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Accidents overseas ...... NZ ACC
Topic Started: Feb 11 2011, 10:19 AM (289 Views)
Kahu
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"Maybe it is the case with foreign tourists only," he said.

According to Immigration, anyone travelling to New Zealand is advised to have medical insurance. At the working visa level all applicants have a mandatory requirement to hold medical and comprehensive hospital insurance.

What many tourists and their insurers alike are unaware of is that insurance is covered in the advent of illness but injuries from accidents are covered by ACC.

ACC spokesman Laurie Edward said the distinction was simple.

"For any tourist working or not, if they have an accident, it is covered by ACC."

This includes any medical transfer by ambulance or helicopter, through to surgery, hospital stay and rehabilitation.
While the support of ACC was not endless, it meant all visitors to New Zealand were treated the same as citizens, he said.

Part of the rationale behind the breadth of the ACC scheme was it removed the ability to sue, Mr Edward said.
Queenstown Medical Centre spokesman Dr Richard Macharg said he could not comment on tourists' prior knowledge of the New Zealand system.

Asked whether patients were told about ACC, he said any medical assessment relating to personal injury by accident was dealt with by the centre under ACC.
Any accident had an ACC claim established, he said. "Patients are advised of their entitlements under the ACC system.

"Clearly while QMC staff are aware of the ACC system they are not and cannot be expected to be aware of the medical systems in other countries," he said.

Staff were also not expected to be aware of tourists' insurance arrangements, he said.

- The Southland Times


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Deleted User
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Geez - then when I took that fall....how come the doctor billed me as did the ambulance? I never ended up having to pay anything as it was covered by my travel insurance, but it took hours of paperwork!!
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Kahu
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begete_Justicette
Feb 11 2011, 01:15 PM
Geez - then when I took that fall....how come the doctor billed me as did the ambulance? I never ended up having to pay anything as it was covered by my travel insurance, but it took hours of paperwork!!
I don't know ...... I thought it was strange that you had to pay anything at the time, and I'm sure I said so too. If it was an accident which occurred here then you must be covered ...... however if illness contributed in anyway to the accident, then that is certainly entering a contentious area.
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Tipacanoe
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My wife broke her back there in a boating incident. There were no bills for the ambulance, doctors or hospital. Paper work was minimal as I recall. We paid for out-of-hospital drugs but these were covered under our Travel Assistance Plan along with extra out of country hotel bills and extra flight costs, etc.

An amazing plan, the ACC.

We would have liked to have sued the party responsible actually although that might have proved difficult, ie lodging a claim on the other side of the world. However, given all our expenses were pretty well covered and my wife has made an almost complete recovery, we are content and prefer to remember our very happy memories of NZ.

It does seem a shame that the party responsible still can get away with the negligence that caused the accident in the first place. The doctors in the hospital, the tourist people, and others all commented on this aspect, ie that the ACC tends to allow irresponsible people to keep on hurting people. Not to mention that the taxpayers of NZ pay for their irresponsible actions and activities. I understand that the ACC may cost a lot each year. Meanwhile, negligent people are getting off free.
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Kahu
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Tipacanoe
Feb 11 2011, 03:48 PM
It does seem a shame that the party responsible still can get away with the negligence that caused the accident in the first place.
They don't get away scot free as you may think Tipacanoe.

Once there has been a claim made upon the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC), there is another government department that picks up the 'pieces' after any 'accident' ..... The Department of Labour. The Health & Safety in Employment Act (HSE) , and the Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSH) which cover most aspects where accidents occur. The OSH inspectors have quite wide ranging powers which can affect any private commercial activity where fault can be attributed to negligence on the part of the operators, or their staff.

We gave away the right to sue on an individual level for the wide ranging abilities of the ACC ..... but the 'state' can punish offenders through legislation. Once you are in these govt departments grasp, they move slowly but inexorably and grind exceeding small ...... and believe me no one wants to be in their clutches. A part of their job is to recoup the financial cost of the accident to the state departments.

HSE Act

It is expensive as can be seen on the information for vehicle licencing ..... most accidents occur on motorcycles so the ACC levies where motorcycles are concerned are high.
Registration Licencing fees
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Tipacanoe
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If you say so Kahu.

But . . . . we were told by more than one doctor and nurse at the hospital and the lady in the tourist info office that the people responsible get away with it on almost a biweekly basis, ie that's how often the ambulance carts people away from this particular tourist attraction to the hospital with serious back injury.
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Kahu
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Tipacanoe
Feb 12 2011, 01:06 PM
If you say so Kahu.

But . . . . we were told by more than one doctor and nurse at the hospital and the lady in the tourist info office that the people responsible get away with it on almost a biweekly basis, ie that's how often the ambulance carts people away from this particular tourist attraction to the hospital with serious back injury.
Can you pm me details Tippacanoe, confidentially of course. If its as bad as you say it won't be in operation now, and the operators out of business. The tourism business is pretty cut throat and if there are any concerns about safety either on the part of the operators, or the activity itself, word of mouth reports get around like wildfire.
Edited by Kahu, Feb 12 2011, 04:11 PM.
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