It can happen at any time: It only takes a fraction of a second for an accident to occur, and as a result, spend the next few weeks in a hospital. However, this becomes even more fatal if the accident or sudden serious illness occurs abroad. In a mostly foreign country, sometimes even a completely foreign language and not infrequently a culture that contradicts one's own sensibilities.
These are all items that may not help recovery, and may even hinder it. In medicine, for example, it is undisputed that the important self-healing powers can best unfold when the patient is in a state of mental equilibrium. But how should this be done, if doctors and nurses are understood only with difficulty or not at all? When relatives and friends have to travel a long way to visit a sick person? For this reason, many patients abroad focus on the question of whether they can be transferred by ambulance transport to a hospital in their home country, close to their place of residence.
In fact, this is possible in many cases, Even patients receiving intensive medical care can be transported, although the flight physician has the final say on this if the patient is unable to express himself or herself. However, a so-called foreign repatriation is quite an expensive affair, as the medical and logistical effort, depending on the physical condition of the patient, is considerable.
When does an insurance company cover the costs of foreign repatriation?
There is no need to hope for the health insurance companies, in which most people in Europe are compulsorily insured, with regard to covering the costs of repatriation abroad. Although the EU social security agreement covers treatment in the clinic of the respective EU host country, return transport is very rarely paid for. There must be very important reasons for this. Only if it is clearly established that successful treatment can only take place in the patient's home country, will a foreign repatriation be approved. However, experience has shown that it can sometimes take weeks for the responsible insurance company to make a decision.
This is why even health insurance companies recommend that their members take out additional international health insurance before a trip. This covers, for example, services that go beyond the health insurance standard, such as a single room or treatment by a chief physician. The same applies to the costs of a repatriation abroad.
The insurance company does not always keep its promise to cover the costs
Promising something and not keeping the promise is a common occurrence in business. This is also the case in the insurance industry: in practically every foreign health insurance policy, the benefit of repatriation abroad is included. However, many insurers keep a loophole open for the case that a customer actually demands the assumption of costs for an ambulance transport. This loophole is a formulation in the AVB, the general insurance conditions of the respective insurance company.
There, a "medical necessity" is given as the reason for the transport. The trick is: As a rule, there is a medical necessity in the rarest of cases, because medical standards are the same in many countries. A complicated bone fracture, for example, is treated just as well in a hospital in southern Spain as in a clinic in northern Germany. The self-healing powers already mentioned are not considered by this insurer.
Fortunately, other insurers see it differently and formulate the justification for transport as "medically reasonable", which now also includes the idea of self-healing powers and ensures the assumption of costs.
Before signing, it is worthwhile to study the AVB of the policy briefly, whether it says "medically necessary" or "medically reasonable".
What does such a return transport cost?
No blanket answer can be given to this question. The number of factors that need to be taken into account for a return ambulance transport is enormous. Yet it would still be easy if all these factors always remained the same. But every return transport is a very individual matter. A few individual factors are listed below.
- Urgency of the return transport
- Route length
- Health condition of the patient
- Number of accompanying persons
- Choice of the means of transport
Now these are all overarching points, which break down into a variety of sub-points that need to be clarified in advance. The patient's well-being is of course the most important factor.
A lot of experience helps a lot: That's why Deutsche-Privatjet for your medical return transport
In fact, every ambulance transport is different, but the tools for performing an ambulance transport are largely the same. Just as a craftsman has his tools under control and only with them can he really do a good job, the Deutsche-Privatjet team has the tools that have proven their worth in many assignments on almost every continent in the world: These are, for example, many years of experience and a well-functioning network that helps with organization. Knowing what, where and how fast something can be organized in a country is one of the most important strengths of Deutsche-Privatjet. Thanks to these strengths, many patients have already been transported to their home country quickly and gently.