Insurance warning after man, 84, stranded in Bali hospital after accident
Experts say the situation faced by a gravely ill grandfather stranded in a Bali hospital should serve as a warning to older Australians.
84-year-old Alan Conway, from Mandurah in Western Australia, took out travel insurance before he left Perth, but his level of cover is nowhere near enough to pay for an emergency medical evacuation.
It's not the way he imagined his Bali holiday would end.
Mr Conway needs a hip replacement after a fall, but he's developed a viral rash, making the already risky procedure even more dangerous.
"If the virus gets into his blood stream it will go to his brain, he's just had a stroke in the last three days, and it could possibly kill him," Mr Conway's son Marc said.
Marc wants to get his father home for treatment, but he says because of his age his travel insurance is limited.
"His medical insurance is only to the value of $40,000 and I do believe a medivac can get quite expensive, up to $100,000," Marc said.
Only some insurers cover travellers over the age of 80, and not all of those that do cover medical evacuations.
"If you don't have medical emergency and medical evacuation coverage for at least a million dollars, I would say that that policy is not worth the paper it's written on," Phil Sylvester from Travel Insurance Direct said.
Mr Conway's insurer, FastCover, has confirmed an "air ambulance is on standby to medivac our insured back to Australia once medical clearance to fly is provided."
Despite assurances from FastCover that his father's case is a priority, Marc's unsure if the family will have to pay for the flight.
They have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for Mr Conway to return home.
