Global travel always comes with inherent risk, but have you ever considered how you’d get home if you were hospitalized abroad? Or if you’re stranded during a natural disaster? That’s where Medjet comes in. Our team sat down with Medjet CEO John Gobbels to talk about all things medical transportation and safety while traveling for work, vacation, or education.
To make their services more readily available, The Agency and Medjet have partnered to offer discount memberships for our clients, so you can gain peace of mind for yourself or your loved ones—wherever you (or they) go in the world.
Contact your agent at The Agency for more information on Medjet memberships.
How long has Medjet been operating, and roughly how many medical transports have they handled for members?
Medjet has been in business for over 35 years. We like to say we’re “the oldest, and still best, program of our kind.” We don’t disclose exact numbers, but over the years we have helped thousands of members get to hospitals at home. Statistics show that about 1 in 30 trips end in a medical emergency or safety concern. A lot of people don’t realize how common it is, so we’re always busy.
Do you work with existing insurance, or as a standalone layer on top of it?
Medjet is not insurance. It’s a private membership program, and it’s worth understanding what that difference means in practice. If you require transport, Medjet makes all arrangements and pays 100% of the transport costs. Bedside to bedside. No claim forms, no bills, no out-of-pocket expenses (other than your initial membership fee).
Who is the ideal client for Medjet?
Any resident of the U.S., Canada or Mexico who travels frequently. We have corporate executives, individuals, families, young solo travelers, retirees, athletes, celebrities—you name it. Our MedjetHorizon membership, which adds security and crisis response benefits, is very popular with solo travelers and families sending kids off to study abroad. They like that they can not only get to a hospital at home if they get sick but also have expert security personnel to call if there’s a safety threat or natural disaster, or if someone goes missing. It’s 24/7 access to expert advice, in-country help and security evacuation if necessary.
How does Medjet’s service actually differ from what a standard travel insurance policy or credit card travel benefit offers?
With the security services, we don’t require hard triggers like government-issued evacuation orders. Our teams can respond to a broader range of threats earlier than most insurance policies allow for.
In regard to medical evacuation, those benefits in most insurance policies, or credit card travel benefits if they include that, only get you to the “closest, most appropriate facility.” They will move you further only if it’s medically necessary. If the hospital you’re in is deemed adequate, you’re basically stuck there. With Medjet, once a member is stable, we get them moved to the hospital of their choice at home. Just because they prefer that. That’s the biggest difference.
We always recommend people have travel insurance, at least $100,000 for medical expenses and evacuation to the nearest hospital. Medjet kicks in when you’re ready to be moved back to your home country for continued treatment.
“Medjet has been in business for over 35 years. Over the years we have helped thousands of members get to hospitals at home. Statistics show that about 1 in 30 trips end in a medical emergency or safety concern. A lot of people don’t realize how common it is, so we’re always busy.
John Gobbels, MEdjet ceo
What kinds of accidents and illnesses does Medjet see the most?
We’ve seen it all. Car accidents, ski accidents, e-bike and motorcycle accidents, paragliding accidents, heart attacks, strokes, and more. Most common, though, are slip and falls, especially on cruise ships and cobblestone streets, gastrointestinal issues that turn serious (they can quickly progress into multi-organ failure), severe respiratory infections, and normal complications from existing medical conditions that land someone in the hospital far from home.
Can you share a real (but anonymous) member story where Medjet’s service made the difference in an adventure-gone-wrong scenario?
There are so many. One man was hospitalized in Rome after falling off a train platform. He needed to use Google Translate in order to try to understand what medications the hospital was giving him and what they were doing to treat him. We got him to his home hospital in Tampa, where they discovered that the rod the Italian hospital had put in his leg to stabilize it was 5 inches too short. That’s what would’ve healed into his leg if he’d been stuck in Rome.
We had a member who broke his neck surfing in Nicaragua. The hospital in Managua confirmed it was a broken neck but said they had nobody who could treat it, then they asked them to leave. His brother was a doctor and arranged for him to be treated by a top spinal surgeon in the U.S. We moved him to that facility in Florida instead of his home hospital in North Carolina. With Medjet, members get to choose where to go in their home country.
As far as MedjetHorizon, we’ve had members facing a range of security and crisis situations, including travelers who were stranded in the Middle East following airspace closures, caught in unrest in Puerto Vallarta, impacted by earthquakes or hurricanes, or affected by civil unrest and riots.
How do transport benefits work in places with little-to-no medical infrastructure — remote Patagonia, rural Southeast Asia, polar expeditions?
It’s important to note that we are, not “field rescue” from remote areas. The medical evacuation benefits in your travel insurance (which is, again, why we recommend people have traditional insurance), are what pay to get you to the nearest hospital capable of stabilizing you. We pick up from there.
Once a patient is stabilized at a local facility, we arrange and pay for transport to a hospital of their choice at home. If that’s by private air ambulance, there needs to be an airport nearby capable of handling a fixed-wing jet. If a patient can be safely transported via commercial carrier, which from places like Asia and South Africa can be faster and a bit more comfortable, we arrange and pay for a business class seat with a critical care nurse next to them.
How fast can a member transport typically be arranged once initiated?
We always try to do it as quickly as possible, but every member’s situation is different. There are a lot of moving parts: Where is the member? What is wrong with them, and are they stable enough for transport? What is the closest available aircraft or escort? What hospital do they want to be transferred to, and does it have a bed for them? We’ve had transports happen within hours, and some that have taken multiple days.
What kind of aircraft/medical team gets deployed, and does that vary by region or severity?
If a private air ambulance is required, those are basically flying ICUs and come with two pilots, a critical care nurse and a paramedic. In some instances, like out of South Africa, we may actually use two separate air ambulances and crews: one to get them out of Africa, and a second to get them to the hospital of their choice in their home country.
If medical repatriation can be done safely by commercial aircraft, which is sometimes faster and more comfortable for long hauls like out of Asia, that’s done in a business class seat with a critical care nurse escort. We make all the arrangements, and they stay with you hospital to hospital, bedside to bedside.
What does a typical membership cost, and how does that compare to what an actual evacuation would cost out of pocket?
Medjet memberships are incredibly affordable. A short-term MedjetAssist membership can cost as little as $99, and an annual membership $315. Considering a domestic transport can cost $40,000 plus, and an international transport can cost over $250,000, that’s a pretty incredible deal.
Are there different membership tiers based on trip length, frequency of travel or activity level?
Yes. Our short-term memberships are for 8, 15, 21, or 30-day trips. Our regular annual memberships allow as much travel as members want for a year, but not a single trip can last longer than 90 consecutive days. We have expat memberships for people who travel for 6 months to a year at a time, student and faculty memberships allowing longer trips, and other “specialty” memberships.
All those membership types come in the MedjetAssist (medical transport only) and MedjetHorizon (medical transport plus security and crisis response benefits) options.
Is there an age limit or health screening required to join?
Under age 75, we don’t ask any health questions to enroll. Over age 75, we do have a medical questionnaire that your doctor needs to complete. Other than that, if you’re fit to travel, we don’t have an age limit.
To learn more about our partnership with Medjet and how to get a membership through The Agency, contact your agent.
