May I borrow your jet?

A few years ago a friend of ours had a serious medical condition with their child. The Guatemalan doctors had been unable to treat the condition and the best option was to move the child to the States. However, because of the child’s condition, transportation on a commercial airline was not an option. At great expense, the family had to charter a private jet to get to the hospital in the States. Fortunately, this story had a happy ending, the child received the necessary treatment and is now completely fine.

When we decided to come to Guatemala with our family the question of “What will we do if a serious medical situation comes up?” crossed our minds. In that this had happened to a friend, we knew that it was not just a hypothetical possibility. First, we checked with our medical plan in the States. Yes, we had coverage that paid for services abroad, but there was no coverage to get us back home.

We then spoke to a few of our well traveled friends, local insurance agent and of course, poked around the internet for ideas. What we decided to do was to purchase a medical transportation plan from MedjetAssist http://www.medjetassist.com/ . As the name implies, this company is in the business of returning you home from a foreign hospital to one of your choosing. The company does not own any planes, but rather works through a network of providers specializing in medical transportation. Depending on your condition/location, they will either use medical staff and commercial flights or a fully staffed air-ambulance. The service and pricing plan is well explained on their website, but make sure to call them if you have any questions.