Why do my parents think they need an air ambulance if they get covid

[onlychildhamster]

My parents live overseas in Southeast Asia. In a country which was thought to have handled covid well (at least in 2020 but there are a lot of cases and deaths now;85% vaccination rate but you can only eat in restaurants in vaccinated groups of 2 and masking is compulsory even outdoors).

We haven't seen each other since 2019 due to the pandemic.. however they have opened up travel and basically you can travel to the UK from my home country without hotel quarantine. I have been married for 6 years but never celebrated my wedding because I wanted to buy my flat in London first before spending money on a wedding(especially since I would need 2 weddings in 2 different countries due to family). My synagogue wedding ceremony in London was scheduled for 2020 but basically has been delayed indefinitely due to the situation. But now there is no reason to delay any longer as they technically can come without a long and expensive hotel quarantine.

But my parents are now saying that they need to buy insurance that would cover the cost of an air ambulance from London to Asia in case they get covid and go into ICU (they are fully vaccinated, my dad is 58, my mum is 57). Firstly, I don't even think such insurance exists (to cover such a huge expense; at most it will cover the costs of medical treatment in London and based on what I read on the NHS website, coronavirus treatment is free even for visitors). Secondly, why would it be better to airlift you to a country 14 hours away just because you might have to wait a few hours in A & E (even if the wait is 12 hours, it makes no sense).

My DH thinks they are just saying they don't want to come. I am not so sure, do any of you have parents who are paranoid of covid and how do you handle it? Thanks.

@onlychildhamster

Only if it's medically required though. No travel insurance gives you the option of picking and choosing which country you want to be treated in

That was kinda my point..I know medical evacuation is a thing but for extremely ill patients but my parents have a healthy BMI, my dad in particular jog for miles daily. They would also have had their booster Vax jabs by then. In the unlikely event that they end up in ICU, would the travel insurer consent to an air ambulance just because they think the NHS is too overwhelmed?

Not because the NHS is overwhelmed no. Anyone who is acutely unwell would need to be treated where they were. The question comes about once someone is well enough to be discharged from ITU, but isn’t well enough for onward travel to their home country.

It’s an extreme example, but Kate Garroway made a poignant documentary about her husband Derek Draper and his long journey after the initial phase of his illness. He is still needing a great deal of care more than a year on. Had he lived abroad, it is likely that he and his family would want him transferred to a facility closer to home for ongoing care and that’s what the insurance is needed for.

FWIW Our family travel policy is up to £10 million each for medical care and treatment.

It is staggeringly unlikely though that two otherwise healthy individuals in their 50s, double vaccinated, would be so ill as to need an extended hospital stay, and then a repatriation flight home.

And yes, I know insurance is to cover the staggeringly unlikely things which might happen on holiday or overseas.

It seems that the media in Singapore is even more effective than some sections of the media here in whipping up fear and painting the plague island picture of everyone in the UK being sick and that coming here is taking your life in your hands.

@KingsleyShacklebolt

It is staggeringly unlikely though that two otherwise healthy individuals in their 50s, double vaccinated, would be so ill as to need an extended hospital stay, and then a repatriation flight home.

And yes, I know insurance is to cover the staggeringly unlikely things which might happen on holiday or overseas.

It seems that the media in Singapore is even more effective than some sections of the media here in whipping up fear and painting the plague island picture of everyone in the UK being sick and that coming here is taking your life in your hands.

Of course it insurance is there for the unlikely. It would be prohibitively expensive for likely events.

If you heard about a couple who travelled to UK without proper insurance and one of them was stranded in an NHS hospital seriously I'll while the other had to go home, you'd be saying why didn't theu have insurance.

I don't think they're being unreasonable. A friend of mine had a serious accident with while backpacking in Australia. His insurance paid for his mum to fly out and stay with him while he was having skin operations. When he was well enough they paid for him and his mum to fly home to England in business class with a nurse and doctor (he was still in agony). His premium insurance was absolutely worth it.

My parents lives in East Asia. I don't want my parents to come to UK now, even though they are both fully vaccinated. England is one of the country doing so badly compare to others. Why take chances now?

I think it’s possible they just want to be treated at home for serious illness where they perhaps feel more assured that they will receive good medical care.

In fairness though, if they catch Covid and they are in the UK at the time, surely they don't want to be medivac-ed back to Asia to recover? Why wouldn't they stay with the NHS?

would the travel insurer consent to an air ambulance just because they think the NHS is too overwhelmed

My understanding is:

“Just because my parents think the NHS is too overwhelmed” - no
“Because the insurer’s medical advisor thinks it’s safe and appropriate for them to be transported home to recover in their home country” - yes

I doubt they’d get airlifted home if they needed ICU for Covid - the trip would involve travelling in an ambulance then through an airport onto a plane then by ambulance at the other end to an ICU ward: if you were that ill the risks of doing that would be massive. But I’m just guessing.

I can't imagine any medical repatriation insurance would transport any patient half way around the world whilst they're still critically ill, or becoming so.

Eg, positive test with mild symptoms, prob not covered to fly anyway. Positive test requiring hospital treatment/icu, prob won't move the patient until stable and well enough to fly. They wouldn't transfer patients by road in an ambulance in my city under these circumstances, never mind across the world.

Think of it like a broken leg - insurance covers healthcare whilst here. It WOULD NOT fly him home to get xrayed/treated as his need is urgent. It WOULD pay to fly him home once he's (maybe had surgery to pin) got a cast on and is otherwise recovered.

Would they have NHS treatment? If it's paid by insurance wouldn't it be private?

It sounds like they are being confused between an air ambulance and medical evacuation. I’d tell them an air ambulance is something for major emergencies when an ambulance can’t get to you or you need a doctor to keep you alive on the way to hospital, it’s a helicopter. And there’s no helicopter that will get them to Asia from the U.K.!

Medical evacuation varies from a doctor sitting on a plane with you to a private plane with you intubated, but they only move you when you are stable and the home country takes you.

So tell them they’ll be treated in the U.K., and sent back if stable to move.

Plan your wedding!

Explain that air ambulance is a helicopter.

Medical evacuation which they are talking about is a normal plane. They might understand it more then.

For non-Covid, Depending on arrangements with the particular country, the NHS may look to recover some costs from insurers, individuals or National governments. No one is ever asked for a credit card in the ED.

For Covid, my understanding is that the UK government will pay for care in the UK but as discussed upthread, this wouldn’t cover repatriation if rehabilitation is required.

Hi,
I deal with air ambulance/repatriation flights VERY regularly. It’s very standard, I’ve had a few which have been COVID patients, both currently positive and in recovery from ICU.
I tend to deal more with inbound patients but I have had the odd few outbound.
In my job the one thing I have learnt more than anything is to get good travel insurance. I have seen families sell their houses etc to cover the medical treatment, hotels, flights etc for their family to return home

Most uk insurance policies include repatriation. My dad was brought back from San Fransico in an air ambulance. The cost was eye-watering. I seem to remember it was north of 150000 dollars? But they were paying 20000 dollars a day for intensive care and knew the minute the plane touched uk soil, the charges stopped.
I'm sure your parents can buy a policy. I doubt they would actually be repatriated if they cam get free treatment in the UK though.

@KingsleyShacklebolt

It is staggeringly unlikely though that two otherwise healthy individuals in their 50s, double vaccinated, would be so ill as to need an extended hospital stay, and then a repatriation flight home.

And yes, I know insurance is to cover the staggeringly unlikely things which might happen on holiday or overseas.

It seems that the media in Singapore is even more effective than some sections of the media here in whipping up fear and painting the plague island picture of everyone in the UK being sick and that coming here is taking your life in your hands.

Its not just a media thing though that doesn't help as it's essentially the voice of the government. It's genuinely hard to go from living in a zero Covid, very safe bubble, with a long-standing reputation for excellent healthcare, to now opening up, allowing the virus to spread, and for the OPs parents to contemplate travel to somewhere with such a vastly different approach. Until a month or so ago anyone testing positive, even asymptomatic, got taken away by people in hazmat suits to an isolation facility. While most of us are breathing a sigh of relief at being able to see some normality in the next 6-12 months, many people are nervous. We are surrounded by countries with desperately low vaccination levels and extreme poverty. We are living, and have lived, a vastly different experience here.

@LookItsMeAgain

In fairness though, if they catch Covid and they are in the UK at the time, surely they don't want to be medivac-ed back to Asia to recover? Why wouldn't they stay with the NHS?

Because the medical care in some parts of Asia is utterly fantastic, much of it designed with medical tourism in mind. I'd far rather be in a hospital in any number of Asian countries than the NHS right now. I used to joke that I wanted medical repatriation to Thailand from the UK, it was so good.

And it's not underfunded and overstretched with a government and people just letting covid go.

It doesn't matter how amazing the care is elsewhere in the world. No one gets medevacced during the acute phase of a Covid illness.

However It's still necessary to have good insurance in case there is a need for medical repatriation for rehabilitation/any other reason.

@Cuck00soup the question was why someone would want to, which I answered. You're talking about a different question.