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A New Zealand woman has died in a Bali hospital after the government and her insurer refused to grant a medical evacuation.
Abby Hartley, aged 41, fell seriously ill and contracted septicaemia while spending a second honeymoon in the popular tourist destination. She was placed in an induced coma on August 15 and sadly died on Sunday (September 09) surrounded her husband and two children.
While in hospital, Hartley racked up a hospital bill of well over $100,000 but her insurer refused to pay the bill, stating that her illness related to a pre-existing condition.
The family resorted to fundraising, so they could fly Hartley home to New Zealand. Their original plan was to book her on to a commercial flight, buying 10 seats to cover her stretcher, medical equipment, doctor and nurse – all of which would have cost around $60,000.
However, when Hartley’s condition worsened, the only possible option would have been a medical evacuation, which would have cost $160,000. The family asked the New Zealand Government to help with the medical evacuation, but Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters ruled out the special assistance.
Hartley’s husband Richard told the New Zealand Herald that the family’s minds “boggle” as to why the insurance would not pay out. Winston said this at the end of his letter: “Why they couldn’t help 50/50 with us? Maybe take it out of our taxes like a term loan? But hey, I’m not an accountant that works for the Government. Insurance is based on risk factor; we lost.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described Hartley’s case as “deeply distressing” and said “ultimately, what we hope is […] that the insurers really step in and assist families when they have situations like this.”
She added that New Zealanders can get help abroad, but that does not release insurers of their obligations to customers. She told TVNZ: “When it comes to significant medical events, then that’s when we’re always hoping and seeking the assistance of insurers to support New Zealanders, when there are situations like medevacs (medical evacuations).”
After the government refused to intervene, a Givealittle page was launched and New Zealanders raised more than $230,000 to bring Hartley home – an effort ACT leader David Seymour described as “the only positive story in the […] tragedy”.
