The Benefits of Membership
Posted on October 6, 2008
A Letter From the President
By: Roy Berger, President/CEO – MedjetAssist
About a year ago in this space we did a comparison between the transport benefits of MedjetAssist and the American Express Platinum card and drew more positive member response than anything previously written.
So please indulge me for a moment as I try to resurrect those thoughts and perhaps add a new angle or two.
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard ‘I carry the American Express Platinum card or I purchased travel insurance so I don’t need MedjetAssist, right?’ Wrong.
At Medjet we hear that over and over again and when we take a few minutes to explain the difference between Medjet membership as compared to standard travel insurance, it’s amazing the reactions we receive!
The difference can be summed up in two words- evacuation vs. repatriation. Or going to strange and unfamiliar surroundings vs. going home.
Amex Platinum is a fine program. I carry a Platinum card and use it primarily for the airport club privileges (Delta, Northwest, Continental) and on a rare occasion will use the concierge benefit. And travel insurance certainly plays a role when going on an exotic holiday or perhaps a cruise especially when you might need the trip cancellation and lost luggage benefit.
However, what Amex Platinum and most standard travel insurance will not do is get you home if you are sick or injured and hospitalized while traveling. That’s where being a MedjetAssist member pays dividends! Amex (and most standard travel insurance) will evacuate you to the closest appropriate medical center for treatment and that concludes the benefit. They make the call on where to take you. Under most circumstances they will not take you home.
MedjetAssist will. As a benefit of membership you make the call on where you want to go for your extended care and treatment. Most times our members want to go back home to their network of personal physician and family support. This is repatriation and that’s what we do! The decision on where you want to go is yours and yours alone as long as all transport criteria is met.
And don’t discount the MedjetAssist domestic transport benefits. As long as you are over 150 miles from home- international or domestic- your Medjet membership is valid. We do almost half our transports domestically. Amex Platinum and virtually all travel insurance policies will not transport their members in the United States. And internationally, their physicians must deem it ‘medically necessary and advisable due to inadequacy of local facilities’ before you get evacuated and then it is most likely to the ‘closet appropriate medical center’ as their language is wont to state. No such provision in your Medjet membership- as long as you meet inpatient criteria and you want to go back home, then home is where you are headed!
While on the subject of travel insurance; of course, a major travel insurer has been in the news lately making headlines I’m sure they would just as soon see go away in exchange for a solid balance sheet. If you are looking for a travel insurance supplement for lost luggage or trip cancellation or even evacuation to get you off a cruise ship (and your Medjet benefit then begins at port) we have a good working relationship with the folks at Travelex and you can take a look at their product offerings at www.travelexinsurance.com.
Amex Platinum and standard travel insurance provide some fine benefits and we can endorse each of them based upon specific need. The comparison chart below does a fine job in spelling out the differences. However if true ‘peace of mind’ is what you are looking for whenever you leave home, then the MedjetAssist program is the one that will get you back into that comfort circle should the unexpected happen anywhere in the U.S. or throughout the world. You can count on us!
|
Know Before You Buy |
Medjet |
Platinum Card |
|
Member transported regardless of medical necessity |
Yes |
No |
|
Member determines which medical facility to be moved to |
Yes |
No |
|
Transport to the closest appropriate medical center for treatment concludes the benefit |
No |
Yes |
|
Transport is contingent upon member not traveling against physician’s advice |
No |
Yes |
|
Transport is contingent upon the member not traveling with a pre-existing condition |
No* |
Yes |
* For travelers under the age of 75
MedjetAssist -Take Trips, Not Chances
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Will definitely keep Medjet, but could you tell me how to apply for the Amex Platinum because the trip insurance and airport amenities sound like a good idea.
Thank you.
I turn 76 in March of 2009. What do I do to receive the same benefits as I have had for the past 5 years? WW
Do my benefits include travel for my pet? Thanks, Diane Stoner
Medjet has a Diamond Membership for travelers 75-84. You can click on the Enroll Now/More Information button at the bottom of the blog and go to our Website for an application.
Will
I am not sure what exactly you need to do for an AMEX Platinum card but I am sure you could get more information at http://www.americanexpress.com
Diane –
We do accommodate pets if there is room for them and none of the crew (Medical/Pilot) have pet allergies.
We have transported a member with a pet previously…
Will
Hi
Frankly, I did not know the difference between evacuation and repatriation but knew that MedJet brought its members to home facility, when in need. We continue with MedJet program chiefly because of its simplicity of its contract with its members. If there are exclusions, we would like to know ahead of taking trips and relying upon MedJet’s services.
Thank you. I had a person telling an entire dinner party that I was wrong and American Express was the same. My own husband didn’t believe me!
Thank you for this very good article..but it was not wide enough to fit on my apple ibook screen..would you pleae email it to me so I can print it out for my traveling friends..Joan Damson
I’m a member but your website does not contain a printer friendly button unless I missed it. I don’t want to spend the time going through your letter.
Thanks,
JS
Some family members and friends from Los Angeles went to a resort area in Mexico for a holiday and were involved in a horrific auto accident in which 3 of them were killed and three critically injured. Two of them had relied for insurance on their gold cards which sent them to a hospital in Phoenix. They remained there for six months until medically stable enough to return home. Their daughter had to quit work, rent an apartment and live in Phoenix for the entire time. My family member traveled with no insurance. The cost of his repatriation was $17,000 USD. Needless to say we will never be without MedJet.
best things about Amex Platinum-two for one business/first airfare
super credits and perks on cruise ships and hotels and no spending limit for big purchases
for payments abroad Capital One does not charge an exchange fee
best all round card is Starwood Gold AMEX for free hotel nights, no blackouts
best thing about Medjet-peace of mind
Please tell me what I do when I reach 75. Is there any way I can keep my MedJet?? It frightening to think of traveling without MedJet when the time comes.
Please answer this, thank you.
Barbara Weston
Barbara –
You can go to our Website – http://www.medjet.com – and download an application for a Diamond Membership which protects travelers 75-84. Or, if you like, you can email a request for a Diamond Brochure to info@medjet.com along with you mailing address and Membership Services will get some printed information out to you.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Will
My husband and I are members of Medjet. Will we be notified when it is time to renew?
We send out renewal letters at 60 and 30 days. If you want to make sure that we have a most current address on file you can call membership services and they will confirm. That number is 800-527-7478.
Will
My husband and I are members, but have never had to use the service. I have a very good friend that was going on a cruise with her sister and I told them about MedJet and suggested that they join. They did not join and the day they returned to the US, via Flordia, my friend had a stroke. It would have been so much easier and simplier if they had MedJet. My friend’s husband and daughter, (who is an RN) had to fly to Flordia to bring her home to Arizona.