London Travelers Story
In the same week that Stuart Cline was stuck in Mexico hospital for a week after suffering an aneurysm, another London man Larry Dann waited for eight days in a U.S. hospital because he was told a bed was not available in any hospital in London.
Dann and his wife, Cynthia, embarked on a two-week cruise to the Caribbean. While on the cruise he felt extreme abdominal pain and nausea as the cruise ship almost completed its trip back to Miami. Being sick, Dann was admitted to the hospital’s ICU and thankfully he had a Sun Life travel insurance coverage which covered for his bill that averaged US$20,000 per day.
According to Dann, Sun Life was truly supportive and helpful. They even offered to cover the cost of an air ambulance back to Ontario. Although he got first-rated care in the hospital, he was homesick. However, he was repeatedly told that he could not go home because there were no hospital beds available in his hometown.
Sometimes, while in the hospital, Dann thought of escaping but it was just like Hotel California, there was no way to escape. Four days after the care, he was transferred out of the ICU and the next four days, he was discharged and allowed to go home with a condition that he would see his doctor as soon as he arrived home.
While commenting on the Cline and Dann cases, the Health Minister, Helena Jaczek said that insurance companies are not doing enough to find a bed for their clients but the Peggy Sattler, the London West New Democrat MPP said insurance companies cannot manufacturer a hospital bed if there isn’t any available. She said that hospitals across Ontario are operating well over their full capacity. She also opined that the government should deal with the issue of hospital capacity rather than throwing blames on the insurance companies.
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