An emergency evacuation coverage benefit will usually come into force in the event that an insured individual develops a severe illness or suffers from an accident in a remote part of the world or an area where high quality medical treatment is unavailable.
When this happens, the group’s health insurance policy will ensure that the member is able to be transported to the nearest centre of medical excellence in order to receive necessary healthcare treatment.
Depending on the location of the individual requiring the evacuation, the transportation could be an overland ambulance journey, or it could require a helicopter or plane journey to a hospital or clinic which is not reachable in a timely manner over land. No matter how the evacuation is performed, the individual will always be transported to a medical facility which is capable of providing adequate standards of care to treat the condition the person is suffering from.
It is important to note, however, than an emergency evacuation cannot be requested because the insured member does not like the hospital they are receiving treatment at – in order for the emergency medical evacuation to be covered under the group’s health insurance policy the evacuation must be deemed to be a medical necessity. This means that the evacuation must have occurred due to an inability to receive the appropriate treatment in the insured member’s current location and will normally have to be approved by both the insurance company and the attending doctors at the local medical facility.
Obviously, in an emergency situation in a remote location the intention of the emergency medical evacuation is to get the insured individual to the nearest medical facility as soon as possible, which will normally be located in the nearest major city.
