Part 2: Hear a Death Rattle? QUICK! Get an Ambulance, Taxi or Bus

Please forgive me "horrible title" for what I am about to tell you that I learned today. I am going to share with you something that may have a huge impact financially on your family or inheritance. Maybe $100,000 or more of a difference! But first, I am going to set up "what happened" - then tell you about in a similar case, what "could have happened".

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Scenario: Hospital called me on August 17 last year, in the morning my time, to tell me my out of state father, who "likely should have pulled through" was dying and would like die within hours.

Hospital doctor: "We'd like to transfer him to hospice, if that's okay with you. He'll be 'more comfortable' there."

Me: No. If you are right and he is getting ready to die, leave him where he is. He's in ICU. Why does he have to be moved hours before dying? Why does he need a "ride" in an ambulance - especially to what I would consider the historically -known worst hospice in the city? ! Leave him alone! He has excellent insurance. You can't give a dying man a comfortable bed to die in? (this had been an ongoing challenge the past two weeks trying to get any care for him at all, in my opinion. He was 93.). 

Hospital: (Paraphrased) "We'd like you to change your mind..." Me: "No - leave him alone. If you are right and he is dying, let him get on with the business of dying. He's probably practicing coming and going from his body (he wasn't conscious any longer) . He doesn't need to be carted off in a vehicle down the road and maybe not make it through the trip."

Several other calls later - and one from the Hospice telling me they 'understood he was going to be transferred there' - I told Hospice "NO - I had refused that. He would die in hospital if he was dying."

My father died in hospital about 1pm my time, I think about three hours after that call from Hospice, ie. that same day. I was driving down the open-road freeway at flowing-traffic speed when I got the call from a cold nurse on the other end of the line. "He dead. What do you want us to do with the body?"  SEE Part 3.

So - what did the hospital know what I didn't know - why did it want him moved out so bad?

1. Statistics ? (probably)

2. Something "questionable" had happened? (maybe)

3. Is it possible the hospital staff needed the bed  (no - hospital was permanently closing in about 2 weeks from then)

4. OR - did they know something about the insurance some people have that I just learned about today???

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - IT "MATTERS" WHERE PEOPLE DIE - FOR INSURANCE PAYOUT REASONS

1. Insurance policies - many pay 'more' if someone dies in a motor vehicle accident OR

2. Insurance policies - many ADD (accidental death and dismemberment OR life insurance) pay more if someone died while just IN a public transportation vehicle.  (So - if my father had died in the ambulance on the way to hospice AND that old bank "gifted" insurance policy was still in force (see Part 1) - the policy would likely have paid out $100,000 US!)  This may sound "greedy" - but in the case of a widow left with children to feed and a mortgage to pay - that extra $100,000 may be really needed. (In the case of my father, it would have meant paying off his final bills, and fixing the basement wall structural issue issue in his house that is left in limbo.)

Tags: ambulance, hospice, insurance, insurance claims, life support, parent rights