Customer Testimonials
Putting a plan in place to handle the
unexpected has never been easier!
To ensure peace of mind for the person, or group, traveling abroad, as well as the family at home, securing the proper health coverage is imperative. Listed below are just a few testimonials of traveling abroad both with and without the proper health plan in place. After reading these testimonials, stop and ask yourself which situation you would rather be in.
The Jenkins Family (Costa Rica)
This article appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Saturday, May 5, 2001.
Family's Mission to Issue Warning
Don Jenkins spent the day laying blocks for a church camp in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. That night he tripped on a concrete asphalt trench and hit his head. The fall would wind up costing his family more than $90,000. Because the accident occurred outside the United States, Jenkins' health insurance wouldn't pay.
In January, Jenkins, 71, of Ashland, Ky., went on a Volunteers in Mission trip to La Fortuna with the United Methodist Church. It was his third mission trip to Costa Rica, said his daughter, Debra Payne, who lives in Short Pump with her husband, Michael.
Jenkins suffered a subdura hematoma and was in a coma for 30 days. He underwent two brain surgeries and was hospitalized for 90 days, 16 in San Jose, Costa Rica, and 74 in his hometown. While still in a coma, he was flown home.
The Paynes mortgaged their house to get the $30,000 needed for an air ambulance to return Jenkins to Kentucky. The hospital in Costa Rica wouldn't release Jenkins until the hospital bill was paid. Debra Payne's brother used his corporate credit to pay the $22,000 bill, which the family is paying in installments. The doctors and surgeons in Costa Rica agreed to accept monthly payments.
With donations from churches, friends, family members and the Kentucky United Methodist Conference, about half of the $90,000 has been paid.
Now the Paynes are on a mission of their own. They are telling everyone to check their health insurance before leaving the United States. Some policies cover health care in another country. Some don't. Even if a policy will pay for treatment, generally it doesn't include medical evacuation.
Church-sponsored short-term mission trips, such as the one Jenkins was on, are very popular. Many Richmond area churches send mission teams all over the world. Some buy special medical and evacuation insurance. Others don't. Several had never heard of evacuation insurance.
Insurance companies, however, say an injury or illness serious enough to require evacuation is rare. The insurance is inexpensive. One carrier sells group policies including medical and evacuation insurance for as little as $6 per day per person. Another offers it at $2.55 per person per day.
Joe Hamilton, associate director of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission for the Southeastern Jurisdiction in Atlanta, said that, in the five years he's been in this post, there have been fewer than 10 evacuations. During that period, about 40,000 people were involved in mission trips handled through his office.
United Methodist mission trips are not covered by special medical and evacuation insurance "unless the team leader arranges it through our office," Hamilton said. "If they don't, they travel at their own risk."
The group that Jenkins traveled with did not contact Hamilton's office and did not have insurance, Hamilton said.
The Volunteers in Mission program just doubled the medical coverage offered in its policy to $10,000. The increase was prompted in part by Jenkins' situation, Hamilton said.
The Rev. S. Gregory Jones, assistant rector at St. James's Episcopal Church, tells parishioners participating in mission trips to check with their personal health insurance companies to see if they are covered outside the United States. The church, which generally takes one trip out of the country each year, doesn't get group insurance. Crestwood Presbyterian Church, which sends teams to Russia, Haiti and Mexico, also doesn't carry group medical or evacuation insurance. But the pastor, Dr. John Daniel, said he is looking into evacuation coverage.
In Haiti, the mission team, half of which is medical and carries its own equipment, works in a remote area where there are no phones or electricity. "We would have to travel for some time before we would be close to a phone to call for help," Daniel said.
Cindy Johnson, missions administrative assistant at West End Assembly of God in western Henrico County, said the insurance is required for all the church's mission trips. This year, church members will make 12 mission trips.
Jimmy Edwards, a member of New Life United Methodist Church in Midlothian, has led three mission trips to Costa Rica. Trip leaders in the Virginia Conference of the denomination are required to undergo six hours of training, which includes how to handle emergency situations and who to contact, he said. "I wouldn't think of going out of the country if you don't have health care and evacuation insurance," he said.
Edwards' former church, Mount Pisgah United Methodist in Midlothian, started a fund to help with Jenkins' medical expenses. Jenkins' church, First United Methodist in Ashland, Ky., also has raised funds. When Jenkins was injured, Debra Payne flew from Richmond to be with her father. Family members from Kentucky joined her.
"We were in denial that this had happened," Debra Payne said. "Dad was so healthy. He'd never been in the hospital before this. I think we were too busy praying to really feel upset. I read scripture and sang to him. My brother talked to him about sports."
Michael Payne added, "I was the one sitting in Richmond crying."
A former investment banker with a master's degree in rehabilitation case management, Michael Payne became Jenkins' case manager. He has a 3-inch-thick notebook of information he collected from Richmond area physicians and surgeons, lawyers and church leaders who helped him make decisions about care for his father-in-law and about finding resources. "And none of them charged me a penny," Michael Payne said.
Debra Payne sees one miracle after another in her father's recovery. Out of the hospital and back at home, Jenkins attended a service at his church Sunday, the first time since going to Costa Rica. His daughter said: "There wasn't a dry eye in the place."
- Alberta Lindsey Richmond Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Copyright Richmond Times-Dispatch, used with permission.
Darin Martin (Lithuania)
Question: "Tell us about your recent short-term mission trip with the Church."
Answer: "I had trouble from the beginning. My Passport never did arrive at my house. On the day the work trip left for Lithuania, I took an earlier flight to Chicago just to retrieve my passport, only to learn that it was in New Orleans. Anyway, I do not know how I ever got on the insurance coverage, but evidently I had been taken care of. I am thankful that my church took the time and effort to take care of my health insurance needs."
"I was cutting a groove down a cement wall with one of those cement cutters - only this one didn't have any type of shield on it - guess that's typical over there. The saw kicked back and nearly 'amputated' my finger. I'm not sure how my finger was still hanging there, but I knew that I had to get to a hospital fast! I walked in, handed the nurse my brand new I.D. card and they led me to the examining room. They made the phone calls, got everything approved and the next thing I know my hand was stitched and I was on my way out the door. All I had to pay was my $100 deductible."
"It was so easy! I'm sure that without my card, I probably would have had a horrible time, perhaps even denied service. It really worked like magic! A big thank you goes out to my church for caring enough to put this program in place. I encourage others to do the same."
- Darin Martin - Kansas City, Missouri
Dr. D.A. Sterzbach (Thailand)
For our Senior Class trip, we went to Thailand. What a wonderful trip of a lifetime for those fourteen seniors, all of which want to go back to Thailand some day!
As the chaperone who was responsible for them, it gave me real peace of mind knowing that help was only a phone call away with your overseas insurance protection. We did not have to use it (praise the Lord), but it was worth every penny of the reasonable cost to know that the help was there if needed. I surely recommend this product.
-Dr. D.A. Stertzbach , Williston, Vermont
President of Christian Schools of Vermont
Superintendent of Trinity Baptist Schools
Dr. Ken Stephens (Multiple Locations)
As a pastor who frequently visits mission fields, I have traveled outside of the U.S. several times within the past few years. I enrolled in the "Executive Outreach" that covers me while I'm on my trips abroad.
I recently went to the Island of Aruba. It was comforting to have insurance and a coverage card on my person just in case I would have needed some medical care. I have never had the peace of mind of having coverage while on my trips prior to this.
I enrolled online which was quick and easy. Since my travel was within that week I was able to receive the coverage card by overnight mail which was very convenient.
I must admit that I was somewhat naive about how complicated it could have been had I needed medical care in a foreign country. I am grateful for the product that you are providing.
-DR. Ken Stephens, Fort Collins, Colorado
Peggy Kladke (South Africa)
Chris T., a student at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA and a member of Campus Outreach, was dispatched along with many others to a location in South Africa to spend eight or nine weeks witnessing and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on College Universities of South Africa.
The group further volunteered to participate in a housing project whereby they built houses for those with great need. Having finished serving the Lord in one village, Chris and other students were traveling in four vans to another location when tragedy struck.
Just as in certain areas of our United States, we are warned to watch for deer crossing, the students were advised to watch carefully for donkeys that would come into the highway. Early in the morning, the van in which Chris was a sleeping passenger swerved to miss a donkey. The van rolled and Chris was thrown from the van and killed.
Chris's body was returned to his home in the Atlanta area. His parents learned of this horrible accident and had to wait patiently for the government red-tape to be completed to receive their son's remains back for burial. His parents did not travel to the area and the mighty charges were absorbed by Campus Outreach.
Chris did not die in vain. He was doing what the Lord had called him to do: "Go and tell others about the mighty things you have seen and heard."
Chris, his family, and Campus Outreach unfortunately did not have the coverage needed. Having seen the need for this type of coverage, I encourage all trip leaders to make sure their group is protected.
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