‘Absolutely terrifying’
Family faced big medical bill despite travel insurance
The family of a father who fell ill following a hiking trip to Spain to memorialize his soldier son says they were faced with a massive medical bill — despite having travel insurance. Michael Hornburg made the trip last fall to mark the ninth anniversary of the death of his son, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a Calgary reservist who was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 24, 2007, at the age of 24.
“He really felt that Nathan was there with him on the journey,” said Hornburg’s daughter, Rachel Herbert, who operates a ranch with her husband, Tyler, south of Calgary. “Four days before he was supposed to go home, he collapsed with a seizure and was admitted to the hospital.”
Hornburg was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and was unable to walk or talk. Herbert flew to Spain to be at her father’s bedside and immediately contacted his insurer, Allianz Global Assistance Canada. She provided all the documentation from the Spanish hospital.
The neurosurgeon said her father couldn’t fly without medical accompaniment. The cost of the air ambulance back to Canada was $60,000 to $80,000. “So there we were — stuck,” said Herbert. “After six days in this hospital wondering why we couldn’t get out of there, the insurance company got back to us to say they had denied his claim.”
Herbert was told the claim was turned down because her father failed to reveal he’d received a prescription for indigestion 18 months earlier.
She was initially on the hook for the air ambulance, the hospital stay in Spain, flights for her and her husband, plus accommodation. “They were holding us there while they scoured his medical records for the most minute thing they could find. That is what is absolutely terrifying.” Herbert hired a lawyer and spent the better part of a year battling the insurance company to try to get the bill covered. Allianz eventually paid $27,000, but the family was left on the hook for at least another $30,000. “I am really just ready to forget about it all. I said I don’t have the energy to deal with this any more. Let’s just take whatever little bit of money they’re going to give us,” said Herbert. “That’s what the insurance companies want — to just burn people out until they don’t deal with it anymore.”