Aaron | #BringDianaJamesHome

What Does Travel Insurance Cover?

Posted on March 14, 2023July 19, 2023 by Aaron

This simple guide will show you exactly how travel insurance protects you and your money

So, what does travel insurance cover? That’s exactly what we’re here to discuss today. Here’s the very short answer:

Travel insurance covers lost money from canceled trips, emergency medical expenses, evacuation costs, baggage & delays, and 24/7 assistance.

This is a simple overview of the coverage you get with comprehensive travel insurance. The long answer is that your specific travel plan will dictate the coverage you get. For a more in-depth explanation you can read our complete guide to travel insurance coverage. Meanwhile, we’re going to explain the 5 things most travel insurance plans cover. Towards the end, we’ll recommend your next steps in securing the best possible travel insurance coverage.

So, What Does Travel Insurance Cover? 5 Common Coverages

We’re going to start by explaining what travel insurance covers. From canceled trips to medical emergencies, evacuations to delays – most of your concerns are covered by the insurance company you get your plan through. However, the degree of coverage you have is dictated by your specific plan – so read carefully when comparing travel insurance plans. Oh – and after we finish up this section, we’ll answer an equally important question: what does travel insurance not cover? First things first – let’s talk about trip cancellation coverage.

How Does Insurance on Airplane Tickets Work?

Posted on March 14, 2023July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | Allgetaways.com

Protecting yourself against trip cancellations, airline changes, and lost or damaged baggage makes financial sense. When traveling, people want to be able to get away from the stresses of their life, not add more. People don’t consider or feel the need to buy travel insurance during their getaways. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many are still feeling weary to go on vacation and are investing in travel insurance plans. It’s helpful to have insurance in place if your ticket is non-refundable because if you need to make a last-minute change, you are protected. There are many travel insurance companies and insurance providers you can go to that cater to your needs. You have the option to buy coverage for things such as medical and dental expenses while away from home.

What Airline Insurance Covers

Airline ticket insurance can be used for trip cancellations, trip interruptions, trip delays, medical expenses, spending beyond your credit card, and baggage loss. When you buy a ticket and then need to cancel it, you will not get your money back unless your airline ticket insurance and your reason for cancellation is a covered reason. Reasons include the death of a family member or traveling companion, illness, injury, medical evacuation, and more. In return, the travel insurance can reimburse you only if a prepaid, non-refundable ticket. Rental cars, the cost of your flight, and other travel assistance are offered through those reimbursements. When your trip is interrupted, has a flight delay, or needs to fly home immediately instead of taking the return flight you originally booked, your insurance will cover any trip costs you might have to pay. Your insurance policy will also reimburse you for costs associated with lost, stolen, or damaged luggage while you travel. If you miss a connecting flight and forfeit a hotel reservation, your insurance will cover any charges or deposits you can’t get back from the hotel. When you buy a policy that includes medical coverage, your airline ticket insurance also pays for expenses not covered by your own health plan.

Air Travel and the Air Carrier Access Act

Posted on November 14, 2022July 16, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | Metropolitan Airport News

| BY JULIA LAURIA-BLUM | NOVEMBER 14, 2022 | 14 MINS READ

This October, the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) celebrated its 36th anniversary. The ACAA (Public Law 99–435) prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in commercial air transportation. Airlines are required to provide passengers with disabilities with many types of assistance, including wheelchair or other guided assistance to board, deplane, or connect to another flight, and seating accommodation assistance that meets passenger’s disability-related needs, as well as assistance with the loading and stowing of assistive devices. After a lengthy rulemaking process that included regulatory negotiations involving representatives of the disability community and the airline industry, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a final ACAA rule in March 1990, which has been amended 15 times by the USDOT to further improve access to transportation facilities and services.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 61 million adults in the U.S. live with a disability, which includes impairment in mobility, cognition, hearing, vision, independent living, and self-care.

Air travel for people with disabilities can be exceptionally challenging if airport facilities are not accessible and reasonable accommodations are not made, as in the most recent amendment to the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act (ACAA) of 2021. This bill expands provisions prohibiting discrimination against disabled individuals by an air carrier. Specifically, it lists certain actions that an air carrier must take or may not take concerning a disabled individual. Despite these amendments, people with disabilities, including veterans, continue to experience significant barriers with traveling in air transportation, such as damaged assistive devices; inaccessible aircraft, lavatories, communication media, delayed assistance; the treatment of service animals, inadequate disability cultural competency, and a lack of suitable seating accommodations.

MEDICAL EVACUATION – State Department Guidelines for Embassies

Posted on November 2, 2022July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | U.S Department of State | Foreign Affairs Manual

*FAM (Foreign Affairs Manual), This document lays out the expectations and boundaries placed on US Embassies in relation to Air Ambulance flights for Medical Evacuation for US Citizens stuck abroad.

7 FAM 361 SUMMARY

7 FAM 361.1 Patient Stabilization

(CT:CON-120; 12-06-2005)

When a U.S. citizen/non-citizen national is ill or injured abroad, the patient or the family may desire to have the patient return home immediately. The U.S. embassy or consulate cannot make medical decisions about a patient. Local law determines who is entitled to make decisions about the patient. The attending physician in the host country also generally must make a determination that the patient is stable enough to travel. Airlines and air ambulance services usually will not transport a patient if the attending physician concludes the patient’s condition would be further harmed by the flight. Air carriers and air ambulance services may consult their own physicians to review documentation from the attending physician in the host country before undertaking to carry the patient. 7 FAM 390 provides guidance about disembarking, reception and resettlement in the United States.

Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights

Posted on July 26, 2022July 16, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | USDOT

This Bill of Rights describes the fundamental rights of air travelers with disabilities under the Air Carrier Access Act and its implementing regulation, 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 382.

Please click this link to download the latest version of the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights consists of:

All forms Related to Guardianships, Conservatorships, or Other Protective Protective Arrangements (excluding Minor Guardianship)

Posted on July 1, 2022July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | Courts.Wa.Gov
Title 11(RCW

All the necessary documents to file a guardianship or conservatorship are available for download here, follow the Original Link for the download links.

Adult guardianship, conservatorship and other protective arrangements

Posted on February 28, 2022July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | WashingtonLawHelp.org

Authored By: Northwest Justice Project
Learn about what adult guardianship is and some alternatives to guardianship. #3300EN

Medicare Coverage of Ambulance Services

Posted on January 1, 2022July 19, 2023 by Aaron

This official government booklet explains:

When Medicare helps cover ambulance services
What you pay
What Medicare pays
What to do if Medicare doesn’t cover your ambulance service

Despite calls to improve, air travel is still a nightmare for many with disabilities

Posted on November 9, 2021July 16, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | NPR

November 9, 202112:57 PM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
By Joseph Shapiro, Allison Mollenkamp

A man using a wheelchair hands his ID to an officer at a security screening checkpoint at Orlando International Airport in 2020.
Paul Henness/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Anxiety, dread, humiliation — even potential injury. For many people with disabilities, these are part of the routine of airline travel, from getting to the airport gate to getting on and off the plane.

In 2018, Congress demanded that airlines and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) make flying better for people with disabilities — but three years later, NPR has found, passengers report that the same problems keep happening over and over.

On a trip last year, Heather Leiterman, who is blind, was told by a TSA agent to take the harness, collar and leash off her guide dog, a black Labrador named Coastie. She explained to the agent that to do so would mean she’d lose control of the animal.

“That’s how they know they’re working. When the harness is on, they’re working. When the harness is off, that’s when they’re just a dog.”

But the agent insisted — even though the TSA’s own procedures say those items “do not require removal” for screening. “He was very hostile,” Leiterman says, and threatened not to let her on the plane if she didn’t comply.

Air Ambulance Use and Surprise Billing

Posted on September 10, 2021July 19, 2023 by Aaron

*This document examines Air Ambulance surprise costs and slightly touches on the reasons for the for-profit price hikes, however does not address international air ambulance flights, which appears to not be regulated by any means.

ASPE | Office of Health Policy

Available evidence suggests that air ambulance transport isincreasing. Recent
federal legislation and regulation address surprise billing and data gaps.

Gina Turrini, Joel Ruhter, Andre R. Chappel, and Nancy De Lew

KEY POINTS

Air ambulances are typically used to transport patients from the scene of an injury or anaccident
to hospitals, or between hospitals, particularly in criticalsituations when the time to treatment is
urgent or when patients cannot safely travel by ground ambulance transportation.
While the number of air ambulance transportsis low – roughly 1 per 4,000 privately insured
people per year and 1 in 350 Medicare beneficiaries – available evidence suggests there has been
an increase in bases (where aircraft are stationed, typically airports or helipads) and
providers/suppliers* (particularly independently owned and operated companies) in recent years and a shift towards for-profit entities.
Patients typically do not have a choice in air ambulance providers, and providers often do not
inquire about insurance, leading to the potential for large out-of-pocket costs for privately insured
or uninsured patients. Air ambulance providers are not allowed to send balance bills (when an
out-of-network provider bills an individual for the difference between the billed charge and the
amount paid by their plan or insurance) to Medicaid or Medicare patients but privately insured
individuals do not have the same protections against balance bills for air ambulance transports.
A Government AccountabilityOffice Report found that in 2017 the median price charged for a
rotary wing (e.g., helicopter) ambulance transport was $36,400 versus $40,600 for a fixed-wing
(e.g., airplane) ambulance transport. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 prevents states from
regulating prices charged by air carriers(which includes air ambulance transport).
The No Surprises Act, a component of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, addresses
surprise air ambulance bills, effective January 1, 2022. Privately insured patients will pay only the
deductibles and copayment amounts that they would have paid for in-network air ambulance
providers, and balance billing will not be allowed.
Information has been limited on air ambulances and their charges. The No Surprises Act
addresses this issue by requiring reporting by air ambulance companies and health plans on cost,
quality and other data to the Departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services.

In Washington, who makes your medical decisions if you can’t?

Posted on August 31, 2021July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | On Behalf of Parr Price Law, PS | Aug 31, 2021 | estate planning

When preparing for end-of-life and long-term health care decisions, there are two main tools available: Medical powers of attorney and living wills.

What if you have neither of those at a critical medical moment when you’re suddenly unable to speak for yourself? If neither a power of attorney nor a living will is in place, Washington State has a legal hierarchy that dictates who can make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

9 levels of priority in Washington

According to the Washington State Hospital Association, there are nine tiers of possible decision-makers when a medical power of attorney is not appointed. This is also in the absence of an advance directive that the patient made, which outlines their wishes regarding health care and end-of-life decisions. The hierarchy is as follows:

Legal guardian, if the patient is a minor
Spouse or domestic partner of the patient
Children of the patient who are at least 18 years old
Parents of the patient
Siblings of the patient who are at least 18 years old
Grandchildren of the patient who are at least 18 years old
Nephews and nieces of the patient who are at least 18 years old
Uncles and aunts of the patient who are at least 18 years old
A close friend of the patient who is at least 18 years old (although special stipulations apply to this last category)

Proactively undergoing comprehensive estate planning can help to avoid the decision-making power falling onto someone who may not be prepared to handle the job. When planning for long-term medical and end-of-life decisions, it can be helpful to have professional guidance that is experienced in estate planning in Washington State.

Access to Airports by Individuals with Disabilities

Posted on April 16, 2021July 16, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | Government Accountability Office

United States Government Accountability Office

PASSENGERS WITH DISABILITIES
Airport Accessibility Barriers and Practices and DOT’s Oversight of Airlines’ Disability-Related Training

What GAO Found

Passengers with disabilities face infrastructure, information, and customer service barriers at U.S. airports, according to representatives of selected airports, disability advocacy organizations, as well as a review of relevant literature.

Infrastructure barriers can include complex terminal layouts and long distances between gates and can be difficult for some to navigate.
Essential travel information is not always available in a format accessible to all. For example, a person with hearing loss could miss crucial gate information that is solely provided over a loudspeaker.
A passenger might not receive appropriately sensitive service, such as wheelchair assistance, at the airport, although the service provided is required by the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) regulations.
According to stakeholders, while no solution meets all needs, a number of
practices can help reduce or eliminate some of these barriers to equal access at
airports. For example, some selected airports use external disability community
and passenger groups to proactively engage in identifying barriers and develop
solutions. Other airports have implemented technology-based solutions, such as
mobile phone applications to make airport navigation easier.

Filing for Guardianship in WA: Steps to Protect Your Family

Posted on March 19, 2019July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | Trucelaw.com | Posted on March 19, 2019.

This past week I prepared pro se divorce forms for the mother of an adult with special needs. After completing the divorce she plans to file for guardianship of her 22-year-old son. She doesn’t have a lot of extra money for legal services, so she asked if she can file for guardianship in Washington State without an attorney?

Yes, it is possible to become a guardian without an attorney. Keep in mind the process is complicated, so advice from an expert can only help you. Although, if you can’t afford legal fees or you’re just a do it yourselfer with the time to learn, you can file for guardianship on your own. This post is designed to make the process as easy to understand as possible.

A. First Steps

Who can use this guide?
Deciding if guardianship is the best option
Are there risks with self-representation?
How to use this guide?
How long will it take to complete?
Who is eligible to act as a guardian?
How much does it cost?

B. The Paperwork – Preparing the Documents & Filing

Which documents are required?
What are general rules for filling out the forms?
Do I file everything at once?
Where do I go to start the case?
How do I file?

C. The Court Date

What do I do if the court schedules a hearing?
What to expect at the hearing?
Final steps to finalize the process

Stop outrageous air ambulance bills by disclosing the transport price

Posted on January 8, 2019July 19, 2023 by Aaron

*An opinion piece examining surprise costs of balance billing and the problems with surprise costs in the US, written prior to the No-Surprises Act in 2022, We haven’t found much useful information on the efficacy of the No-Surprises act as it is so new and the industry has been so opaque for so long. It is important to note that this does not seem to impact international air ambulance flights to the US, solely those within the US. Medicare does seem willing to cover the US portions of Diana’s Air Ambulance with a deductible.

Original Link | STAT | By Kevin Schulman, Barak Richman and Arnold Milstein

Although so-called surprise medical bills have become commonplace and routinely provoke outrage, even those numb to the staggering charges by hospitals are horrified by the avarice of many air ambulance companies.

Generating bills that can exceed $500,000, air ambulances are the giant squid of surprise bills that suffocate unsuspecting patients. One air ambulance bill sought $54,727 from a Bismarck, N.D., woman for a transport that would have taken less than one hour by ground, even after a ground ambulance had already arrived at the scene and had stabilized her. Her insurance paid for less than $14,000, leaving her with a $41,029 bill.

These staggering charges are caused by a confluence of market failures. First, as with all surprise bills, the price is hidden. When patients can’t shop for less-expensive alternatives, they are stuck with inflated prices. But hiding prices — and then allowing providers to charge outrageous amounts after service is provided — also fuels excessive supply, since many providers are eager to capitalize on the inflated profits.

Economists have long focused on the concept of moral hazard, in which demand increases because insurance pays for a large portion of the bill. The story of air ambulance bills illustrates the impact of moral hazard on suppliers, where both price and quantity of services are artificially inflated.

WASHINGTON HEALTH LAW MANUAL

Posted on January 1, 2019July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | WSSHA.org

*Washington Health Law Manual – WSSHA – SEE CHAPTER 2 (very dense with legalese, it will be likely more helpful if you’re looking for answers to a specific question)

Washington Health Law Manual
Fourth Edition

Forward

On behalf of the Washington State Society of Healthcare Attorneys (“WSSHA”), we would like to thank the many volunteers who have made and continue to make this Washington Health Law Manual (the “Manual”) possible. Their donations of time and contributions of material are a true testament to the scope and breadth of professional health law resources available in the state of Washington. We are honored and grateful to work with a generous group of colleagues. The Washington Health Law Manual is now in its Fourth Edition and maintained in an online format. The manual was previously published in 1996, 1998, and 2006, and we acknowledge the countless hours of all the volunteers who made the Fourth Edition and prior versions possible.

Our current use policy permits free printing and use by health care managers, practitioners, and attorneys who primarily practice within Washington State. We anticipate re-visiting this use policy when we have a better understanding of resources necessary to maintain the Manual.

Aside from the use policy, no part of the Manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the express written permission of the Washington State Society of Healthcare Attorneys.

Authors maintain the right to use their contributions in other settings (e.g., distribution to their clients or postings on their own website). We have not provided (and do not intend to provide) links to websites maintained by the contributors. We expect all authors to recognize contributions of co-authors, editors, and former authors and editors where the current author updated and used materials from a prior version.

Each chapter provides an approximate date when the author completed his or her preparation of the chapter (the “Reference Date”). And while the reader should be mindful that the chapters do not provide an exhaustive analysis of any topic as of any particular date, the reader should certainly consider significant laws, regulations, decisions, and other resources that became available after the Reference Date.

DISCLAIMER

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with respect to select subject matters. It is provided with the understanding that no publisher, author, editor, or contributor hereto, is engaged in rendering legal or other professional services. The information contained herein represents the respective views of individuals participating in the project, which may not necessarily be the views of any government agency or employer of an individual participant. No publisher, author, editor, contributor, or other person participating in this project warrants that any information contained herein is complete or accurate. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent licensed professional should be sought.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Consent to Healthcare: Special Consent Rules
Chapter 2 – Consent to Healthcare: Decision Making for Incompetent Patients
Chapter 3 – Healthcare Rules Applicable to Certain Populations
Chapter 4 – Commitment Based on Mental Illness
Chapter 5 – Certificate of Need
Chapter 6 – Peer Review and Quality Assurance Requirements
Chapter 7 – Tax Exempt Bond Financing and Long Term Financing
Chapter 8 – Washington State Fraud and Abuse Prohibitions
Chapter 9 – Mental Health Advance Directives
Chapter 10 – Government Investigations of Health Care Providers

COPYRIGHT

WSSHA thanks the following firms and organizations for sponsoring a chapter(s) of the 4th Edition of the Health Law Manual.

UNDERSTANDING AIR AMBULANCE INSURANCE

Posted on November 4, 2014July 19, 2023 by Aaron

Original Link | NAIC | National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Minutes matter after an accident, heart attack, stroke or other major medical emergency. Air ambulances, also known as medevac services, quickly transport a patient to a medical facility. While some health insurance policies provide coverage for this service, coverage gaps can leave patients struggling to pay large bills. Here are the basics of what you should know about air ambulances from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).