston ... the insurance company decided that the patient "should wait about two weeks" to see how he progresses... it was a farce... we took care of picking him up, driving the coach to Houston and placing him here... the insurance co did nothing.
Sorry for the scorching report but it is a sore spot with me...
Pres

[Gil_J]

Dale,

Not all air ambulance services are created equal. Many simply provide coordination of services, others will only provide transportation when its medically necessary as determined by the attending physician. As far as I've been able to determine, only one air ambulance service puts the decision to fly in the hands of the member when they have a critically illness or injury. You can't really knock the FMCA program, through Seven Corners; it's free to FMCA members. So, you didn't pay anything so you shouldn't expect much.

If you want to be in control of your medical transportation, look at SkyMed www.tinyurl.com/SkyMed-Overview (http://www.tinyurl.com/SkyMed-Overview). To Pres' point, know what you're getting. SkyMed has over 250,000 members and I have yet to find a mention of poor service.

Sorry for the plug, but everyone needs to know there are major differences in these services.

[dale farley]

I agree with all the comments, but it is free to the FMCA members, so it may be better than no policy at all. I doubt that any of the policies would let the member decide if they want to be flown somewhere unless there was truly a medical emergency. I would really hate to know I paid for a policy then still didn't get any service.

[Gil_J]

Yes Dale, SkyMed let's the member decide.

You are right. If it's free, whatever you get is worth the price. Whatever you hoped for and didn't get was just a hope.

[garyde]

What is the point in offering such a policy if it is not available as advertised.

[Gil_J]

Gary,

I suspect many of these policies do deliver per their terms. The problem is the actual terms don't live up to the policy holders' expectations.

On another forum many are reporting that PPOs are no longer available. Yet another reason to be able to get back to your home area for treatment. BTW, we should all be worried that our future (now for some) healthcare choices don't give us freedom to travel and be covered.