21yo Dd wants to do CampAmerica but I don’t think she will get health insurance

[GradNonFashinista]

dd has had her initial interview. She has another next week. She says they pay for health insurance, however I’ve pointed out to Dd I don’t think she will get health insurance and if/when she’s upfront with CampAmerica about her health issues I think they may not offer her work.

list of stuff she has:

elher danlos syndrome
POTS
fibromyalgia
coeliac disease

Currently having gynae investigation for suspected endometriosis

had confirmed multiple pulmonary embolisms only 8 weeks ago and is still waiting a haematology referral. Clots were unprovoked, not on the pill, no long haul flight, etc so I suspect they will want to investigate further to see if she has a clotting disorder. She’s on blood thinners now and may be for life.

I think the clotting thing is the major issue though having any ongoing investigations can cause problems so the gynae referral may also not help.

dd is now threatening to not disclose anything and I said then she could be in icu with a bill for millions which we can’t pay. 🤷‍♀️

Meant to add has anyone got experience of getting travel insurance after a clot

That's quite a list. Normally I'd suggest Allclear and declaring everything, because they'll insure most conditions, for a high enough premium. But if they're still investigating her PEs I can't imagine managing to get insurance from anyone at the moment. And it would be absolutely insane to go to the US without proper health insurance.

Being perfectly honest even with insurance going away when awaiting investigation for recurrent PE is not the most sensible thing to do.

Yes, tried to do a quote online and they wouldn’t provide one as still under investigation. So then went backwards and said no longer under investigation (but still declared the clots) and it was £1300 for insurance.

Obviously I wouldn’t lie to them about the investigation but was just trying to see what prices might be. So will either be more or unable to get any. CampAmerica aren’t going to pay that when they can get anyone else with no issues and much cheaper insurance

My daughter did Camp America yesterday and she has a genetic blood clotting disorder. They approved her insurance and she had a great time! They work them hard though!! She was exhausted.

*not yesterday 🙄 last year

I totally agree and I really don’t want her to go. Not sure if she’s having some sort of breakdown and just trying to prove she is like a normal 21yo.

I can’t see Dd coping with that. Like I say she has fibromyalgia, she is badly underweight (40kg). I am hoping they turn her down.

She struggles to eat, possibly related to her EDS and vomits a lot and feels nauseous even when not being sick.

Has she asked her medical team about flying? This isn't about insurance, it's about the risk to her health meaning she likely wouldn't get insurance.

Find an alternative thing for her to do. Even with insurance, the us health system is very hard to navigate and can have big out of pocket expenses before the insurance kicks in.

She should look for opportunities in the UK or Europe.

I got travel insurance about 6 months after having a clot and it was only about £200 extra. However mine was provoked and not under any investigation.

Does she want to go this summer? She will not cope. Her physical fitness will still be hugely impacted by the PEs and she will be knackered.

I would get separate travel health insurance because even if Camp America has health insurance, it may not cover everything. I.E. most employer health insurance would not cover medical repatriation costs back to the U.K./ home country.

You can have multiple insurance policies there and there are usually clauses like bill employer insurance first and anything denied/shorted then bill secondary insurance. Usually the secondary insurance is a spouses or parents employer insurance, but it can also be private self-funded insurance or travel insurance. So this is common and hospitals are used to patients that have more than one insurance policy.

The only thing I’d really worry about is a fit to fly note from her consultant for the blood clotting thing. A pulmonary embolism on a long haul flight can be life threatening.

Is there something else she can do?
I guess she could always go and if she had to drop out early, then that would be ok.

Nope, she is meant to be having a haematology review (her first) next week and she’s cancelling it as she’s too busy with her dissertation. I’ve warned her she may not get another appt for months.

I can’t affect to buy insurance at £1500 plus!

She sounds like a very vulnerable adult tbh. I’d be going to her Uni and taking her to her appointment. She’s making really poor decisions, likely caused by being so unwell.

Can she even fly to America with recent PEs? I’d have thought flying especially long-haul was I’ll advised for awhile?

Are there no British alternatives she could do? When I was 18 and 19 I worked at a summer day camp where the children went home each night but the staff stayed on site. It was amazing and I would thoroughly recommend it. We did go to the local pub quite a bit (where they had nightly lock-ins) and I was exhausted at the end of summer but I could have opted out of evening trips out, and did a couple of times when I was just too tired.

I’m going to talk to her about not cancelling her appointment and asking about a flight, hopefully they say no. There is camp Europe but she specifically wants to go to America

US health care is a minefield at the best of times. I would be advising her to hold off on CampAmerica for now. (There is still the rest of the world out there, she can always do something similar elsewhere).

She can always do Camp America at a later date when she has had all of the investigations and a diagnosis etc.

No way should she ho
unimsured. I did with America back in the day & it is knackering. I’d never go to the US without full on insurance.

Never mind about the insurance, what you say raises serious questions about whether she would be able to cope with the job right now.

I absolutely understand her desire to do it, but there are few things in life which come out well if you willfully dive in with eyes screwed shut :/

What is she doing next year? (Could you suggest it would all be easier if she did it next year "when she will have sorted out the health issues"?)
You don't have to fork out for an adult when you think it's a bad idea so if she can't afford it on her own you might have that as a backstop.
(How worried are you that she will do something like lie about her health to CA or to other insurers?)