USA: not mostly harmless

[bunn]

Travel insurance providers have a sort of list of places you can go in order of scariness, and apparently the USA is right at the scary end of the spectrum.  The last form I filled in had a choice of 'Europe'  'world excluding USA & Canada' and 'world including USA & Canada' .

Surely there are other places that are more likely to produce insurance claims than the USA?

Why did I agree to this again...?  The USA is not a part of the world I've ever felt drawn to visit, and flying all the way there for a 2 day course is ludicrously polluting and probably going to be extremely dull as well.

Comments

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Surely there are other places that are more likely to produce insurance claims than the USA?


There may be places which are far more dangerous, but the USA almost certainly is the place likely to lead to the highest claims.

As the doctors there are paid for what they do they have an incentive for doing as many procedures as possible, secure in the knowlege that the insurance companies will pick up the bill- unless you have no insurance, in which case you don't get treated.

Add to that their litigation system where no win no fee lawyers will pursue cases on the most spurious of grounds knowing that in many cases the insurers will settle to avoid the risk of going to court and having punative damages awarded by a semi literate jury- oh- and their fees are taken as a percentage out of the damages, so they also have an incentive to push the level up as high as possible.

Incidentally- where are you going to? In spite of the above the US can be a fascinating place to visit- purely from a visiting the people and seeing interesting buildings/scenery point of view. It felt far more foreign to me than any of the places in Europe which I have been to. (admittedly this was getting on for 20 years ago but I doubt if it has changed that much)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I suppose that makes sense: doesn't make it sound any more appealing though!

I'm going to Boston, but I shall only be there for a couple of days for a course, so I doubt I'll have time to look round much.

Pity really: if it had been another time I might have arranged to take some holiday (and, apparently, my life in my hands...) and stay a bit long longer, but I just can't leave my small business at the moment.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

If you have any spare time at all, go on a Duck Tour :-)

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I believe you can go on one of those in London, too.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Noted - thank you!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I'd like to visit USS Massachusets