To travel insure or not.......Wow, this is worth a read!

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My cousin , a very healthy young lady was in Hawaii when she noticed she was having a strange heart beat. She went to a hospital and was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. She stayed for 24 hours in Intensive Care and fortunately the heart beat went back to normal rhythm . Once cleared with good health , she was presented with a $25,000 AU bill. Thanks to Travel Insurance Direct all was covered.

Travel Insurance is a must.
 
swanning_it said:
I'm not entirely sure as to how much to believe of this story, but for those thinking "it's only a short holiday, I won't need travel insurance", then I'd suggest you at least have a read!

Snorkelling with Mantas gone wrong........for reasons you may not have first thought!

Apparently, our travel insurance does not cover unborn additions to our family cover.
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I'm guessing pregnancy would be one of those "pre-existing conditions" that you'd have to read the T&C's of any travel insurer very carefully, before signing up for their policy.

These kind of stories (extremely large hospital bills) pop up quite frequently and I am always amazed at the cost of them. If I were from another country, and the same scenario happened in Australia, is this what our hospitals charge to overseas visitors?

I'm sure I've said it before, but I think travel insurance should be mandatory, and if you choose not to get your own, then a fee levied on departure out of the country.
 
We always hear about these obscenely expensive hospital bills in the US. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the costs and the justification!

A bit like infrastructure projects in Australia.
 
robd said:
I'm guessing pregnancy would be one of those "pre-existing conditions" that you'd have to read the T&C's of any travel insurer very carefully, before signing up for their policy.
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I said something similar in another travel insurance thread just recently. In this case, from reading the article, their travel insurance (which it seems they did wisely have), covered the mothers expenses, but not the babies expenses. Thinking about my insurance policy which I'm currently renewing, my annual multi-trip says it covers dependants under 21 years of age, but it also asks the number and we're required to name them. Given at the time of insurance purchase they didn't have the baby, he wouldn't have been named on the policy. Seems to be an important and potentially expensive trap which many people may fall into. I've no idea if the pregnancy is covered under the policy, but I'm thinking the problems with that pregnancy (premature birth) were not pre existing and hence coverage should be given.

I'm just glad my baby-making years are behind me, but for those who are in that zone, take note and take heed.
 
robd said:
If I were from another country, and the same scenario happened in Australia, is this what our hospitals charge to overseas visitors?
.
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In some cases, yes, it would end up similar depending on treatment required / received.

Bearing in mind also that an American billed in AUD will have less "sticker shock" than someone travelling for a country with appreciably lower average income than Australia (and consider some of the countries that represent a big % of our tourists and foreign students).

Often the hospital will negotiate a payment plan, but if the foreign national leaves the country, good luck chasing the money - so in most instances the hospital thus the taxpayer wears the cost in the end. Often the (Australian resident) family will be approached to pay, but (to my knowledge) they aren't legally liable to do so. Sometimes a "reduced rate" will be accepted to achieve partial payment (as compared to none).
 
MAX_1 said:
My cousin , a very healthy young lady was in Hawaii when she noticed she was having a strange heart beat. She went to a hospital and was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. She stayed for 24 hours in Intensive Care and fortunately the heart beat went back to normal rhythm . Once cleared with good health , she was presented with a $25,000 AU bill. Thanks to Travel Insurance Direct all was covered.

Travel Insurance is a must.
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Whole heartedly agree, a 3 hour trip to ER for myself costed out at $1000 per hour. Got home and received the bill for 3K

P.S That's USD$'s
 
$200 for a warm blanket, and yet only $39 for a nurse to prick your finger for blood. Shouldn't that be the other way round at least?
 
Yes it's deeply troubling the way the US dish out invoices from hospital visits. On the contrary, a friend had an accident with a collapsing chair in Denmark last summer that nearly severed a finger. She needed extensive surgery, doctors initially telling her they didn't think they could save the top of the finger but her line of work meant this would have been a catastrophe. So after some begging to the doctor an elaborate operation was undertaken that eventually succeeded. Superb treatment all around and several days in the hospital. As she went to discharge, she asked for the bill. "No bill, treatment is free in Denmark." she was told. "I've got travel insurance, they'll cover it so just bill me something." she told them. "No madam, treatment is free for all patients in Denmark."

Some lessons the Europeans can teach us for sure!
 
QFflyermelbourne said:
Yes it's deeply troubling the way the US dish out invoices from hospital visits. On the contrary, a friend had an accident with a collapsing chair in Denmark last summer that nearly severed a finger. She needed extensive surgery, doctors initially telling her they didn't think they could save the top of the finger but her line of work meant this would have been a catastrophe. So after some begging to the doctor an elaborate operation was undertaken that eventually succeeded. Superb treatment all around and several days in the hospital. As she went to discharge, she asked for the bill. "No bill, treatment is free in Denmark." she was told. "I've got travel insurance, they'll cover it so just bill me something." she told them. "No madam, treatment is free for all patients in Denmark."

Some lessons the Europeans can teach us for sure!
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We have reciprocal health care benefits with several countries, so visitors from those countries to Australia, would get the same treatment here.

Reciprocal Health Care Agreements

It is still advisable to have travel insurance, as the reciprocal rights don't cover the other usual benefits of travel insurance. However, when you do have travel insurance in these countries, you must claim against the country for health benefits before claiming against your travel insurance.

My experience is limited to my personal experience only, seeking appropriate insurance for daughter who is living in Amsterdam for the next 6 months under the Working/Holiday Visa. Please read the PDS of your travel insurance. YMMV.
 
First up, travel insurance is a must. End of story.

But this stuff about the US being really expensive, and wondrous places like Denmark being "free", are not fair.

Healthcare is a very expensive business. In Australia it is not "free", neither is it in Denmark. The humungous cost is just paid for by methods that are different from the US's simple user-pays system.
 
It sounds like they had travel insurance. It just didnt cover the child. But I thought travel at 26 weeks wasnt according to airlines rules either?
 
Pushing your luck doing these type of things at 26 weeks...IMO.
 
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When a simple visit to a GP ( for a bad cold) in New York ( including scrip) sets you back USD $1700.00 you just know something's not right.
 
GPH said:
When a simple visit to a GP ( for a bad cold) in New York ( including scrip) sets you back USD $1700.00 you just know something's not right.
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It's to pay for all that lobbying against universal healthcare.
 
amaroo said:
Pushing your luck doing these type of things at 26 weeks...IMO.
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Life doesn't get put on hold during pregnancy. Given it's a 40 week term, 26 weeks to me would still seem reasonable for that last holiday as a couple.....before all hell breaks loose! I can understand the reasons and motives in their actions. To me, although the ludicrous medical bill is an obvious discussion point, the real moral of this story is to highlight a little known possibility, that being an unborn child is apparently not covered by the insurance. I think that's a trap that many could very easily fall into.

GPH said:
When a simple visit to a GP ( for a bad cold) in New York ( including scrip) sets you back USD $1700.00 you just know something's not right.
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I agree with this comment, however at least it's for a decent reason, medical. The costs I can never fully understand, are the ridiculous payments made to professional sportspeople. I heard recently, following young master Tomics latest brat spat, that he'd earned, or should I say received, over three million dollars so far in his short career. There are many, many hard working Australians who'd take 60 years (in todays terms) to earn that kind of money. Surely, we're just encouraging spoilt kid behaviour (exactly like we're currently seeing with many tennis, rugby, rules players etc) by showering so much money on them before their neural pathways have even had a chance to fully develop. In my mind at least, our money hungry society is sadly off track when elite sportspeople are paid millions to act like absolute tools, but carers (for example) struggle to pay their bills and a day of respite is often just a pipe dream.
 
In Australia, the current overnight ICU bed fee for an uninsured patient or overseas visitor is between $4.5-5k

The is just for the bed (including nursing care, etc) - add consultant fees, pharmac_, pathology and radiology and it could be closer to $8K per day.

If surgery were required, then there will be a theatre fee, prostheses (if required) and anaesthetic and surgeons (and assistants') fees.

It would be a stretch (not saying impossible!) to hit a $1m bill in an Australian hospital, but it could be a couple of hundred thousand dollars for a lengthy stay.
 
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Sad to see this type of thing happen.

The hospital bill is obscene. I can understand $500/day or even $1000/day but $10,000+/day is outrageous.

I am also of the belief that you should be home and not doing these type of activities if you are 26 weeks pregnant.

And I would never travel without travel insurance. I have read stories in some countries you are not allowed to leave unless you have paid the hospital bill. From memory Thailand is one of these countries.
 
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