Two additional insights from the past week

In my last essay on my week of hospitalization, I omitted a couple of issues. One of these is highly relevant to all prospective travelers to Russia. The other relates to general security and lawfulness in urban Russia today,

The first issue is health insurance that you are obliged to subscribe to when you apply for a visa. The most common provider of this health insurance for foreign visitors is Ingosstrakh. Applying for the insurance is fairly complicated if you do not have a friend in Russia to guide you through the process and to pay the insurance fees on your behalf since you cannot pay them using a non-Russian credit card. Somehow people do solve this problem and I will not dwell on it.

The problem is how do you actually get the insurance benefits if you require medical assistance here.

As I said in my first essay, when I entered the emergency room of the Mariinsky Municipal Hospital no one took an interest in my presenting my insurance policy. But three days later, a lady from their Payments Department visited me in my ward and pressed the point: how will the first bill for 300 euros equivalent be paid? I showed her my policy and then at her request called Ingosstrakh to get the ball rolling. They were indignant that it was only on day 3 that I contacted them but reluctantly acknowledged that there is a claim. I turned the matter over to the hospital Payments lady to resolve directly with the insurer. I heard nothing more, meaning that settlement, that guaranty of payment was issued by Ingosstrakh. But then a day before my release the Payments lady visited me again to say that Ingosstrakh was refusing to pay 75 euros in claims on the xrays which were administered, saying they were excessive in number. Wow! Some bureaucrat in the insurance company deciding what is and what is not a proper insurable expense and proper medical procedures without having access to the details of the case. At their request, I phoned Ingosstrakh and protested vehemently at their refusal without knowing why my treatment required supplemental control xrays. After that the issue disappeared and I checked out of the hospital. Simply amazing that Ingosstrakh was trying to weasel out of a 75 euro charge when the face value of my policy is for 10,000 euros. So, dear friends, be aware of what awaits you if you have to make claims against your health insurance.

The second issue of broader importance relates to the traffic police. As you may understand, all of my health travails began with my being knocked down by an SUV that backed up into me while I as waiting for a taxi. The driver got out of his car, cursed me for being in the roadway and not on the pavement and then just drove off. Hit and run is what this is categorized as and it is a criminal act everywhere including in Russia.

On about day two of my hospitalization I got an SMS from the local brokers of Ingosstrakh responsible for northwest Russia putting me in touch with the Petersburg Traffic Police, whom they informed about my case. I assume that the motive of the insurer was to eventually claw back their expenses from the driver in damages.

The Traffic Police took the initiative to request that I visit them to make a deposition. When it became clear that my hospitalization was being extended, the Police then came to me in the hospital. A very smart young officer listened to my story of the incident, wrote it up for me to sign. He also took down the coordinates of my wife who had been an onlooker to my being struck. From his case folder it was clear that they had recovered the videos of the whole incident that took place at 10.50 am on 9^th October. The whole space in front of the hotel is covered by multiple video cameras that send the images to the municipal authorities.

Then the real surprise came on the next day, Thursday, when the Police officer brought with him the already apprehended driver of the car that struck me. This was an act of generosity by the Police in deference to the driver’s wish to buy me off and persuade me to withdraw my accusation. Indeed, the driver’s first words were: “You are an American. Let”s do a Trump-like deal.” He offered to pay the medical costs, to pay for my staying on in Russia for several weeks until I am allowed to board a plane and leave.

I was not obliging: I refused to withdraw my deposition. But I did offer in writing a statement that will surely lessen his punishment when the case goes before a judge: I said that I very much appreciated his apology now and that I will not seek damages of any kind over this incident. That leaves it to the insurance company to go after his scalp as I am sure they will do.

I have presented the foregoing to make a very important fact: Russian Traffic Police are today highly competent, have at their disposal the video recorders everywhere to prove or disprove allegations in cases of violation of the law. And they have on board diligent and smart policemen. All of this is a radical change from when I was living and working in Petersburg in the 1990s. Then the traffic police were themselves among the most corrupt state employees, shaking down drivers for imaginary or insignificant offenses, demanding payment in cash on the spot to drop the case. It was scandalous.

Judging by what I saw this week, the police are now well under control and are performing a meritorious mission.

Copyright Gilbert Doctorow, 2026