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The Story of Mrs X
55-year old Mrs. X went on holiday in the
Algarve, Portugal with her son. She had a past medical history of high blood
pressure, for which she took medication prescribed by her General Practitioner.
Her high blood pressure was well controlled on the medication and she did not
suffer from any other medical conditions. Four days into their two-week
holiday, Mrs. X suffered a stroke and collapsed. Her son called an ambulance,
which took her to the nearest hospital. After a week in hospital, Mrs. X’s
treating doctor informed her son that she was almost ready to be discharged and
advised her son to contact the medical assistance company associated with their
travel insurance and ask for their assistance to repatriate Mrs. X to her home
country. The stroke had left Mrs. X paralysed on the left side of her body and
unable to speak. Mrs. X and her son had taken out a credit card travel
insurance policy, which was free because their holiday was purchased with her
son’s credit card.
After consultation with Mrs. X’s treating
doctor, the medical assistance company’s recommendation was that she would need
a stretcher on a commercial flight and two nurses to assist her during her
flight home. The medical assistance company notified Mrs. X’s insurer of her
condition and their recommendations and asked them to advise them how much
cover Mrs. X would have for her repatriation. Unfortunately, when the insurer
looked into Mrs. X’s policy, they realised that Mrs. X was covered for only a
small portion of her medical expenses and did not cover her for repatriation to
her home country at all.
Mrs. X’s son therefore had three options to
consider. He could choose to pay himself for his mother’s repatriation on a
stretcher with two nurses to assist her, which would cost approximately R 200
000. His second option would be to keep her in Portugal for several months in a
nursing home, where she could receive rehabilitative therapy. The aim of this
therapy would be to improve her functioning so that she would in the future be
able to fly as a normal passenger on a commercial airline, although there was
no guarantee that she would improve. This would also not be a cheap option. The
third option would be to arrange for a ground ambulance to drive her all the
way home, to the United Kingdom, stopping over each night for a rest. This
would also not be a cheap option. It would also take several days and be an
exhausting journey for Mrs. X.
This example is just one of many to
demonstrate how important it is to make sure that your policy provides
sufficient cover for medical expenses and also covers evacuation and
repatriation.
Get a quote here...
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