Medical evacuation
 

Hello, I plan an extensive trip about 9 months away & wonder about travel
insurance. I have worldwide medical cover as part of my pension provisions.
Coverage is rather high to suit for example USA.
I also have such cover independently in Spain which is where I will mostly be,
I think that I only need insurance to get me home (NZ) in case of travelling being
difficult due to injury or illness. All the policies I have seen are full cover
and I think the medical part is most of the cost. Anyone have an opinion on this ?
Many thanks, John

trouble is you have to put a lot of effort into getting an unbundled policy -especially as you are over 70.

Even if you go to a broker they need to recover their costs from you

if your current medical insurance covers you in Spain why worry? The Spanish medical system is very good and you will be treated there - the only risk is you develop something that means you can't fly commercial home - that's not very likely TBH if you are currently in reasonable shape

Hello,

Have just noticed this thread. HHs comment is in my opinion unwise, whilst a percentage of people are repatriated from Spain commercially the problem is that if you need an air ambulance it will cost from somewhere like southern Spain up to £30,000, from NZ you are looking at the best part of £250,000 for an air ambulance. So you need good insurance and do not forget to declare everything and I mean everything to the insurance company.

Because of your age you may have to pay an awful lot or insurance and usually it will only cover you for 45 days continuously outside the country.

Remember, because you are in good shape today you don't know what next week brings such as a chest infection or just tripping over a pavement and breaking a hip.

I am a member of the Austrian Alpine Club. Membership includes a worldwide rescue and repatriation insurance covering almost any activity (many of which, for eg Off-piste skiing, are excluded/restricted with most travel policies). There are a couple of very high risk activities that are excluded. Over 60's get a discount on membership.

In Switzerland we have REGA which provides world wide repatriation for their members (CHF35 per year).

They have 17 helicopters and three CL-604s in their air ambulance fleet.

Regretfully membership is only available for Swiss residents. If you are here skiing (i.e. temporary swiss resident) your subscription would cover on-mountain evacuation but not repatriation to your home country.

How many people are medevacced from Spain to New Zealand?

I think you'll find the answer is very very few

If they quote £250 k you must be nearly dead anyawy - best to stick it out in Spain and pay for your relatives to come and see you there for that cash - or wait until you can move and then hire a Gulfstream to get you home

Honestly once you get to 3 score and 10 do you really need insurance at all - just take the lumps as they come - my Aunt has taken parachute jumps in her mid-80's and she doesn't worry about dying - she just worries about dying slowlyyyyyyyy

That's correct H.H. I work with recently bereaved people. Slow is the one you don't want.

Medevac
 

Thanks for all comments. If I stay too long in Europe I will run into
taxation issues, so I plan to cut my travels down to 6 months (a bit less actually)
for my next trip. For that I can easily get insurance.
Now when I get to be 80 !!!

Just to clarify for old Bas:
Are you resident in Spain or NZ?

It may be worth looking for Worldwide travel insurance associated with a bank account.
In the UK, Nationwide has such cover attached to their FlexPlus account up to and including age 74 (your 75th birthday).
It refers to "Additional travel expenses needed to return you . . . " but excludes hazardous activities.

Most important to read the terms and ask if unsure.

Clarification for Bas
 

Hello Bas, just for you. I am indeed NZ resident but spend a lot of
time in Spain. For this year my rellies (=relatives in English) asked me
to stay until Christmas, which did cause some problems.
Kind regards, John

Some "premium" credit cards also offer world wide medevac IIRC

Someone said BUPA in the UK have a worldwide policy that also works