Medical coverage from the 30-year-old Canadian man had been queried after his medical records showed he reported to the hospital with flu-like symptoms 1 month before the couple’s holiday to Thailand. Last week, doctors on Ko Samui diagnosed the man with a cancerous tumour. This week, air ambulance coverage was confirmed and a top neurosurgeon arranged to treat the man’s condition on his arrival back home in Canada.
The Candian couple Alex and Jennifer Witmer reportedly stuck in Thailand last week after Alex was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and queries were raised concerning his medical insurance policy, have been released from at least one aspect of the their unexpected ordeal after their Canadian insurance firm Allianz confirmed mid-week that it would honour their medical insurance policy for their trip to Thailand in full.
There was fortuitous news this week for young Canadian couple Alex and Jennifer Witmer after their travel insurance firm in Canada, Allianz Global Assistance, confirmed that the firm would stand by the policy taken out by the couple before they left for a dream 6 week holiday to Thailand after one of the firm’s executives initially raised strong doubts under the policy’s terms relating to preexisting conditions.
‘Full coverage for Mr Witmer’ – Allianz boss
‘There is full coverage for Mr Witmer and his wife’s return home, including by air ambulance,’ Dan Keon the Vice President of market management for Allianz confirmed in a written press statement to the Canadian broadcaster CBC News in Toronto.
That is what the couple wanted to hear having been told earlier this week the devastating news that the policy was under review and that they could have the air ambulance immediately but at a cost $265,000.
Insurance company earlier indicated coverage for a commercial flight from Thailand
Jennifer Witmer told the media that the company had initially indicated that it would pay for a commercial flight to transport her husband back to Canada after he was diagnosed suddenly last week with a cancerous brain tumour.
The Canadian had admitted himself into Ko Samui hospital over a week ago as an outpatient. He had anticipated being given powerful painkillers for what he thought was a migraine but was instead confronted with a diagnosis of a deep-seated brain tumour which was also malignant.
Canadian man’s wife worked to get him home when doctors on Ko Samui gave their shock diagnosis
The news that the policy would be honoured came after Alex’s wife Jennifer had taken over the management of the couple’s affairs while her husband slept having been given by doctors powerful painkiller relief designed to ease the pressure caused by the tumour within his head.
Doctors in both Ko Samui and Bangkok also advised that the Canadian man should be returned to Canada ideally by this weekend so that immediate treatment to deal with the growth, including surgery, can commence.
On Wednesday, it was understood that such an operation was in progress. It was also confirmed by Jennifer Witmer that the family had secured the services of a top neurosurgeon to operate on her husband when he arrives in Canada.
Insurance cover was questioned after a review of Mr Witmer’s medical records over a hospital flu visit
The concern for the validity of the policy came when the insurance firm Allianz looked into the Canadian man’s medical record and saw that he had attended a hospital emergency room in Moncton, New Brunswick, a month before the trip reporting flu symptoms. Among these was a complaint of a headache.
Last week, Jennifer Witmer told the media that doctors in Thailand had rejected any claim that Mr Witmer’s headache caused by the flu could be treated as a pre-existing symptom connected with his brain tumour.
