Membership programs like Covac Global, Medjet, Global Rescue and International SOS can supplement … [+] travel insurance by adding valuable services.
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Glenn Davis says he’s grateful for his medical and security membership, which he bought as an afterthought three days before his recent trip to Italy.
Davis, a partner at an executive recruiting firm in Tampa, Fla., was visiting his daughter in Rome when he stepped off a train platform and fell onto a track, shattering his leg.
Two men rescued him seconds before a train arrived. An ambulance transported him to an Italian hospital, where he says no one spoke English.
“It was so frustrating,” he says.
Fortunately, Davis’ Medjet membership provides medical evacuation services. He called Medjet, which quickly arranged for an air ambulance to fly him directly back to a hospital in Tampa.
“They were lifesavers,” he adds.
What’s next for medical and security memberships?
Membership programs like Covac Global, Medjet, Global Rescue and International SOS can supplement travel insurance by adding valuable services such as an emergency response hotline, translation and evacuation to your home hospital. (Travel insurance often will only transport you to the nearest hospital when you have an accident.) But in post-pandemic travel, medical and security memberships are adapting to meet new challenges, say observers — and in the near future, they’ll be able to do more than get you to the nearest hospital.
Ross Caldwell Thompson, CEO of Covac Global, says medical and security memberships are on the verge of a tectonic shift. The legacy medical and security membership companies are busy upgrading their products with improved technology and integrations to add value in a new age of travel. However, our core mission of bringing our members home without complex requirements is paramount.
“The industry needs to look at its core offerings — the things that will bring their members home proactively,” he says.
What kind of train is coming for subscribers, and indeed, for the industry itself? The last few months offer some clues.
Covac Global adds search and rescue coverage
In January, Covac launched a priority location and extraction benefit that for all of its members, which is unique in the industry, because it does not require Covac to know the member’s whereabouts. “It could be a teen that doesn’t return from a nightclub in Spain or an executive that never came back from that business dinner in Mexico City,” says Thompson. “Our location based global response resources have the capacity to initiate and investigative a search before any required policy wait times many police, rescue, and park rangers are bound.”
Global Rescue’s new GRID 2.0
One of the newest developments in medical and security membership is Global Rescue’s GRID 2.0 system, introduced last month. The new system pushes event notifications and alerts to customers. They include alerts for civil unrest, disease-related developments, safety issues, transportation disruptions, communications blackouts, and natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic activity. In an emergency, the GRID 2.0 app connects travelers with the medical teams and military special operations veterans who staff Global Rescue’s global operations centers.
Paul Mullen, vice president of enterprise sales at Global Rescue, says business leaders, security chiefs and human resource officials asked for a more robust notification system after the pandemic.
“They have been on the lookout for something like this,” he says.
GRID 2.0 is meant to be used by companies to track their travelers. They can superimpose a traveler’s location on a map and note any potential threats. The information is also available to travelers so they can steer clear of trouble. In a world of increasing uncertainty, it’s an invaluable tool, says Mullen.
International SOS adds new Chinese language services
International SOS, which provides corporate medical, health, and security risk management services, in late 2023 added new Chinese language services in response to rapidly growing overseas market demands of Chinese enterprises. International SOS’ team of medical, health, and safety consultants now has 24/7 global coverage with native Chinese language assistance support.”There has been a significant increase in demand from Chinese clients in overseas markets,” notes Nicolas Sommer, managing director of International SOS China.
Global Guardian integrates with Concur
Global Guardian, which provides international duty of care to corporations, organizations and high net worth individuals, recently teamed up with Concur Travel. The company is offering Concur, a travel expense and travel management software, as a way to fulfill their duty of care needs through a suite of travel, medical, and security-related services.
“International travel is becoming more challenging than ever for businesses and their employees,” says Dale Buckner, CEO of Global Guardian. He says integrating with Concur Travel will improve traveler experiences and help them access real-time support.
Also new: Leisure travelers are getting on the medical and security memberships train
Perhaps one of the biggest changes in medical and security memberships is who is buying them. Once the domain of corporate executives and ultrahigh net worth individuals, these memberships are also appealing to international leisure travelers and families.
“They’re discovering that not only is the cost affordable,” says Carrie Pasquarello, CEO of Global Secure Resources. “But integrating reliable support services also helps alleviate the stress of navigating unpredictable geopolitical and environmental challenges.”
Exact numbers are difficult to come by in this industry, since most of the major companies are privately held. But in interviews, key insiders confirm that much of the new growth is coming from leisure travelers who see the benefits of these medical and security memberships. And more growth may lie ahead.
“Always looking to evolve”
So what’s next?
“We are always looking to evolve our services to reflect what our travelers are most concerned about,” says Mike Hallman, Medjet’s CEO.
How does a medical and security membership evolve? During the pandemic, Medjet added transport for COVID-positive patients. It was not easy, according to Hallman. The biggest challenge was finding a way for its aircraft affiliates to equip aircraft and train flight staff on proper protocols.
Hallman dropped a clue about how a company like Medjet might evolve. In its latest customer service survey, it found that the overwhelming majority (99.7%) of travelers are concerned about safety — and 57% of them are more concerned about safety than ever before. When asked which events cause the most concern during travel, 27.9% said political unrest, 27.7% said terrorism, and 13% cited crime.
Hallman says those concerns have led to an increase in sales of MedjetHorizon, a product that also includes security evacuation and crisis response to a wide range of threats, including riots, violent crime, acts of terrorism, kidnapping, and disappearance.
But there might be even more these companies can do to address traveler fears.
What will happen?
Like travel insurance, medical and security memberships are slow to change. Their core products, like emergency medical evacuation and security services, have been staples in the corporate travel world and are making inroads in leisure travel. But technology is advancing rapidly and we may be at a tipping point where a new product or service could change everything.
