Monday, January 05, 2015

More Unintentional Medical Tourism

This past November, we discussed the (poorly reported) story of a Canadian woman who, while on vacay in The Aloha State, gave birth (prematurely) and was "stuck" with a rather large bill.

A million dollar one, in fact.

Well, turns out that a British couple has just joined their exclusive little club:

"Brits Katie Amos and fiance Lee Johnston didn't expect to become a family of three until 2015, but at just 29 weeks pregnant, Amos went into labor—while walking through Central Park during "a last getaway" to the Big Apple."

And once again a nationalized health care scheme - the MVNHS©, this time - has failed to live up to its promise:

"Dax's medical bills are expected to total $200,000 before their stay is up. While insurers reportedly cleared Amos to fly, "we aren't sure if our insurance covers the medical bill."

Sounds familiar, no?

And, once again, the couple had apparently purchased a travel medical policy which is unlikely to cover any of the expenses, seeing as how, at 29 weeks, Ms Amos most definitely had a pre-existing condition.

A number of questions arise:

First, if the MVNHS© plan is so good, why would one need supplemental coverage (as if IB readers didn't already know)?

Second, why doesn't the media bother to explore and/or explain how travel medical plans work, and especially why said pre-existing conditions are excluded?

Third, why don't people read their policies, especially considering that the couple in question would be traveling halfway around the world, to a foreign country, while pregnant? Wouldn't this be cause for at least some concern?

The good news is that Dax seems to be doing well (all things considered). And since will be "registered as an American citizen," one presumes that he is eligible for an ObamaPlan that should cover at least some of his expenses.

But that's another post, and perhaps an interesting one, at that.
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