1Cover Travel Insurance Provides Important Information for Travellers to America

The team at 1Cover Travel Insurance have recently been advised that overseas medical assistance needs are changing in the USA as the effects of the ‘Obamacare’ health insurance programme are implemented, which may affect all travellers in the future. It is vitally important that New Zealanders travelling to the United States are aware of these changes and take out the correct travel insurance accordingly. 1Cover Travel Insurance provides great value insurance for travellers heading to a range of destinations, with a choice of premiums based on the cover level required, and they urge prospective travellers to contact them regarding these changes in the US.

For many years now hospitals in the United States have employed firms that specialise in managing their billing of patients. However, since the recent introduction of Obamacare, some hospitals have been demanding an upfront payment from patients who attend clinics/hospitals for medical care. Some of these upfront payments can be as high as US$10,000 as a standard part of the admission process. At present this practice is not consistent across all hospitals in the United States, but there is a reported high rate of this occurring in the state of Florida, in particular.

As is always the case, it is extremely important when planning a trip anywhere outside of New Zealand to ensure that adequate health insurance is included in travel insurance cover. Bearing this in mind, 1Cover advise that should the above happen to a customer when visiting a hospital or clinic in America they should not prepay anything at all because the healthcare provider is demanding an ‘advance’. This is simply the case of the hospital trying to put an insured patient under pressure in a difficult situation. The hospital cannot refuse to treat the patient.

1Cover advise their customers in need of medical care in the US to contact their 24-hour emergency assistance department immediately. Once they are aware that the hospital is demanding an up-front payment, they can attempt to intervene on behalf of the insured person. Often the personnel demanding upfront payments are not hospital employees but rather external ‘revenue optimisation’ specialists employed by the hospitals to maximise or guarantee their revenue streams.

The experienced team at 1Cover are there to offer assistance in all emergencies and are well-known as one of New Zealand’s leading direct online travel insurance providers. They maintain a comprehensive standard of cover, industry leading emergency assistance and a range of policy options to suit a variety of needs.

For more information, please visit their website at http://www.1cover.co.nz.