Do any of you have a recommendation for this type of insurance for a US resident for travel to the BVI? The ones I have been checking out seem a little unclear as to whether they would transport you back to the US or just to the nearest facility that could properly treat you.

Generally if you get medical evac insurance, it's going to be to either Puerto Rico or the states, as if you need medical evac, there are not many (or any) hospitals in the Caribbean that will suffice. TTOL sponsor SkyMed will take you HOME, yes. They are the only ones that guarantee that, as far as I know. Other medical evac policies might well take you to the states, but that might be Miami, for instance, which if you live in Washington State, that might not be very convenient for you and your family. We live in Florida, so Miami would be fine. You can check out SkyMed via the TTOL sponsors page. If you go from that link, versus going to SkyMed directly, and you book with them, TTOL gets a small commission. You can also compare all kinds of travel insurance side by side via TTOL sponsor Insure my Trip. Again, if you go via the TTOL sponsor link, TTOL gets a small commission. And in either case, it doesn't cost YOU any more to go through the TTOL link, versus directly to their home page.

Thanks for the info! That's exactly what I wanted to know. I will go to the sponsors' page and check it out.

How old are you?

How often to you travel annually?

Do you have any chronic medical conditions for which there is an increased risk of one of them becoming acute (Atrial Fibrillation and history of heart attack are two examples)?

Generally if you are under 65 and in good health, cost might outweigh the risk of a separate medical evacuation policy. There are medical evacuation provisions in most trip insurance policies. Make sure you understand the limits. They usually involve who decides, how a decision is made to transport you and where you will be transported to. They can be quite restrictive.

The highest cost involved in a medical evacuation is usually that associated with getting you from a remote area to a local hospital where you can be stabilized. Most trip insurance policies with medical evacuation policies will have this coverage but it will have a monetary limit. Get the highest one you can afford. A Medivac by Helo can cost $150K or more. I don't know enough about hospital facilities in the BVI to comment on the type of care you can receive but, for example, lets say you are on Anagada, have a heart attack and need a Medicvac to Tortola. That is going to be costly.

The lesser cost is getting you transported back to the states (assuming that is where you are from). If you are stable, you can ride commercial transport. If not, you'll go by special ambulance airlift and that can cost a bundle.

I'm sure you already know that your health care insurance, including Medicare, if you have it, will not cover the cost of your care in a foreign county. This is where you have a higher risk, regardless of age, and need some decent coverage. A simple injury like a fracture can cost you $10k easily if you need a procedure involving surgical correction of the fracture.

I'm over 65 and have a chronic medical condition which could become acute. We travel 4-6 times out of the US annually. I have a Medical Evacuation policy with MedJet Assist that is annually renewing. It covers both myself and my wife who is not at risk. There is not a better policy out there for Medical Evacuation.

The only complaint I have is that in order to get medical insurance coverage, I'm usually paying again for that policy's medical evacuation provisions. In checking with MedJet on this, if there is co-insurance for medical transport, the two insurers will share costs with the trip Insurance policy paying to their limit and then MedJet paying the rest.

The advantage of MedJet assist policy is that a decision to transport will be made by the onsite attending MD in consultation with your MD. Where you go is up to you. Assuming you are medically stable as determined by the on site MD, how you go (air-ambulance or commercial) is up to MedJet. If you go commercial, you will travel with a nurse in first class and so will your wife or legal partner.

Thanks for the SkyMed link, Carol.

That looks like a great option.

If you travel frequently, this might be a decent option. It's a single cost that covers you for your trips all year.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/annual-travel-insurance/?

For our February trip, I purchased CSA Travel Protection Custom Luxe policy. They will transport to the closest appropriate facility via air ambulance, then will fly you home commercially when released. $1 million limit on that, not that you're likely to get close. The more important coverage limit I look at is the Medical, this one has $250K. Look at your standard medical policy at home and see what your coverage is "out of network", because even if flown to Puerto Rico, Miami etc, unless you live relatively close to that, you will be out of network and your insurance will cover you at a lower percentage (usually around 80%, often lower). Medical costs in the BVI are relatively low, but once you are out of there, it's back to ridiculous US fees, so that medical coverage will be mighty darn important and useful. It also has 50k coverage for car rental as "primary", which is also handy to have. Don't recall exactly what I paid for this, but somewhere around $100-120 for 17 days, 2 people. DO read the policies. On the Insure My Trip site, you can click on the blue amount highlighted and it opens up detailed explanations. Keep in mind, the sooner you buy it after paying for trip, the shorter the pre exisiting exclusion timeframe. Good luck.

You're welcome. As someone else said though, do check medical coverage also, as out of network medical costs are sky high..

I'm 59 and my husband is 55. We are both healthy so my main concern is accidents. I want to find something for about $100 for both of us. We will be chartering out of STT for a week in March and then staying on JVD for a week following. Thinking of renting mountain bikes on JVD and that could be an accident waiting to happen for sure! Anybody rented bikes on JVD?

I recall that one of the TTOL members in the St. Martin forum had occasion to have to use Medevac either last year or the year before and were very happy with the service (I believe the triggering accident was a complex hip fracture)