We were on our next leg in our New Zealand Road Trip and headed from Taupo to the wine region of Hawkes Bay. On our first day in town we took a bird watching walk in the local estuary that didn’t go so well. It is probably best if Meg tells her story, so she is doing a “guest blog post” :>)
Earlier this week, we were on a nature walk in the Hawke’s Bay area of the North Island. While walking on a very slippery stretch of pavement, I slipped and fell down hard on my left knee. I knew instantly something was very wrong. Bill called the emergency number to request an ambulance.
In short order, the ambulance team came to get me, relocated my kneecap before transport, got me to the ER, followed by x-rays that confirmed I had also fractured my kneecap (patella). The ortho doc recommended surgery to put in hardware to hold it all together while it heals.
From an insurance perspective, we have always insured our trips with TravelGuard for both travel and medical related coverage. We have also in the past talked about if we really needed to do this, could we just rely on self-insurance? But we keep buying trip insurance, and have it for this trip.
However, in New Zealand they have something called ACC, which is accident coverage for all residents and visitors alike (note: my understanding is that it does not cover other medical needs, illness, preventative care, etc). So while Bill and I kept asking what forms we needed to fill out, if we needed to talk to the billing office, and he got on the phone with TravelGuard to initiate a claim – the staff around us kept assuring us not to worry, we were covered.
In short, the ACC covered in full: ambulance, ER, x-rays, surgery, two nights in hospital, knee brace, crutches and pain meds, and a follow-up appointment I’ll have in a few weeks. We walked (well, I was wheeled) out of the hospital paying $0. No co-pay, no nothing. And, the care I received was wonderful, every step of the way. Things happened relatively quickly (for a hospital), staffing levels were sufficient, and everyone was very kind.
I have to imagine in the US might have totaled upwards of $100K, with us picking up the insurance co-pay for $10-$20K with our “bronze” plan.
We will be leveraging our TravelGuard claim to hopefully get reimbursement on some flight changes and a non-refundable ferry ticket, as we are changing our plans for the next 3 weeks to hunker down in a mellow place for some rest and recoup, and to be nearby for follow-up care. All of our lodging changes were refundable, so that was easy.
Key take-aways.
- We firmly believe in continuing to have trip insurance that includes travel and medical. I don’t think many countries have this level of accident insurance. Also, we like having trip insurance to get back to the US, for healthcare or family illness, so we usually include “cancel for any reason”
- TravelGuard has been good to work with so far, checking in with us regularly to see what we need and how they can help. We’ll see how they deal with reimbursement
- We likely also have coverage on our travel credit cards, however we haven’t had to look into that aspect yet
- I was pleased with New Zealand healthcare in general, and am very impressed with their ACC program, wish the US had something similar (hospital food still sucked, tho)
- As I will need further care in the coming months as we continue onward to Australia and Japan, I’m uncertain what TravelGuard will cover in terms of future ortho appointment, physiotherapy, etc. Our current policy ends in late March, and then a new policy begins. However, this will possibly be a “pre-existing condition” when I switch to the new policy, and they may not cover it. Too soon to tell. If we return to New Zealand within the next 2 years, the ACC should take care of the follow up procedures for free.
- Travel Insurance is NOT Health Insurance. Health Insurance is NOT Travel Insurance. We need both in most countries. New Zealand is an exception.
While our New Zealand trip isn’t turning out exactly as planned, we are in good spirits, enjoying the fine weather, amazing scenery, and lovely people. I’m a little mobile with a brace and crutches, and expect to be more mobile as the weeks of healing wear on. It does mean we’ll have to plan another NZ trip, as we are missing the whole South Island, and there is much there we want to see and do.
We found a nice Airbnb to hang out in a small town here for a couple of weeks and heal before we continue our trip in Melbourne, Australia. Bill will spend the time doing some Airbnb cooking and wandering around the woods looking for more birds. The show will go on….
