Global Assistance Polska (GAP) draws attention to inflated costs of medical services for tourists, particularly at medical institutions in popular holiday resorts. Observations by organisations operating in the assistance and insurance sectors suggest that the same treatment or consultation may cost a resident several times less than it does a foreign patient with travel insurance.

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As GAP points out, there are also situations in which travellers are advised to undergo additional medical procedures or hospitalisation that are not always necessary. This also applies to cases where surgeries are performed that are not medically necessary. Not only does this expose insurers to increased costs, but, in the case of more advanced treatment, it can also lead to situations where expenses exceed the policy limits, meaning the traveller will have to cover part of the costs themselves.

It sometimes happens that fraud involves not only medical costs, but also the organisation of medical transport or rescue operations. For years, the industry has observed schemes to artificially inflate costs in tourist destinations and high-altitude areas, where costly evacuation procedures are triggered unnecessarily. Global Assistance cites the example of a criminal network recently uncovered in Nepal that was responsible for rescue operations in the Himalayas, during which nearly $20 million was fraudulently obtained from international insurers. According to investigators, trekking agencies deliberately induced symptoms of illness in tourists to subsequently organise unnecessary helicopter evacuations and falsify medical and aviation documentation. Those allegedly involved in the scheme included guides, flight operators and cooperating medical institutions.

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The practices employed by medical institutions in several holiday resorts are, of course, far less blatant examples of fraud, but even so, the double standards on pricing alone work to the detriment of tourists. That is why GAP emphasises the need to verify the validity of proposed solutions and their costs. For this reason, an assistant regularly visits the locations most frequently visited by the company’s clients. Recently, it has carried out an audit of medical institutions and worked to strengthen cooperation with local partners in destinations popular with Polish tourists travelling to Egypt. In the near future, the team plans to visit Turkey and Italy to assess the conditions and quality of the assistance provided to clients there and to strengthen dialogue with local partners.

Global Assistance Polska is an assistance company within the VIG Group, which provides services to both the Group’s insurance companies and external partners from various sectors, including financial institutions, brokers, leasing companies and fleet operators.