Axa threatened to cancel coverage for British people with brain injuries in the US, daughter says
The daughter of a woman who suffered a brain injury while on holiday in the US says her insurer has told her she must return to Britain against doctors’ advice or face funding for her medical care.
Jane Rubens, 73, of Edinburgh, is currently in a coma after being struck as a pedestrian by a large vehicle in St. Louis, Missouri, in early November. The collision left her with serious brain damage, which required multiple surgeries.
Her daughter Cat Rubens says insurance company Axa Partners has insisted that Jane be repatriated to Britain – against the advice of several experts.
“We have shown no empathy, customer service or reasonableness from AXA during one of the darkest times of our lives,” she wrote on X.
Cat Rubens, a lawyer, described how she communicated medical advice from neurologists in both Britain and the US to the insurer, but was told on Sunday that the family had to agree that day to repatriate Jane by Wednesday, November 27 or her medical cover costs. spending in the US would stop.
“Axa would not even give us 24 hours for this decision,” Rubens wrote, adding that the Scottish hospital selected by AXA had not received Jane’s medical records, and that AXA had accepted that the company did not have a neurology expert in their medical team had.
“They do not feel the need to consult neurology specialists in the treating American hospital, nor in the Scottish hospital. We are talking about the repatriation of a patient with severe brain damage,” Rubens said in her message, adding that when she called Axa, the call handler accepted that the family had not been given a plan for Jane’s repatriation, and that a plan was made asked to agree. to a plan they had not yet seen.
Jane’s neurosurgeon then told the family that it would be in her best interest to fly after part of her skull was reattached.
“That is three to six months later,” Rubens wrote, adding that she was denied permission to speak to a manager at Axa or an underwriter at the company.
Axa would not allow Jane’s trauma doctor to speak to the company’s medical team, and could not tell the doctor who Jane’s receiving doctor would be at the hospital in Scotland.
“We sat in a corner and had no choice but to tell Axa that we agreed to their repatriation plan. We cannot lose her medical coverage, inc. the costs of sending her back to Great Britain,” Rubens wrote.
“Our biggest concern is that AXA has not done their due diligence and is not considering the neurological advice provided to them.”
A spokesperson for Axa Partners said: “We are sorry for the distress Mrs Rubens and her family have experienced in making a claim and we sympathize with their situation.
“We have spoken to Ms Rubens’ family and will remain in contact with them in the coming days to provide their support. Our medical team and Mrs. Rubens’ treating physicians will agree on the best course of action moving forward.
“We are considering all available options and the well-being of Mrs. Rubens and her family remains our priority.”
But speaking to GB News on Tuesday, Rubens said she is still concerned.
“What (Axa) has not yet confirmed to me is whether they will take into account the impact of the flight on my mother’s longer-term prognosis. So the question is not whether my mother is fit to fly or not. The question is whether flying at this early stage of her injury could impact her long-term recovery,” she said.