Calstar / Medical Air Flights

Plumber1

Plumber1

Tito's, Tacos and Trails
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May 27, 2019
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San Ramon, CA
Anyone have Calstar or similar Helicopter Med-flight services.

We ( wife and I ) are spending more and more time at our second home which is in the small town of Arnold CA., in the Sierra Foothills at about 4,300' elevation. And the closest Hospital is about 45 min drive and the closest Trauma-center is about a 90 minute drive. We are considering a membership in Calstar, the pricing seams very reasonable $65.00 / year to cover both of us.

The only thing is that they have this exclusion listed which is a little concerning

(B) WARNING: This Ambulance Plan is not an insurance program. It will not compensate or reimburse another ambulance company that provides emergency transportation to you or your family. This may occur when the 911 Emergency System has independently determined that another company could provide more expeditious service or is next in the rotation to receive a call. This might also occur when this Ambulance Plan is unable to perform within a medically appropriate timeframe due to a mechanical or maintenance problem or being on another call.

Am I concerned over nothing or not?
 
I've heard horror stories...$65 is cheap...so is getting wilderness first aid training, cpr and survival.

I carry a good first aid kit...I roll my own...it includes Israeli tourniquet and bandages, SAM splints, 4x4s, etc.

Lot also to be said about emergency beacons, radios and sat phones.

-Mac
 
Gollywomper said:
The coverage is hard to predict. Several air ambulances with overlapping coverage. Hard to guarantee who will come get you.
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Yea that's my concern, you pay for the service then you call 911 and the fire dept. shows up and if life threatening they call for a helicopter and you find out the one that comes out is not from the service your paying for. Also in that time of need you most likely won't be in the frame of mind to ask hey can you request Calstar. :unsure:
 
macleanflood said:
I've heard horror stories...$65 is cheap...so is getting wilderness first aid training, cpr and survival.

I carry a good first aid kit...I roll my own...it includes Israeli tourniquet and bandages, SAM splints, 4x4s, etc.

Lot also to be said about emergency beacons, radios and sat phones.

-Mac
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I am not thinking about being injured on the trail, more like at home. I have an InReach and carry a first aid kit for trail use.
 
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I have a complete plan from spotx when my plan was first offered it pretty much covered any off grid rescue, what ever happened you were covered. A couple years back the plans merged to adopt similar restrictions excluding emergency evacuation coverage for preexisting conditions, so if you were to fall, get snake bit or experience any emergency medical situation you could not have anticipated insurance coverage is provided. Two years ago roughly I got a letter defining the new coverage limitation on preexisting conditions, if you have any notice or diagnosis of medical condition and choose to put yourself in the position to need rescue medical evacuation charges are excluded from coverage and you a likely on your own for the charges. I assume all available plans use similar if not the same coverage limitations now.
 
1515art said:
I have a complete plan from spotx when my plan was first offered it pretty much covered any off grid rescue, what ever happened you were covered. A couple years back the plans merged to adopt similar restrictions excluding emergency evacuation coverage for preexisting conditions, so if you were to fall, get snake bit or experience any emergency medical situation you could not have anticipated insurance coverage is provided. Two years ago roughly I got a letter defining the new coverage limitation on preexisting conditions, if you have any notice or diagnosis of medical condition and choose to put yourself in the position to need rescue medical evacuation charges are excluded from coverage and you a likely on your own for the charges. I assume all available plans use similar if not the same coverage limitations now.
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Life saving or just covering a death that can't be prevented? I live 5 minutes from the best heart/brain hospital in THE USA. Shit happens to most of us. preparing for tragedy is like preparing for death. YOU will die is a given, how it happens will never be known.
 
I pay something like $25/year for the additional $100k rescue coverage on top of my Garmin Inreach plan. I have no idea what it really covers.
 
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I watched a pretty interesting vid about medical air taxis/medevacs and they painted a pretty bad picture of exactly the out of network but no choice kinda situation OP is worrying about. Seems like the system is a mess (just like insurance in general).
 
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Apparition said:
I pay something like $25/year for the additional $100k rescue coverage on top of my Garmin Inreach plan. I have no idea what it really covers.
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I think SpotX switched to the same underwriter as Garmin and that’s where they adopted the change from in coverage although I don’t know the progression that led to the change although obviously money Is at the heart of it.
 
I am a member of Late Flight and If I was to travel to your area to run trails like Dusy Ershim, Rubicon, and JV I wouldn't hesitate to become a Calstar member.
 
It wasn’t like they were excluding coverage for medical emergencies, it was a common sense if you didn’t have a gun would you go there scenario. Fit, older on high b/p meds but ok otherwise with no life threatening issues I’m sure there would be no problem, it’s to eliminate someone on oxygen and probably under some doctors restrictions/medical advice from driving his Jeep into the middle of nowhere and then needing a flight out when the likely occurred.

I don’t know if that description fits anyone here and dare not mention any names, lol… probably.
 
1515art said:
I think SpotX switched to the same underwriter as Garmin and that’s where they adopted the change from in coverage although I don’t know the progression that led to the change although obviously money Is at the heart of it.
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Since I have a Garmin InReach I looked at there plan. It only works if you use it thru InReach, in other words it does not cover you if you call 911. You have to use the SOS button and then go through their system. But I think in an emergency at home or in your car you are more likely to just pick the phone and call 911. Now out on the trail yea I would sue the SOS button but that's about the only time
 
The problem with airlift insurance coverage in Northern California is that there are three overlapping services - AirMed, CalStar, and the system used by Enloe Hospital in Chico. Since one never knows which company will be dispatched, one is forced to buy plans from all three companies in order to ensure 100% coverage.

Thank you, Sacramento politicians and bureaucrats for creating this situation and allowing it to continue.
 
Mr. Bills said:
The problem with airlift insurance coverage in Northern California is that there are three overlapping services - AirMed, CalStar, and the system used by Enloe Hospital in Chico. Since one never knows which company will be dispatched, one is forced to buy plans from all three companies in order to ensure 100% coverage.

Thank you, Sacramento politicians and bureaucrats for creating this situation and allowing it to continue.
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As far as I know the Air Med Care package covers CalStar also.
 
Mr. Bills said:
The problem with airlift insurance coverage in Northern California is that there are three overlapping services - AirMed, CalStar, and the system used by Enloe Hospital in Chico. Since one never knows which company will be dispatched, one is forced to buy plans from all three companies in order to ensure 100% coverage.

Thank you, Sacramento politicians and bureaucrats for creating this situation and allowing it to continue.
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I went and stopped at the Fire Station and talked to them today, since they are the ones that resopnd. According to them Calstar is who normally cover the area , BUT he said that sometimes they are down or on another flight so then it goes to PHI Air Medical ( Phicares.com ) so they recommend having both
 
Plumber1 said:
I went and stopped at the Fire Station and talked to them today, since they are the ones that resopnd. According to them Calstar is who normally cover the area , BUT he said that sometimes they are down or on another flight so then it goes to PHI Air Medical ( Phicares.com ) so they recommend having both
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PHI Air Medical is the third service. I couldn't recall the name. The recommendation you received makes good sense to me.

TJ4Jim said:
As far as I know the Air Med Care package covers CalStar also.
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That is not what the Air Med Care representative in my area told both of the offroading clubs to which I belong during the question and answer session after her presentations. We got the same message from another Air Med Care representative several months later.

________

PS - By "my area" I mean Shasta County, not mainland Mexico where I currently reside most of the year.
 
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Mr. Bills said:
PHI Air Medical is the third service. I couldn't recall the name. The recommendation you received makes good sense to me.



That is not what the Air Med Care representative in my area told both of the offroading clubs to which I belong during the question and answer session after her presentations. We got the same message from another Air Med Care representative several months later.

________

PS - By "my area" I mean Shasta County, not mainland Mexico where I currently reside most of the year.
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We originally had the Cal/Or Life Flight which morphed into Air Care Med and pretty much covers our area and at $69 a year is decent, I'll have to look further into it.
 
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