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What travel insurance really means

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Re: What travel insurance really means

#141

Post by jwmoz »

trocadero wrote: post #37

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the insurance company here. Travel insurance is there to take care of emergency medical care. It's not for long term care. The guy clearly didn't want to travel because he preferred to be cared in Singapore. From his e-mail: >I intend to stay in Asia for some time yet. I did consider travelling home to have surgery in the UK, but the medical Service here is excellent and I'm already schedu…

You sound really callous and lack empathy. Good job next time you're injured you can sympathise with the insurance company and just sit there in pain.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#142

Post by jwmoz »

trocadero wrote: post #130
cptskippy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So he's pretty clearly trying to game the situation. I think you've misinterpreted some ambiguity in his statement because he neglected to use the proper tense when justifying his reason for not having a return flight booked. They inquired if he had a pre booked flight home: >> Our medical team believe this injury may require long term care, so we would see if beneficial that you return to the UK for treatment, if…

>You've also mistaken his desire to finish receiving treatment in Singapore as a desire to avoid the NHS It's right there in his e-mail. He was concerned: "About potential waiting times on the NHS". >They were asking him to fly for 20+ hours in a coach seat, considering his hand was unstable that seams unreasonable. It also increases the likelihood of additional injury as he travels. IMHO if his hand is well enough t…

Your attitude is disgusting. Do you work for the insurance company or something?

Re: What travel insurance really means

#143

Post by dwild »

cptskippy wrote: post #104
trocadero wrote: post #37

I'm somewhat sympathetic to the insurance company here. Travel insurance is there to take care of emergency medical care. It's not for long term care. The guy clearly didn't want to travel because he preferred to be cared in Singapore. From his e-mail: >I intend to stay in Asia for some time yet. I did consider travelling home to have surgery in the UK, but the medical Service here is excellent and I'm already schedu…

> So he's pretty clearly trying to game the situation. I think you've misinterpreted some ambiguity in his statement because he neglected to use the proper tense when justifying his reason for not having a return flight booked. They inquired if he had a pre booked flight home: >> Our medical team believe this injury may require long term care, so we would see if beneficial that you return to the UK for treatment, if…

> His desire was to receive the most immediate care possible and the surgery was intended to install a plate to stabilize his hand and ensure that it heals properly.

That has a cost. I'm Canadian and if I wanted to get a scan, it could takes months. If it's actually an emergency, it will be much faster, if I paid for it at a private clinic, it would be much faster too. Non urgent immediate care has a price.

> The surgery he was prescribed was to stabilize his injury to ensure it healed properly, delaying that treatment could potentially lead to improper healing.

They aren't there to give him "proper healing", they are there to support emergency situation.

If you go to your hospital and it takes 6 months, it's because they believe that 6 months is still "proper healing". If it takes him longer in UK, it means that it's still "proper healing".

His first hospital stay was an emergency, he didn't want to make the claims, but that was what was claimable.

If his doctor in Singapore though that he couldn't take the plane, then that's what he should have gotten as proof.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#144

Post by throwaway-hn123 »

trocadero wrote: post #136
gaius wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wanted to keep traveling and avoid the NHS Private health insurance is by definition avoiding the NHS, which was 10,000 miles away anyway, so I’m not sure what point you’re making here? If the terms of the policy were we’ll fly you home in cattle class and dump you on the taxpayer then that should be made clear

Here's the handbook for the policy he bought: https://www.insureandgo.com/media/1228/iag_mf_pw_adv_0518.pd... Page 20 says: What you are covered for We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits on pages 4 and 5 for any costs for the following that are reasonable and necessary (see definition on page 14) as a result of you being unexpectedly injured or ill during your trip. 1. Emergency medical, surgica…

Wow, what kind of cunt goes and spends that much time looking into this.

Sort your life out, you little incel bitch.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#145

Post by gaius »

trocadero wrote: post #136
gaius wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wanted to keep traveling and avoid the NHS Private health insurance is by definition avoiding the NHS, which was 10,000 miles away anyway, so I’m not sure what point you’re making here? If the terms of the policy were we’ll fly you home in cattle class and dump you on the taxpayer then that should be made clear

Here's the handbook for the policy he bought: https://www.insureandgo.com/media/1228/iag_mf_pw_adv_0518.pd... Page 20 says: What you are covered for We will pay up to the amount shown in the table of benefits on pages 4 and 5 for any costs for the following that are reasonable and necessary (see definition on page 14) as a result of you being unexpectedly injured or ill during your trip. 1. Emergency medical, surgica…

Any treatment or surgery which we think you do not need immediately

You can’t say “immediately” then take 4 days to reply, that’s unrealistic

Re: What travel insurance really means

#146

Post by armitron »

trocadero wrote: post #120
rsbadger wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I felt that paragraph was the most relevant to me, I had been told by my DR that I shouldn't fly. They had already told me I was crazy to have flown to SG with my finger hanging off without being stitched up first. And I didn't have a plaster cast, they had given me a make shift thing in Bali, but once I reached SG I was unfit for flying home due to the risk of further damage to the hand. It was massively swollen and…

>I felt that paragraph was the most relevant to me And not the one specifically dealing with broken bones? >I wasn't going to ignore the advice of a DR who was holding my X-rays to appease an insurance company who doesn't give 2 shits about my health. Which is not something anyone is going to argue about with you. Except, of course, those that have to write the $15K check. They are going to want more documentation th…

Standard medical advice? Are you even reading what he wrote? His doctor did not clear him to fly. It's crystal clear from the way they conducted themselves that the insurance company would find any excuse to deny his claim. It's also very probable that their delays were deliberate. I hope OP can talk to an attorney and take them to the cleaners. At the very least, he named them so potential future victims will have something to find if they perform due diligence.

With all the responses you've generated here and the way you go about your argumentation I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you work for the insurer.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#147

Post by ChuckMcM »

rsbadger wrote: post #99
ChuckMcM wrote: post #69

I really feel for the guy, he has gone through a lot of pain and suffering. That said, as someone who has gone through life and used my share of insurance, I think the guys attitude is exactly backwards. There are huge numbers of people out there working insurance fraud schemes. I nearly ran into a couple that was trying to 'brake unexpectedly and get insurance payments.' Since I leave enough following distance I did…

This is true, but the reality is I doubted my insurance would pay from the start. I was expecting to pay for everything myself. It was only once I got the quotes in Singapore that I realised I might not actually be able to afford it that I resorted to the insurance. And their response was even worse than I expected it to be. I appreciate there are countless fraud attempts and they need to protect themselves, but I wa…

This part it sooo true: And I guarantee you when you're facing emergency surgery the LAST thing on your mind is "I best call my insurer and start the form filling process".

Something that I carry on me when I'm travelling in my wallet is a piece of paper. It is written in both English and the predominant language of where I'm travelling. This paper is titled "Instructions and information for emergency personnel." It has my name, home address, blood type, allergies, short medical history, insurance numbers and international numbers to call for authorization. It also includes numbers of people who can be called for more information (like my primary care physician)

It is easy to make, write it up before the trip, run it through Google translate for the destination language, and fold it up into my wallet.

I got this idea from a friend of my father's who was a diplomat and so travelling a lot. He had stories about how it had saved his life in when he crashed his bike in the Alps. He too said that the last thing on your mind is explaining all of this stuff to people when he was injured. But once he realized that he didn't have to explain it, he only needed to let them know who to ask to get the information.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#148

Post by cptskippy »

dwild wrote: post #143
cptskippy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So he's pretty clearly trying to game the situation. I think you've misinterpreted some ambiguity in his statement because he neglected to use the proper tense when justifying his reason for not having a return flight booked. They inquired if he had a pre booked flight home: >> Our medical team believe this injury may require long term care, so we would see if beneficial that you return to the UK for treatment, if…

> His desire was to receive the most immediate care possible and the surgery was intended to install a plate to stabilize his hand and ensure that it heals properly. That has a cost. I'm Canadian and if I wanted to get a scan, it could takes months. If it's actually an emergency, it will be much faster, if I paid for it at a private clinic, it would be much faster too. Non urgent immediate care has a price. > The sur…

> Non urgent immediate care has a price.

At least in the United States there's a distinction between Emergency, Urgent and Route care. I would classify this as urgent.

> They aren't there to give him "proper healing", they are there to support emergency situation.

Again, I'm not sure how it is in Canada but in the United States once you've undergone Emergency Surgery and you are stabilized; they move you into the non-emergency care ward and any followup procedures or treatment are on a needs basis.

My assumption was that after his emergency surgery he was transitioned to a non-emergency care team that was responsible for for the follow up surgery.

If he were undergoing emergency surgery to install the plate, I'm not sure they'd make him wait.

Re: What travel insurance really means

#149

Post by justinator »

rsbadger wrote: post #112
justinator wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what surprises me is that they wanted to fly the guy half way around the world. Canada and the US border each other. I DO think that the gentleman made a bad decision saying that he was intent on staying in-country for 6 months afterwards. That's probably all the insurance company needed to think, "Yeah, this guy is using travel insurance as regular insurance" Still, I do think the gentleman get the wrong end…

my insurance was for 18 months of travel though, so i intended to travel for 18 months. I think that's reasonable. Maybe my wording came out wrong in the post, I wasn't telling them, "no i wont come home" I was telling them I didn't have a return flight pre booked because I was planning on travelling for 6 more months yet.

I'm surprised they would allow you in country for > year without a return flight. I couldn't get even in the EU without showing them I had a way to get out. What sort of visa did you have?

You do mention being a, "digital nomad" which sort of signals to me that you're not into coming back to wherever you started. I don't know the best type of health insurance you should set up for that, but I wouldn't be surprised if traveler insurance companies don't want to be thought of as, "regular health insurance, but for people traveling".

Re: What travel insurance really means

#150

Post by justinator »

rsbadger wrote: post #111
justinator wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a dire need for an editor!

my first ever blog post attempt, I thought the gifs helped make up for my poor writing abilities

The first thing I'd cut would be, "I hate blogs because of x"

Some of us write personal blogs to get practice in writing :)

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