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Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

kathmandupost.com

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Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#41

Post by advisedwang »

bell-cot wrote: post #38
WarmWash wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely the insurers would quickly become aware of this, I mean, there are people whose job it is to monitor all claims and adjust prices accordingly. So while it might feel like the insurers were getting fleeced, it was almost certainly the insured who didn't get the copter ride.

Not an insurance underwriter - but wouldn't the obvious counter-move be to exclude coverage for medical assistance/transportation when you're climbing mountains overseas, spelunking, within X miles of the north or south pole, traveling in a submarine, or have otherwise ventured into "high-dollar extraction" territory?

Extreme activities are excluded from standard travel insurance packages. This is happening with insurance specifically for these activities.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#42

Post by fwipsy »

bell-cot wrote: post #38
WarmWash wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely the insurers would quickly become aware of this, I mean, there are people whose job it is to monitor all claims and adjust prices accordingly. So while it might feel like the insurers were getting fleeced, it was almost certainly the insured who didn't get the copter ride.

Not an insurance underwriter - but wouldn't the obvious counter-move be to exclude coverage for medical assistance/transportation when you're climbing mountains overseas, spelunking, within X miles of the north or south pole, traveling in a submarine, or have otherwise ventured into "high-dollar extraction" territory?

The obvious counter move is just to charge higher premiums. It works whether the crises are real or fabricated. The real losers are not the insurance companies, but other tourists overpaying on their premiums.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#44

Post by pRusya »

A story older than Nepal (misleading tourists). And an article from 6 months ago shows how the govt treats its own people with more examples in HN discussion. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45166972

What is less discussed is what happened to people who were able to identify the scam and refused to let it happen.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#46

Post by ghaff »

sonink wrote: post #39

> The second method is more troubling. At altitudes above 3,000 metres, mild symptoms of altitude sickness are common. Blood oxygen saturation can drop, hands and feet tingle, headaches develop. In most cases, rest, hydration or a gradual descent is all that is needed. ...investigators found that Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablets, used to prevent altitude sickness, were administered alongside excessive water intake to i…

Namche (damn autocorrect) Bazaar which everyone in the Everest region passes through is a bit over 11K feet. 12-15K feet just isn’t that high in the scheme of things. Many peaks in the western US are in that range or more. Yes, minor headaches are pretty normal when acclimatizing. But anything more, you need to go down.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#47

Post by ghaff »

trillic wrote: post #40
bell-cot wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an insurance underwriter - but wouldn't the obvious counter-move be to exclude coverage for medical assistance/transportation when you're climbing mountains overseas, spelunking, within X miles of the north or south pole, traveling in a submarine, or have otherwise ventured into "high-dollar extraction" territory?

Priced into the premium. It's not your run of the mill health insurance.

When I actually climbed one of the 6K meter peaks I had to get some special alpine insurance. Don’t remember the details. Was a long time ago.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#48

Post by tokai »

IAmBroom wrote: post #4

"In at least one case cited in the investigation, baking powder was mixed into food to make tourists physically unwell." The only ill effect I can find from overconsumption is a "tingly sensation on the tongue". Of course, that doesn't mean the 'poisoner' wasn't ignorant of this, and genuinely did it trying to make them sick. Or maybe they simply said, "If you feel your tongue tingling, YOU ARE DYING!!!".

Baking powder is used by some athletes as it is shown to enhance performance.[0] I find it more realistic that they are adding it for that effect than making anyone unwell. As its not really something that makes you ill.

[0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8427947/

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#49

Post by tokai »

jopython wrote: post #27
miltonlost wrote: post #22

Stop pointlessly climbing mountains and ruining the natural environment. Climbing Mt Everest at this point is just a sign of conspicuous consumption and not any achievement other than financial. Would have been better to spend your money lighting it on fire.

The "Everest Economy" is worth around $500 million annually.

Thats surprisingly low.

Re: Inside Nepal's Fake Rescue Racket

#50

Post by Ectiseethe »

bell-cot wrote: post #38
WarmWash wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely the insurers would quickly become aware of this, I mean, there are people whose job it is to monitor all claims and adjust prices accordingly. So while it might feel like the insurers were getting fleeced, it was almost certainly the insured who didn't get the copter ride.

Not an insurance underwriter - but wouldn't the obvious counter-move be to exclude coverage for medical assistance/transportation when you're climbing mountains overseas, spelunking, within X miles of the north or south pole, traveling in a submarine, or have otherwise ventured into "high-dollar extraction" territory?

I went to Nepal two years ago. The standard insurance of my Mastercard Gold specifically excluded medical assistance/transportation for acute altitude sickness from the coverage (and rescue operators are reluctant to intervene without proof of proper insurance coverage).

As a precaution (having read about it on forums) I had taken an additional insurance from a French shop specialized in hiking and mountaineering (le Vieux Campeur) to cover more events.

Good thing I did because I ended up having to be evacuated for something that was initially considered as acute altitude sickness and turned out to be a lot more life threatening once in the hospital.

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