To be sick of people starting to fund me pages when they go on holiday without travel insurance and can’t afford medical bills when they end up in hospital?

YANBU, and actually I think you are a right to be a bit annoyed. While I understand pp who say “YABU because it doesn't affect you, just ignore it/don’t donate then” - the problem is some of the genuine Go Fund Me’s (often heartbreaking ones) can get lost in the shuffle of all the “forgot to buy insurance” ones, which is why I wish people would think twice. If you are the cause of your own misery, I think it’s a bit unfair to go begging, when it means others might miss out - but that’s life I guess.

We/ they could always holiday in the UK where health care is free at the point of use, or in countries with some level of reciprocal health care system for which insurance premiums won't be so bad. How arrogant would you have to be to assume that some foreign country owes you free healthcare just because you fancy a visit?

It is senseless bullshit from British people who have been lulled into stupidity by the NHS. She could have gone for 2 weeks and got the insurance. Entitlement and greed. I run a children's charity and trying to get a penny from people is like getting blood from a stone but these chancers seem to have no problems. I find it baffling.

There are various reasons that people develop COPD. She may never have smoked in her life.

Unfortunately there is sometimes a price to pay.

And realistically, unless you can afford to pay six figure sums for treatment in the US, then yes, if you don’t want to buy insurance (and let’s not pretend this woman couldn’t afford it, she clearly could) then you don’t go on holiday. Because there is 0 guarantee that if you do fall ill you’ll be able to tap the public for their cash before you end up being thrown out of hospital or worse - dying from your pre-existing condition you already knew you had.

It’s not disablist to say that.

Why are you funding other people's bad decisions???

I'd say they already know she's stupid.

I must be the exception because I read that story earlier and yes, felt how stupid was she, but then looked to donate but didn't see the link, I would have gave a tenner, noone wants to be in her situation and she's paid the price, I'd ike to see her get home, how terrified she must be.

TBH I don't judge people with pre-existing conditions because what's the alternative - that they just never go on holiday? Not fair at all, quite a disablist attitude tbh! Insurance companies are kind of scams anyway, in that they are happy to take your money but usually fight any payouts, so I'm never going to be on their side.

This!

A month in Disney? £20k plus food and other expenses. She could have afforded the insurance. She chose not to pay it.

I'd never travel without insurance and If I couldn't afford the insurance I wouldn't travel so I don't think you're being unreasonable. However
people have the right to be bloody idiots in all sorts of ways, we shouldn't mandate travel insurance as a PP suggested and if people want to be idiots and fund someone else's lack of insurance that's up to them too.

My darling Dad went on holiday a few months before he passed away. He was undergoing cancer treatment but he paid the insanely high premium to ensure he had insurance.

I knew he did it as he knew if anything happened, I would have been the one to foot the bill.

People are utterly selfish to travel without insurances, especially if they are already unwell.

I agree. Denied boarding or entry to the Country if you do not have adequate insurance cover.

I just don't think it would help in cases like this.

So I have a chronic health condition. Usually it's under control but occasionally it flares up. This year it's flared up resulting in two hospital stays (1 an emergency admission) and one lot of surgery.

If I take out travel insurance now it would be about £60 for 2 weeks in Spain if I dont declare my health condition/recent history and many multiples of that if I do. If I wanted health insurance for a US holiday that would be thousands.

If, like this woman, I'm not the sort of person that cares about being properly insured but wants the holiday, I'd just take out the £60 insurance and show that at the check in desk. But, if it came to it, I wouldn't actually be covered because I hadn't disclosed the true state of my health.

Ironically we were planning a family trip to New York next year (a really big deal to us). Now we will be staying in the UK instead, until I'm 12 months clear of any hospital stays and it may be 3 years before I can afford to go to the States.

or part of the ESTA process and a requirement for each trip or ESTA revoked on arrival and sent back.

But she still managed to convince fools to subsidise her to the tune of over £6k on GFM. The Buy Me a Coffee rakes in a pretty tidy sum too.

Some people are absolute marks.

Some people feel entitled to go wherever they want and do (or not do) whatever they want with complete disregard for the potential consequences for themselves or anything else.

Most people don't really understand the concept of 'risk' (I.e. likelihood x impact).

Given that most healthcare in the UK is free at the point of need, most people have absolutely no idea how expensive it is to provide.

We have a local grifter who regularly sets up these pages; GFM, Buy Me a Coffee etc. One of her fund raisers was to appeal fund a ‘humanitarian trip’ to a well known tourist country in the Middle East. Oh, and whilst I’m there I’d like my daughter to go swimming with dolphins at our all inclusive resort in the Red Sea and btw, my son needs appropriate clothing for the climate too.

Meanwhile, she proudly posts videos on TikTok of her applying Charlotte Tilbury and Huda Beauty products that are in no way sponsored by these companies.

But she still managed to convince fools to subsidise her to the tune of over £6k on GFM. The Buy Me a Coffee rakes in a pretty tidy sum too.

Obviously not since she would’ve filled out a visa form for travel to USA and didn’t have insurance

There is the requirement to provide passport details (advance passenger information). Perhaps extend to providing insurance details.

You would need to have some method of checking that people aren't putting in details that are false or will expire before the end of the holiday. Not sure how you would achieve that without a massive overhead, but I'm sure others know more.

I was furious with my son when he jetted off to East Asia with no insurance! It didn’t even occur to him-even though the only way you can access decent healthcare is privately and state care isn’t available for foreigners. He just never thought it would happen to him. I found a specialist broker who would insure him after date of travel and it cost £90-a couple of weeks worldwide cover would’ve cost about £20. Nothing happened, thank goodness, but I reckoned it was worth me shelling out for peace of mind. He’s learnt to never do that again.

It annoys me. She knew the risk.

Insurance is a fundamental factor in a holiday that's as essential as flights etc, not optional. We always buy premium for places like the States, because care can cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars if something is really serious.

My dad had all sorts of travel plans for his retirement. He retired and bam! Heart attack and prostate cancer. Luckily he is now cancer free and his heart condition is under control, but his travel insurance is very high. If the quotes are not affordable, he will not travel, not just decide to wing it, FFS.

Yes. It should be like car insurance

Should airlines check passengers have health insurance before they're allowed to book a ticket?

It'd be of benefit to the UK too.