Travel Medical Insurance for Skiing in Italy

[submittedviaemail]

I have never bought trip insurance or travel medical insurance. I have spent a lot of time researching options for Travel Medical Insurance and really like the Atlas International Heath Insurance plan. I'd like to buy a policy for several upcoming trips to Italy, but have some questions. Our first trip is Feb 10 - Mar 14. In the 32 days, we will be in Florence, skiing in the Dolomites for a week, a week in Venice, and back to Florence.

Because we will be skiing, my primary questions have to do with both medical services and emergency medical evacuation. By the way, my wife and I are both members of the US National Ski Patrol, so we know a lot about treating ski/snowboard injuries and transporting people to the next level of care. Friends who have skied in Europe have all recommended that we get insurance because ski patrol there charge for their services.

My questions are:

Would services provided within the "ski area" by the "ski patrol" be covered services, as they charge for such first responder/first aid services in Europe. These services may be required to get a patient to the next level of care?

If emergency medical transport is required, would the use of, and charges associated with, a helicopter, be covered under the emergency medical transport provisions of the policy? This would only be the case in a remote portion of the "ski area" or off piste, or if the trauma was massive head, neck or back injury or other massive trauma that made it necessary to go above the use of a local ambulance. Could also happen in a transportation accident by car, rail, etc.

Does the policy, cover local ambulance and medical services in the emergency room with subsequent discharge without a stay as an inpatient in the hospital?

Does emergency medical transport have to be approved in advance? Even if the injuries on the scene are life threatening?

Thanks for your assistance.

[insubuy]

Please find the specific answers to your questions below. You can purchase Atlas International Insurance online at http://www.insubuy.com/atlas-international-insurance/


Our Atlas International plan with a Hazardous Sports rider does provide coverage for skiing accidents. In regards to your specific questions:

Would services provided within the "ski area" by the "ski patrol" be covered services, as they charge for such first responder/first aid services in Europe. These services may be required to get a patient to the next level of care?
--Yes, first responder medical aid is covered under the policy up to usual, reasonable and customary charges in the event of an eligible accident.

If emergency medical transport is required, would the use of, and charges associated with, a helicopter, be covered under the emergency medical transport provisions of the policy? This would only be the case in a remote portion of the "ski area" or off piste, or if the trauma was massive head, neck or back injury or other massive trauma that made it necessary to go above the use of a local ambulance. Could also happen in a transportation accident by car, rail, etc.
--Cases that require a member to be transported off of a mountain or from a remote area to a hospital are covered under the local ambulance benefit--as long as the injury results in hospitalization as inpatient. The emergency medical evacuation benefit is only used in situations where a client is transported from one hospital to another. Now, if it is determined that your client cannot receive proper care from the initial hospital following their transport from the mountain, we will use the emergency medical evacuation benefit to get them to the closest facility to receive such care.

Does the policy, cover local ambulance and medical services in the emergency room with subsequent discharge without a stay as an inpatient in the hospital?
--The local ambulance benefit is only provided when a covered illness or injury results in hospitalization as inpatient. Also, emergency room visits will not be covered for an illness if the client is not directly admitted as an inpatient--this stipulation does not pertain to accidents.

Does emergency medical transport have to be approved in advance? Even if the injuries on the scene are life threatening?
--Emergency medical evacuations must be pre-approved and coordinated through our office. Again, transport from the scene to the initial hospital facility are provided under the local ambulance benefit if the member is admitted as an inpatient.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.

[submittedviaemail]

Thanks Narendra. Your responses are very helpful. I will purchase the policy on line as you suggest before we depart.

Unfortunately, I think I did not ask the questions as well as I could have because I now see that the "local ambulance" coverage and the "emergency medical evacuation" coverage are different, and my use of the term "emergency medical transport" is not as clear. Also, I am still a bit confused about how coverage works for local ambulance and for medical services provided in an ER, if the patient is not admitted to the hospital as an inpatient.

So in that context, I have a couple of questions, particularly related to skiing, but they could apply to other situations like an auto accident or other types of injuries.

1. Do local ambulance services from the scene of an accident/injury, whether from a mountain or remote area, or from the scene of an accident in a more populated are, have to be pre-approved by the company, or can the local ambulance call be made at the discretion of the first responders?

2. Are you saying in the case of an injury accident, that if the insured is treated and released from an emergency room, rather than being admitted as an inpatient, that the local ambulance benefit and/or the coverage of medical services would not be covered? Or is there an exception for local ambulance to and treatment in an ER for an accident/injury to be covered?

3. Conversely, are you saying that local ambulance and/or medical treatment in an ER for an illness would not be covered if the patient is not admitted to the hospital as an inpatient?

Thanks so much,

[insubuy]

The local ambulance benefit does not need to be pre-approved by our office. However, it is only covered for accidents and illnesses if the client is admitted to the hospital as an inpatient. On the other hand, treatment for an accident in the ER is covered even if the client is not admitted--ER visits for sicknesses are only covered if the client is admitted. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to these wordings as they apply in the description of coverage.

Please read http://www.insubuy.com/hccmis/atlas/description-visitors-insurance.pdf for further details.

[insubuy]

Just to be more clear:

If they were in an accident and not admitted:

There would be no coverage for the local ambulance, but there would be coverage for the ER visit if it was a covered incident.

If they were in an accident and admitted:

There would be coverage for both local ambulance and ER if it was a covered incident.