ekscrunchy

I wanted to link this with the recent report about the accident in Bali,but I could not find it with a search.

Anyway, maybe this will be helpful.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/tr...amp;ref=travel

rhkkmk

my initial response is that he hurt his ankle...not broke his leg, or had a bone piercing his skin....

i think i would have taken lots of pain pills, gotten back to singapore, a fairly short flight....and from there just done a flight adjustment on my original ticket costing $100 +/-....

this seems like overkill...i'll get yelled at for this, but...'typical new yorker.....'

i guess trip insurance is important, but we never get it....we do have medical evacuation insurance through the divers network, DAN, at about $50 yr for the two of us...

Mara

My travel insurance came in handy when I fell and broke my fifth metatarsal in 11/07 in Japan. I had to appeal to get the full amount to which I believed I was entitled but I ended up successful. My 'flight adjustment' cost over $1500......

ekscrunchy

RHK:

I also think it was a bit of overkill..and this is coming from a New Yorker! I guess they were really frightened.


Do you have to be a diver for the DAN insurance? Have you ever had to use it? Thanks!


http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/trip/

WillJame

Not sure what you're describing as "overkill." He had a broken ankle--not just a "hurt ankle"--and he needed orthopedic surgery. My daughter broke her ankle roller-blading with serious and painful results. She described her foot as loosely "flopping" after the break. Required several surgeries, pins inserted, etc.
The NYT traveller had to keep his leg in the cast elevated on the flight home, and therefore at least needed two seats, if not first or business class.
What am I missing in this account that you esteemed FodorFolk (ekscrunchy and rhkkmk) are responding to?
Last year, before my current six-month trip to Asia, I was looking into insurance options, including DAN. I finally decided, after considering our other existing coverages, to go for additional medical insurance beyond medical evacuation that I hope will cover something like this.

rhkkmk

no you need not be a diver or have any other relationship with DAN..

ekscrunchy

The author says in the article that it is doubtful that insurance would have authorized a medical airlift. Do you think they would have paid for a first class ticket?


"We did not have medical travel insurance. Would special travel insurance coverage have made it cheaper or easier? While medical evacuation is normally included with most comprehensive travel policies, it is doubtful a fractured ankle would have merited an air ambulance."

Mara

"The author says in the article that it is doubtful that insurance would have authorized a medical airlift. Do you think they would have paid for a first class ticket?"

That's why you need to read the really small print on the policy. I was covered under what they call medical repatriation which is less stringent than medical evacuation.....

However, in my case because of the ins. co. doctor being unavailable to authorize my trip, I bought my own ticket (reimbursed after my appeal to ins. co.) and traveled coach - had I waited for the ins. co. I would have insisted on first class and I think I would have gotten it as my foot needed elevation - it's a long trip from NRT to JFK... ;-)

Elainee

I, too, thought the article was overkill. I broke my elbow in Japan. They cast it, 10 days later recast it, and then when I got home, three weeks later, I had the surgery to replace the radius. IMHO I had a faster recovery from the surgery since the swelling was down from the original injury. My surgeon did not think the waiting had been a problem. But, walking on a broken ankle could be quite uncomfortable. There are good docs and hospitals in Singapore. Unless it was an unusual problem...getting it fixed in Singapore and recovering in a nice hotel doesn't sound bad to me. Flying home in a state of pain and fear, then getting from airport to hospital is also not fun. Fyi...my medical insurance paid for my treatment in Japan.

Cicerone

I guess I would like to know why the option of going to Singapore was “quickly dismissed”, when that would be the logical choice for most of us here. The article does not discuss why this very obvious option was not used. To travel more then 24 hours (via a change of planes) with a broken and untreated ankle seems crazy to me. Barry Cooper the victim, is hotel developer and his wife, the author is a travel writer. For two people who should have some travel experience, they seem incredibly dense.

Always the cynic, I wonder if this is just a plug for buying travel insurance. I have no argument against travel insurance and have purchased it from time to time, but this seems like a scare-the-uniformed article.

Barry actually flew to Singapore on his way back to the US, and the class he flew was not noted, and one wonders if Barry flew economy on that leg. Entirely possible that he did so, and yet he seems to have survived. He then he could have easily had surgery in Singapore where presumably health insurance would have covered his surgery.

I am no doctor, but would you even put ice on a <i>fractured</i> ankle? I can’t see how ice is going to help a fracture, and may even be bad for it. I did not get the point of that part of the article.

I also want to know why the author had to point out that their phone service was with AT&amp;T. The whole article just smacks of a commercial: use AT&amp;T so you will have good phone coverage, get travel insurance from the sites listed.

Finally, my last question would be: why were these two people, who were staying at the Oberoi Lombok and from my basic research seem to be fairly well off (they live in a 2220 square foot apartment in Greenwich Village and buy Pratesi sheets; see NY Times article “Gender wars on the Home Front” February 8, 2001) NOT ALREADY FLYING BUSINESS CLASS ON THIS TRIP? Taking this trip on an economy class flights would not seem to match their lifestyle. And the change in class of flight seems to have been their only expense. This again begs the question of whether this article is genuine.

Kathie

While it's too bad about the broken ankle, I. too think this was overkill. Why? Well, as other have pointed out, it would have been perfectly possible to have the surgery in Singapore for considerably less than the US. If the regular medical insurance would have covered it, that would be the way to go, IMO. But even if one decided to have it in NYC, there was no real reason to opt for the First class ticket on the first flight out - a business class ticket at far less cost would have been available in the next couple of days. Many travel med policies would pay for a premium class ticket in lieu of med evac (a friend of mine had this paid for) , but you do have to read all of the fine print to know for sure.

My medical insurance pays for urgent medical care world-wide. I also carry med evac for really serious issues. If your medical insurance doesn't cover urgent care outside the US (note that medicare does not) it makes sense to carry a travel med policy.

rhkkmk

it might make nice cocktail chat to have all these things to talk about in the village one nite...

JaneB

rhkkmk, where did you get the
med evac insurance? I looked on the DAN website and it was not listed (at least, I did not see it listed!) Thanks, Jane

Kathie

Jane, go to the DAN site and click on &quot;membership&quot; (not &quot;insurance&quot. In that section you will see that one of the benefits of membership is med evac insurance. You just pay the yearly membership fee. I've been carrying this for years - it's very inexpensive insurance.

JaneB

Thanks, Kathie!

rhkkmk

i just renewed my membership...$55 for two people

JaneB

I joined. Has anyone ever had to use their services and how did it work??
Jane

Kathie

I haven't had to be med evac'd - fortunately - but I know someone who was med evac'd by them from Nepal. It all went very smoothly, and the couple had nothing but praises for the med evac company. Note that as with all med evac policies, the company must arrange the med evac.

Kristina

I finally read the article. Pretty much useless in my opinion, except to emphasize the need for good travel insurance.
Sounds like the writer did not have a clue what kind of coverage they had before they left. Kind of shocking for a travel writer (assuming she is one).
I have coverage I buy through AMEX. It is automatically added on to every international ticket I buy.

Elainee

I looked at the DAN policy. It seems to cover accidents but not illness. It does not cover illness/accident before you travel which forces you to cancel the trip. DAN does have supplement policies which give more protection. I did not find the very small print giving the full details. We used STA (recommended on the Africa board) and it paid EVERYTHING when we had to cancel our Africa trip due to my husband's illness. It was an expensive trip done thru multiple travel agents, hotels, camps, airlines, guides. It took a long time, but they did fully cover everything. We were lucky because I had not read the fine print. But my husband's illness was acute with multiple hospitalizations and surgery. When accidents happen during travel, I think, in all policies they decide where you need to go for medical care. In my understanding you can't just decide to have them pay for a first class ticket or med evac to return to the US if there is &quot;acceptable&quot; care closer.