vacationlovers

Hi Dluchini. Thanks for the additional info. Your friend's experience is great to hear. Regarding the fine print I quoted... On this SkyMed webpage https://www.skymed.com/the-fine-print I downloaded the PDF in the paragraph "SkyMed Annual Memberships", and found those words in Section V, Paragraph 1 "Hospital-to-Hospital Air Transportation". The statement I previously quoted doesn't necessarily mean that SkyMed would refuse to honor a request for relocation just for personal preference, but it does seem to give them an excuse if they did want to refuse. Does your fine print have any words that specifically says they will honor your wishes regarding transport, even if there is no "medical necessity"? Thanks, Chris

Don, thanks for the additional info. Dluchini, thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't researched SkyMed before. But I just read their fine print, and it says that transportation will be arranged if "the Attending Physician determines and approves the need for Emergency Medical Transport, then SkyMed’s Director of Member Services confirms the need". That sounds like they might not do it just because it's what I want.

Thank you Don & Bill for your replies. I'm glad to hear that people have been able to use the medical evacuation when they needed it. I just wish I knew if they got evacuated because it was necessary to "prevent death or serious deterioration", or just because they would prefer to be in their local hospital back home, rather than in some other state or country.

My wife & I just joined FMCA, and the FMCAssist benefit seems almost too good to be true, so I was wondering about other people's experiences with using it. If anyone has had a medical evacuation, how smoothly did it go? Has anyone wanted an evacuation, but been refused? We currently have coverage with Global Guardian, which cost $280/year. If I'm hospitalized while traveling, and I'm just not comfortable with the conditions at the hospital, I can say "Get me home to my local hospital" and get "bed to bed" transportation. But upon reading the fine print for FMCAssist, I see that a doctor must order the evacuation to "prevent death or serious deterioration".