Emergency medical expenses and travel insurance for visitors to Canada
When a Filipino is visiting
family in Canada and suffers a medical emergency, travel insurance often covers the first hospital bills.
But the situation gets complicated when more advanced treatment is needed. Urgent surgery, for example.
That’s when families quickly discover that there is a limit to insurance coverage that can be easily reached. This is where medical repatriation comes in handy.
I’ll give you a recent example of a situation that is all too common: an elderly aunt who lives in Mindanao was visiting family in Calgary for a few months.
The family did their due diligence by getting quotes for travel insurance, and they bought a plan that fits their budget.
The plan covers medical expenses in Canada and medical repatriation to the Philippines if needed. They now felt prepared for their aunt’s visit and their family reunion.
Two weeks into the visit, the aunt is rushed to a Calgary hospital with chest pain. Doctors find that she is suffering from a heart attack.
Urgent treatment is started, and she is admitted to ICU, but the family is informed that all this is not enough to fix the clogged arteries of her heart permanently.
She needs life-saving bypass surgery, and the family is advised to talk to the insurance company about coverage of the hospital bills.
Why a small travel insurance plan is not enough
Like many people, this Filipino family did not read the fine print when they bought the travel insurance policy online.
When they call the 1-800 number, they learn that emergency medical expenses are covered, but only up to a maximum of 100,000 Canadian dollars!
That amount is generally enough for simple medical emergencies, like a broken limb or a hospital short-stay admission.
But regarding significant surgery or an ICU stay for several days, 100K is only a temporary patch. The rest of the money will have to come out of pocket.
It’s a common situation. Year-round, many families go through an emotional roller coaster first, followed by a financial crisis.
For someone in Canada who is not covered under a provincial health care plan, out-of-pocket medical expenses can quickly become a serious problem.
We are talking $4,500 per day for an ICU bed, $35,000 for the surgery, ambulance bills, doctor fees, pharmacy bills, physiotherapy, medical tests, rehabilitation, mobility aids and equipment when the patient is discharged. Medical repatriation can help.
Medical emergency in Canada: to go or to stay?
Back to the Filipino family in Calgary. Budgetary decisions must be made under time pressure while the elderly aunt waits for urgent surgical intervention in the hospital.
The family is referred to a social worker and heard that the projected cost of treating their aunt in Canada, her after-care and recovery and her return trip to the Philippines totals approximately $165,000.
They are shocked. Even after considering their savings, stocks, loans, and crowdfunding, they conclude they don’t have that kind of money.
Besides, the situation is out of control, as the hospital bills keep increasing each day that she stays there, waiting for a plan.
The other alternative is to send the aunt back to the Philippines as soon as possible, where she is covered under PhilHealth.
She can undergo surgery in Manila, where she can stay with family and recover in her hometown when ready. But that is easier said than done. Medical repatriation can help.
Medical repatriation from Alberta, Canada, to the Philippines
Medical repatriation from Alberta, Canada, to the Philippines, The family pitches the idea of sending their elderly aunt to Manila for treatment by the doctors.
They are told that their aunt is medically stable enough to travel back to the Philippines but with a risk of experiencing problems during the long flight.
It’s not a good idea to send her alone on the plane. She might get chest pain, shortness of breath, or faint. And that would be considered a medical emergency.
The doctors strongly recommend arranging a medical escort to monitor the patient and intervene if necessary. It’s the only way the patient can get a signed fit-to-fly letter from them.
The family is told to start searching for an aeromedical transport company that can arrange the patient transfer from Canada to the Philippines from start to finish, and that’s how they end up calling Jet Companion in Edmonton.
A provider of commercial medical escorts who also fly to the Philippines regularly to either Medical repatriation Filipino patients or to pick them up and bring them back to Canada.
First, the patient’s medical reports are reviewed by our flight doctor to understand better the patient’s condition, how the patient should be transported and what level of care needs to be set up during the journey.
In this case, the elderly aunt can be safely thrilled in Business Class with oxygen, monitoring and medication during the flight.
The medical escort, a registered nurse with additional training in flight nursing, is also fully equipped with a defibrillator, emergency drugs and supplies to act immediately should the patient’s condition deteriorate during the transfer. Medical repatriation is a great idea.
How to arrange medical transport to the Philippines?
With Medical repatriation Out of a list of airlines connecting Canada to the Philippines, the choice is to fly Westjet from Calgary to Vancouver, then take a direct flight from Vancouver to Manila with Philippine Airlines at midnight.
Plans are made to pick up the patient in the hospital by ambulance and coordinate the transport to the Calgary airport.
In Manila, a local ambulance will be waiting to take the patient to a large hospital that specializes in cardiology. A wheelchair is arranged with the airline and all the necessary clearances.
Days later, an experienced flight nurse meets the patient, and they fly together to Manila. The nurse provides the necessary care during the long journey.
And the family is updated by Jet Companion office staff, who are in contact with the nurse. The trip is uneventful.
The family’s elderly aunt arrives in the Philippines in stable condition and with a smile on her face. An ambulance waits and takes her to the hospital for the much-needed surgery.
It’s not just pure luck that everything goes smoothly. It is because the mission was well-prepared by an experienced aeromedical transport company.
Transporting an immobile elderly parent from the Philippines to Canada
Here is the story of a different case: a Filipino family lives in Vancouver as permanent residents of
Canada. The father of the adult family suffers brain bleeding while visiting Iloilo and is taken to a local private hospital for urgent surgery.
He is admitted to ICU, but his family plans to return him to Canada immediately for further treatment and recovery.
Due to his medical condition, the father cannot sit and must be transported on a stretcher. That is extremely expensive on the trans-Pacific route. An air ambulance between the Philippines and Canada will cost over 250,000 Canadian Dollars and is not affordable for this family.
The best option is to organize medical transportation onboard an air ambulance from Iloilo to Manila and take a commercial flight into Vancouver.
The so-called “commercial airline stretcher service” is available on Philippine Airlines flights between Manila and either Vancouver or Toronto.
But the transport mission needs to be coordinated by a professional aeromedical transport company so that all links of the chain connect seamlessly, including ground ambulances in Iloilo, Manila and Vancouver.
The medical repatriation transport mission takes about a week to prepare, and once all the approvals are in place, Jet Companion sends out two fully equipped flight nurses to the Philippines to pick up the patient.
What is the cost of a medical escort between Canada and the Philippines With Medical repatriation?
The total cost of medical repatriation depends on several factors, such as the price of airline tickets, the care level provided, and third-party services needed to transport the patient safely.
Jet Companion deploys nurses and paramedics with extra training and special equipment to transport a patient on a commercial flight.
While a direct flight between Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Vancouver or Toronto with Philippine Airlines is often the preferred route.
It sometimes makes more sense to fly via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific or Air Canada, via Japan with ANA or Japan Airlines, or Seoul with Korean Air or Asiana.
In the Philippines, the cost also depends on whether the patient needs a connecting domestic flight with Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific, a stretcher charter or air ambulance, a ground ambulance or a standard passenger vehicle.
In Canada, the cost can vary significantly to transport a patient between the Vancouver and Toronto hubs and other cities in one of the Canadian provinces.
In the case of the elderly aunt in Calgary, the total cost to transport her with a medical escort to Manila is between $20,000 and $25,000 from bed to bed.
In the case of the bedridden father who needs to be transported to Vancouver on a stretcher with two medical escorts, the cost is between $55,000 and $70,000.
In all cases, medical repatriation onboard a commercial flight between the Philippines and Canada is far less expensive than a medevac by air ambulance. Contact us for more information.
*Medical repatriation, airline stretcher service between the Philippines and the USA is available in and out of Los Angeles, San Fransisco and New York.