Overseas Patient Admitted to Public Hospital Due to Hip Fracture with No Insurance

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    missyy on 15/10/2018 - 18:49

    thank you for the information

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  [Deactivated] on 15/10/2018 - 12:14

  Having dealt with several Asian travel insurance companies from middle income countries the policies tensd to be overpriced, with very limited cover, and a low insured value. Ie not suited for travel to a developed country.

  Moral of the story dont sign any form which puts financial liability into yourself. I recall a German good Samaritan which has an enforceable law there. Had to pay the bill for someone they rescued because they signed the liability form

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    missyy on 15/10/2018 - 19:00

    -1

    so far i know my country is not familiar with travel insurance, they might have normal health insurance that might cover injuries during travel

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      xuqi on 17/10/2018 - 01:56

      You can always buy travel insurance for someone after their arrival in their country of destination (not ideal, but it can be done), so even if you father hadn't decided to buy or forgot, or though it too expensive you or others in the family could have purchased it for him upon arrival here.

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  Blue Suby on 15/10/2018 - 12:14

  Did you report this to shopping centre management? They may be liable to accept costs.

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    missyy on 15/10/2018 - 19:01

    i already been contacted by shopping centre and got email from their insurance

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      Blue Suby on 24/10/2018 - 12:23

      Are the sShopping Centre's insurance going to pay for your Dad?

• gguu on 15/10/2018 - 13:26 Comment score below threshold.
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    try2bhelpful on 15/10/2018 - 13:31

    +4

    Next time you have a medical emergency we will send you two paramedics and a minivan and see how long you can survive your heart attack without all the proper equipment and medicines. Medical intervention is expensive, it is just we are shielded from it by having Universal Health Cover. You want to see what expensive medicine is then have a sick animal and see what medicines cost when you don't have the Government shielding you.

    The real question is why is a 5 star hotel so expensive; given you don't need specialist people attending to your medical needs.

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    onevstheworld on 15/10/2018 - 14:08

    +1

    Why it's 10 times dearer than a 5* hotel room?

    What a 5-star hotel room needs to provide if it's going to equal the services of even the most basic hospital bed:
    - Nurses (3-4 years uni degree) at a ratio of 1:4
    - Junior doctors (5-7 years uni degree)
    - Senior doctors (3+ years training on top of that)
    - Paramedical staff (physiotherapist, occupational therapist, pharmacists, social workers, etc)
    - Diagnostic facilities (x-ray, blood tests, ECG, etc)
    - Emergency facilities - e.g. defibrillators, oxygen, high intensity monitoring
    - Stock of all the common, and many uncommon drugs on site
    - The ability to perform those tasks in all but the most severe emergencies
    - All the above available 24 hours a day

    Similar thing goes for the ambulance… if you were seriously ill, you'll quickly realize the home doctor visits don't have half the equipment/capability of an ambulance. And 2 paramedics are needed… if you ever tried to do solo CPR, you'll quickly figure out why.

    Yes, you probably could provide a hospital bed at the same price as a 5-star hotel… but you're unlikely to survive all but the most minor ailments.

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    HighAndDry on 15/10/2018 - 14:14

    +1

    it's something way worse…

    …

    Yeah next time you need an ambulance and a hospital bed, we'd be happy to call you an Uber instead and put you up in the motel next door. Hope you won't need a services of a trained medical professional though.

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    SydStrand on 15/10/2018 - 16:19

    +2

    Why an ambulance trip costs 50-100 times more than a taxi ride? Doctors do home visits for $50 or so Medicare fee. Why two paramedics and a minivan cost $2000?

    An ambulance is not a 'minivan,' and paramedics aren't Uber drivers. You obviously don't know how expensive healthcare is. Even our vet clinic has clients complaining about a $70 consult fee, and don't know we're barely breaking even annually, after salaries for doctors and nurses, diagnostics, drugs, etc., not to mention the intangible overhead (insurance, registration, etc.). A human hospital with 24 hour emergency care, ambulance fleet, specialists, etc. would be MUCH higher.

    If there's a giant conspiracy, show us where public hospitals are raking it in. Next time you get injured in the States, take a peak at your medical bill.

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      try2bhelpful on 15/10/2018 - 16:28

      +2

      We have Pet Insurance for our two little ones. I don't begrudge vets making a living because that is the price of having a pet. We had a couple of instances where we paid over a thousand dollars for pet treatment so we got the insurance. It, certainly, has paid for itself. You can't think properly when someone, or in our case our pets, are in pain and you just want to help them.

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        SydStrand on 15/10/2018 - 16:54

        It's also prudent to shop around. My parents' dog had a couple of major surgeries in 2016 that most specialists quoted between $10-14k, but they took him to the USYD teaching hospital and the bill was $6k. Expensive, yes, but I can't imagine what it'd cost if I had the same procedures at RPA and wasn't covered.

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          try2bhelpful on 15/10/2018 - 16:58

          @SydStrand: The Vet bills for our last kitty were eye watering, but most of it was covered by the Pet Insurance. People need to watch out for co-payment requirements, excess charges, etc when making decisions for their pet. My view is if you can't relieve the suffering you have to be prepared to put the animal down. There is no shame in deciding to put down an animal where it is too expensive for you to do a procedure, there is a lot of shame in not being able to make the decision and leaving the animal in pain.

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    Randxyz123 on 15/10/2018 - 17:57

    What rubbish.

    Your profile says Melbourne. Ambulance Vic cover is $47 a year and you’re covered. That’s what like 0.12c a day??

    If you don’t buy this or have it included in your private health cover then you are crazy.

    What is stupid is that in other states it’s kinda built into your taxes and no one tells you this.

    Ambulances aren’t just random guys or girls in a minivan, they are actual professionals who could save your life one day.

    As for hospital rooms well 5* hotels don’t have thousands or millions of dollars worth of equipment, nor do they have medically trained staff.

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    Baysew on 15/10/2018 - 18:01

    +2

    Why it's 10 times dearer than a 5* hotel room?

    The cost will even out once you take into account the mini bar prices in the hotel room.

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    Ughhh on 15/10/2018 - 18:39

    You're either trolling or you think like a 5yo.

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  reactor-au on 15/10/2018 - 16:00

  +3

  OP isn't the first and won't be the last. Still boggles the mind that people don't understand what insurance means. If you can't afford to pay for insured events out of your pocket then you need the insurance.

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  SydStrand on 15/10/2018 - 16:29

  +6

  My mother's friend had a stroke in the States in 2015 and the bill was around $100,000. Uninsured, and they followed up. It was paid off in installments.

  OP's father has been visiting 1-2 times every year for the last 4? And no health insurance at 70? Madness.

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    try2bhelpful on 15/10/2018 - 16:34

    +3

    A relative of my brother in law decided to have a baby moon in Bali; yup baby was born very premature. Not sure what insurance she had, or not, but in the end her expenses were covered but the baby's weren't. "Grandma" had to sell her investment flat to cover the costs of the baby.

    Next tip, if you are pregnant don't travel into the "survivable" timeframe unless the insurance covers bub as well.

    • jason101 on 15/10/2018 - 21:02 Comment score below threshold.
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        try2bhelpful on 15/10/2018 - 22:58

        You may have missed the point of my statement which was to either make sure you aren't in the birth timeframe when you travel or to make sure you are adequately insured. However, thank-you for playing.

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  chumlee on 15/10/2018 - 21:10

  -3

  The cost is with your dad. If he doesn't pay what's the worst thet can do - put him on a plane back home?? Bonus free flight home.

  Seriously i wouldn't stress it if your father it's your dads last visit here

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  Traveller107 on 15/10/2018 - 21:33

  +13

  There are plenty of ways to dodge various payments and responsibilities in life but that doesn't make it right. Not getting insurance was reckless and irresponsible but trying to dodge the payment is just malicious.
  You/your family have a financial, moral and ethical duty to pay for urgent health services provided to you in the time of need. The hospital followed through on their duty of care and you should be thankful and pay for it. Trying to shortchange the hospital and getting the Aussie taxpayers to pay for your irresponsibility would be rather shallow. Moreover, it does not sound like you are in financial distress but would just prefer to avoid it. I'm sure your dad would've done the honest thing if roles were reversed i.e, would've paid for your treatment and taken care of you when you were in need.
  Do the right thing, pay your debt, appreciate timely help was provided when needed and move on. If you don't have the cash upfront then get on a payment plan. Its not too difficult if your intentions are honest.

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  Bargainkappa on 15/10/2018 - 22:06

  +3

  OK, I work in a public hospital and deal with these cases on a regular basis.

  Firstly, the hospital will do what's needed to treat your dad as a duty of care. The fees for this fall on your dad.

  Medicare does not pay for the surgery fees or stay in a public hospital as the patient is not covered. This money comes directly out of the hospital funds. No, hospitals don't have bottomless pits of money and will cut funds to certain services if they go over budget in a financial year.

  Some hospitals will chase your dad for the money, even when he is overseas. However this is an expensive option, so most won't. He will be able to leave Australia without issues most likely, as I said most hospitals won't invest in chasing back fees. however if we wishes to return on another visa without first paying the medical cost, issues will arrise.

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    Bargainkappa on 15/10/2018 - 22:12

    If he had survey and had any type of metal work, it will be at least 20k, Just for surgery. If it was a hip replacement, then the prosthesis itself is around 10-15k, then the surgical fees on top.

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    ladybug1 on 16/10/2018 - 00:21

    I'm actually not sure that it would affect his next visa. For a tourist visa, do they ask if you owe the government money?

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      Bargainkappa on 16/10/2018 - 07:07

      He can get a black mark against his record through immigration, so when he reapplies it maybe denied.

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        Icecold5000 on 16/10/2018 - 14:58

        +3

        Looks like DIBP can use unpaid medical bills to cancel or deny a visa:

        https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/…

        https://www.australiavisa.com/immigration-news/condition-860…

        OP has a brutal choice, pay the bill which may come to thousands or risk having her father never being able to travel to Australia. All this for the sake of saving a couple hundred dollars on travel insurance.

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          try2bhelpful on 16/10/2018 - 15:07

          @Icecold5000: This is what I was thinking as well. If you don't pay the bill he is unlikely to get another Visa to visit.

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            Icecold5000 on 16/10/2018 - 15:18

            @try2bhelpful: At least the OP knows what the deal is now and the consequences of trying to skip the country and have the surgery done in China. I don't think she is focusing on what is important going on about the x-ray and whatnot. Essentially there are no easy options here and I don't think the DIBP are going to let them this debt go uncollected with repercussions given the amount.

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              Bargainkappa on 16/10/2018 - 15:34

              @Icecold5000: In the defence of OP, it is likely the dad would not be allowed to fly home for the surgery. The hospital would have operated as broken bones, such as femur and tibia shoot out things called fat-emboli, which is like a clot. These get lodged in the lungs and then people die from them. So it is likely that the dad would have died before getting home to have the surgery.

              If it was a broken wrist or another bone, which don't have these issues, they would have let him go home to have the surgery.

              In essence it was a life saving operation, unfortunately they didn't have the insurance to cover the cost.

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                try2bhelpful on 16/10/2018 - 16:00

                +1

                @Bargainkappa: I think we all agree that this needed to be dealt with out here. Pelvic injuries are particularly nasty in older people, lots of big blood vessels nearby.

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                Icecold5000 on 16/10/2018 - 16:27

                @Bargainkappa: I'm not a doctor so can't really comment on the medical issue, only on the intent of the OP when she requested the x-rays, the only conclusion which was the OP wanted and 2nd medical opinion and to fly her father home for cheaper surgery.

                Obviously I don't wish a 70 year old chinese man NOT to have the surgery if its the best thing for him but there is no reason why the Australian taxpayer should foot the bill for someone too cheap to buy travel insurance. I don't buy the OP excuse that they were 'unfamiliar' with travel insurance but if they were then the price of their ignorance is huge. Sounds like the family will be in considerable debt for years to come.

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                  Bargainkappa on 16/10/2018 - 17:02

                  +1

                  @Icecold5000: Yeah I agree, not ideal situation for family or our medical system. However doctors have a duty of care to the patient to save their lives if they are able to, no matter what the situation is. I think it also shows how great this medical system is and how ethically our medical staff work.

                  We had a patient only a few weeks ago from Sweden, no insurance, had heart attack. Went to surgery to have a stent, 50k for entire procedure and hospital stay. We will not be recovering that money either.

                  These things happen, maybe the government should be highlighting these things in greater detail to incoming tourists.

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                    Icecold5000 on 16/10/2018 - 18:34

                    +1

                    @Bargainkappa: Looks like there is nothing stopping the OPs father from skipping the country after the operations. That’s life. Just be prepared never to be allowed into Australia again and possibly dying in China without family support because they didn’t want to pay what they owed.

                    If the govnt has to take a hard line to ensure our tax dollars are spend only on Australian citizens then so be it.

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                    reactor-au on 18/10/2018 - 15:06

                    @Bargainkappa: I'm actually surprised it's not a requirement to prove you have travel insurance when applying for a visa. It is in some countries.

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  ladybug1 on 16/10/2018 - 00:19

  A Polish friend of mine sued the shopping centre where her mother had a fall (she slipped on something there)-and got a settlement which didn't cover the whole thing. Is that a possibility?
  I do want to say, this is your father, you couldn't have let him suffer, let it go, get a fortnightly agreement if nothing else works. Cheer up, I hope he is better now.

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  minotaurian on 16/10/2018 - 01:50

  +5

  You should sue the hospital like the other post where someone slipped over wet flooring on a train during a rainy day and is wanting to sue Sydney train for compensation. Never take responsbilities for ones own actions, just blame everyone else. You didn't get travel insurance for your dad, no problem, its the insurance's fault for charging high prices, everything should be free. ##sarcasm##

  Besides that, I do feel for your dad and I hope him a speedy recovery. I understand there is a lot of pressure at the hospital forcing you to sign contracts. I think you still need to accept responsibility for signing contracts without reading it. Take this situation as a lesson learnt, and get travel insurance next time, $40 is worth the piece of mind.

  P.S. sueing is not always an option, you may end up losing and paying much much more out of pocket. aka, the lady that slipped on a grape in woolworths, now owes 100K to Woolworths.

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  BestofOZB on 16/10/2018 - 05:40

  +3

  Sorry to hear about your dad, I hope he is recovering well.

  I work in hospitals, both as a doctor and in management. Unfortunately most doctors and nurses have nothing to do with billing and finances and therefore couldn't give you an advice, especially afterhours/ weekend.

  What will/should happen is that you will receive a total bill, and if you cannot pay in full, agree to a payment plan, which is usually very generous over many many months.

  I believe you that the surgeon told you the cost will be covered on compassionate ground, as I said doctors look at things from clinical ground and need to help patients, and assumed that if you cannot afford it it will be covered, not entirely accurate.

  If you choose to stand your ground based on what you were told, it depends on what YOU signed, if you didn't then all invoices will be addressed to your dad and you can ignore them. If you signed, they will come after you, then it is your choice to pay, or dispute it/ go to court as you were told (by the surgeon) you will not pay).

  Unfortunately if he had a total hip replacement, then expect the bill to be in tens of thousands of dollars.

  Good luck to you and your dad.

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    missyy on 16/10/2018 - 07:27

    thank you for the wishes, so far all the bills / invoice i received all address to my dad, i'm only knew surgery involve metal and screws placed on the right hip and wound located on upper thigh (around 10cm) not sure whether is consider total hip replacement

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      MessyG on 17/10/2018 - 08:35

      +1

      Plate and screws isn't a total hip replacement for coding purposes, the cost should be a bit cheaper than that.

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        missyy on 17/10/2018 - 09:23

        thank you for the info

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  deelaroo on 16/10/2018 - 07:36

  -7

  Just don't pay. This isn't the US they won't kick him out to the curb until he's 100%, You don't sign anything or accept any responsibility for the debt, you just brought him there..

  When he's all fixed he just leaves. What are they gonna do tackle a 70 year old to stop them?

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    Trying2SaveABuck on 16/10/2018 - 09:01

    Take is passport…

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      deelaroo on 16/10/2018 - 11:26

      Who? The hospital? This is civil.

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  Trying2SaveABuck on 16/10/2018 - 09:00

  Sorry to hear about your father hope he is alright.

  You are going to have to pay a load of cash sorry but the fact is hip replacement surgery alone is around the 18-30k mark plus the hospital bed is around $1400-$1800 a day

  Adding in physiotherapy,testing and medication….etc

  if you have signed paperwork then you are going to have to pay to head overseas in your 70s and not have health insurance is pretty stupid and i dont have sympathy for you father regarding the costs of his medical bills just hope his health is ok

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  dono2 on 16/10/2018 - 09:38

  +3

  Sorry for your dad though if he can afford to travel to Australia he can afford the medical insurance to cover accidents here. Just like if I went to his homeland.

  Its amazing that people do not get travel insurance when travelling overseas.

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  tik tok on 16/10/2018 - 10:47

  -2

  I think, you are lying OP. I will tell you why - some time ago I accompanied a mate to a local public hospital. The reason for visit was to know the costs if someone not on medicare or medical insurance had to be brought through emergency. The hospital gave us a flyer with all accurate costs including the cost of the stay, the fees the doctor/anaesthetic charge (depending on the case) etc. They have this stuff printed and ready to go. It is however only an estimate. But gives you the rough picture of costs involved. The hospitals deal with this everyday - you are not a one off case that suddenly happened. So I find it very hard to believe no one told you even the rough estimates.
  The costs made the mate purchase travel insurance - as its simply stupid not to do so.

  Now, what will happen if you not pay the money and leave Australia ? You will be deemed in debt to the crown and can be arrested upon re-entry to Australia. So, if you leave Australia without paying, just don't come back. And thanks for screwing the taxpayers.

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    Gravy on 16/10/2018 - 15:45

    You are assuming that every staff member of every hospital always follows the same set of procedures as your circumstance.

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      tik tok on 16/10/2018 - 17:23

      No. Every hospital has this information ready all the time ! You wont expect a RN to have this info. But the RN will most definitely be able to guide you to this info. Jeez, why is everyone acting like the hospitals don't see people without medicare/insurance regularly!

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        Gravy on 17/10/2018 - 00:09

        Should probably ask Op if they received a flyer of estimated costs, it doesn't sound like it. Assuming someone is lying because they had a different experience to you is a big call.

        The only area where they appear to have received some notification of costs is with regards to the room as they mentioned a downpayment, Op should probably clarify what amount this was and whether a daily rate was mentioned.

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          missyy on 17/10/2018 - 09:26

          @Gravy: when i pay emergency fee for $550, they given receipt with info only room cost per night, none of other info stated

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    MessyG on 17/10/2018 - 08:39

    +1

    That's incorrect. The single hospital you visited had that ready to go. That is not representative of most major tertiary institutions where the number of combinations of possible illnesses, treatments and complications, far outweigh the hospitals ability to produce a flyer of costs. Every hospital is run independently and one finance departments bright idea does not automatically carry over to others. Every hospital doctor on here has said this information is not easy to access, and adding my voice here - I've worked in over ten hospitals across two states and not once have I seen anything of the sort. Most of the time it's an absolute clusterf**k trying to get this information for patients and it's usually the social worker who hounds finance for it.

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      tik tok on 17/10/2018 - 09:31

      What's incorrect ?
      You working in a few hospitals isn't an indicator of what happens in every public hospital either. Your point on doctors not having this information is moot. Why is a doctor expected to know of this information ? We are paying the doctors for their expertise in their field of speciality - not house keeping. I don't know which department you have worked in; eg., I wouldn't expect janitors to be aware of this information either. Neither the in house hospital pharmacy nor the security guards in the hospital. If you need billing information talk to the correct bloody department !

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        [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:22

        +1

        Agreed. I am a doctor and my mother was admitted. Neither I nor anyone else had a clue for costs. Fortunately she had insurance. And next day finance lady turned up with the flyer mentioning bed costs etc. Rest of the procedures are decided by medicare rates. They will give you what hospital has to pay. And even toilet rolls cost money

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  kator on 16/10/2018 - 11:45

  70 years old father visiting a foreign country! It was the sons/daughters responsibility to ensure he had proper insurance.

  I always buy my parents the flight tickets and make sure they have insurance. They are not that tech savvy. Especially with language barrier.
  My parents are 60 and 75, and don’t know anything about the Australian system, which is understandable.
  So I have the responsibility while they are here. Common sense.

  I got back some of travel insurance cost when my dad broke his denture and had to fix it.:)

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    [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:19

    True. Its like you didn't get insurance for car and have hit a Ferrari. Now it was your choice to take the risk. Unfortunately it didn't work

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  AyjeofSpades on 16/10/2018 - 12:39

  +1

  Bit of a long shot, but do any of your banks/credit cards include complimentary travel insurance? I think this was a selling point with NAB recently.

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    philmccracken on 16/10/2018 - 14:10

    Yeah this is probably worth following up. I recall with certain Amex cards for example that if the travel is booked/paid with the card then it might provide some insurance cover for certain domestic and international travel.

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      xuqi on 17/10/2018 - 02:00

      OP has already answered "No" to this multiples times so unfortunately isn't an option for them.

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      Thrawn on 19/10/2018 - 09:41

      +1

      Australian credit card insurance only covers travel for its primary cardholder (so not if you buy a ticket for someone else). Must be Australian resident. And flight must depart from Australia. Also does not cover for any medicals in Australia itself.

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  Gravy on 16/10/2018 - 15:47

  Someone mentioned you are in Vic. This page may be of interest https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsuppor…

  You can also contact them to discuss communication issues regarding costs https://hcc.vic.gov.au/public/about-complaints

  Although if health insurance was a requirement of the visa then it could get complicated.

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  SpaceNinja on 16/10/2018 - 21:24

  +1

  Whats the speed rating of the new hip, in case he needs to do a runner.

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  jemmett on 16/10/2018 - 21:42

  +7

  I also work in a public hospital (although in NSW) and it’s my job to deal with these situations. Unfortunately, it happens too often for my liking that people don’t take out travel insurance and are then horrified to hear that the bed alone costs $2300 a day, not to mention pathology, imaging, doctors fee, surgery costs and so on. I can’t speak on behalf of other areas or states, but I know that our LHD definitely pursues the money from these bills even once you leave the country with international debt collectors. And yes, if they don’t get paid I’ve been told it gets marked on their immigration file should they ever want to come back.
  And for what it’s worth, I work in a regional area and there is one of us there 7 days a week (albeit not 24 hours a day) to deal with these matters. The biggest problem lies in the fact that we can’t really give an accurate estimate at the time they get admitted because we don’t know exactly how long someone will be in for, or exactly what surgery and items numbers will be performed. All we can do is explain the bed fee per day as that is set, everything else is on a ‘as needed’ basis. So my advice to the OP is… contact the Patient Fees department and discuss setting up a payment arrangement.

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    [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:18

    Good advice. And see if you can get them to make installments. It will unfortunately be a fortune

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  icejester on 17/10/2018 - 00:15

  +1

  At the end of the day even if they quoted you $50,000 and gave you the opinion your dad might not make it without surgery.

  Would you really reject the treatment?

  In other words, for your dad's well being you really had no choice but to accept surgery and the associated costs

  • 

    Gravy on 17/10/2018 - 00:22

    +1

    The point Op is making is that a surgeon told them the hospital would cover it. Which later proved to not be the case it seems.

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      [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:17

      The hospital does cover it. Health is first priority. You can end up losing leg by not operating. Surgeons don't give a rats ass about it. You are talking about orthopods. They get an erection seeing a nice juicy fracture. And he wouldn't have a clue about costs. He never had to deal with that probably

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  majuks on 17/10/2018 - 00:53

  Hey OP

  Medically, if your father hasn't got his hip fixed within a reasonable time frame, you would be financially worse off and maybe looking at buying a pine box.

  https://www.jwatch.org/na45700/2018/01/02/timing-hip-fractur…

  Usually Doctors don't make promises of anything and they won't know anything about the price of a hip fracture repair. Only the hospital trust office will be able to work out the costs and advise you.

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    Gravy on 17/10/2018 - 09:43

    That link is behind a subscription service.

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  ldt on 17/10/2018 - 08:33

  Slightly different but I got really sick 6 months after arriving in Australia. I was lucky to be on reciprocal, but it didn't cover everything, and neither did insurance.
  Anything they tried to charge me I couldn't pay as I couldn't work, and they let me off.

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  elgrande on 17/10/2018 - 11:21

  Should have put it on gofundme with a bit of a sentimental story and you should tripple your money in no time.

  Headline:

  LOVING FATHER INJURED WHILST VISITING AUSSIE BATTLER.

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  [Deactivated] on 17/10/2018 - 17:14

  +1

  I work in medical profession. When you go to emergency, no one can tell you cost of treatment. It is dealt by finance department. The department can tell you cost of average bed and stay in hospital but no clinical staff will know anything. The rest depends on investigations and treatment received. You can choose not to pay, its just your dad will owe government money and will never be able to come unless his debts are settled. You can decide what is more important. And yes you should have obtained a health cover for someone that age

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  rave75 on 17/10/2018 - 18:26

  my mom is coming to australia soon, which insurance company do you guys recommend?

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    try2bhelpful on 17/10/2018 - 18:38

    the first thing to work out is does she have any preexisting conditions that might be excluded from a standard policy.

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  Plug on 17/10/2018 - 22:11

  What's the total bill?

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  ggkfc on 25/10/2018 - 10:10

  -1

  just do a runner! next time just pay for the flight with credit card so you get free travel insurance

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  Save Medicare on 14/11/2018 - 00:35

  There's certainly no hard and fast rule that we wouldn't give you the xray. It sounds like the ortho intern just ceebsed to arrange your dad a copy of the images.

  Not that it would've made a difference because a nof is a nof and each moment that surgery is delayed causes worse outcomes.

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