$900,000 hospital bill after sluicing on vacation
Posted by rudeawakening
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$900,000 hospital bill after sluicing on vacation December 13, 2014 |
I don't recall if this was mentioned here before—I can't find it, but if it has, forgive me.
A piggo from Canada travels to Hawaii and goes into premature labor on the trip. She was on bed rest for six weeks, then the loaf was in the NICU for two months. Saskatchewan (where they're from) and Hawaii have paid part of the bill but the couple still has to pay $900,000. Needless to say, the pahrunts are lowing that they shouldn't have to pay the bill.
This story is a month old but I just got an email from Change.org asking me to sign a petition to make the health insurance company pay.
Story here
A piggo from Canada travels to Hawaii and goes into premature labor on the trip. She was on bed rest for six weeks, then the loaf was in the NICU for two months. Saskatchewan (where they're from) and Hawaii have paid part of the bill but the couple still has to pay $900,000. Needless to say, the pahrunts are lowing that they shouldn't have to pay the bill.
This story is a month old but I just got an email from Change.org asking me to sign a petition to make the health insurance company pay.
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Jennifer Huculak and her husband Darren Kimmel, both of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, bought travel health insurance to be safe — but then their claim was denied.
“We were mortified,†Kimmel told TODAY Parents about the moment the couple found out about the huge bill.
Huculak was 24 weeks pregnant when she and Kimmel flew to Hawaii in October 2013. She was cleared to travel by her doctor and the couple bought a travel insurance package for their trip through Saskatchewan Blue Cross, Kimmel said. (In Canada, health-care costs like prenatal care, labor and delivery are all covered through universal health care provided by the federal government.)
“Jennifer looked this lady in the eye and said, ‘So I’m covered?’ And this lady looked at her and said, ‘Yes, you’re covered. Have a good holiday.’ And the holiday turned into a staycation,†Kimmel told TODAY Parents.
Huculak’s water suddenly broke two days into the vacation. She was put on bed rest in a Honolulu hospital for six weeks, and gave birth to her daughter Reece on Dec. 10. The premature baby girl spent two months in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Huculak had a bladder infection a month before the trip to Hawaii, but her doctor in Canada and the doctors who treated Huculak in Honolulu said it wouldn’t have caused her water to break, Kimmel said.
Story here
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Re: $900,000 hospital bill after sluicing on vacation December 13, 2014 |
Normally, I'm not a breeder pleaser, but in this case I'd say the preggo was in the right. She did everything right. She got travel insurance, just in case. She was told that she was covered. It's not as if she did nothing, dropped the kid on vacation, and then tried to weasel out of paying the bill. Yeah, it came premature and cost a fortune, but that's why she bought travel insurance. Insurance is trying to use pregnancy as a pre-existing condition, to avoid paying the huge bill. In this case, I say that the insurance company is the one trying to weasel out of a valid claim.
What if that was a CF person who bought travel insurance, had a heart attack while on vacation, and spent 3 weeks in ICU? Insurance would be obligated to pay. Being preggers doesn't change the fact that insurance is trying to avoid paying a claim, whether it's a baby, a heart attack, or anything else. The insurance company is a POS in this case.
I am also wondering how they can deny the claim, when USA insurance laws forbid using a so-called pre-existing condition to deny a valid claim. This couple is being screwed.
Welcome to America!
What if that was a CF person who bought travel insurance, had a heart attack while on vacation, and spent 3 weeks in ICU? Insurance would be obligated to pay. Being preggers doesn't change the fact that insurance is trying to avoid paying a claim, whether it's a baby, a heart attack, or anything else. The insurance company is a POS in this case.
I am also wondering how they can deny the claim, when USA insurance laws forbid using a so-called pre-existing condition to deny a valid claim. This couple is being screwed.
Welcome to America!
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Re: $900,000 hospital bill after sluicing on vacation December 15, 2014 |
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Dorisan
That being said - traveling when you are 2/3 gone in your pregnancy? I know that, medically, it is feasible, but lord ... who'd want to waddle around on their vacation?
A woman who realises this is the last time she'll ever be able to enjoy any freedom, ever?
Seriously, I'm on the side of the breeders here. It would be different if they had been entitled parunts travelling uninsured and then expecting the state to cough up for them, but they sound like a rare responsible couple who actually took precautions (apart from that one, ha!). I find it hard to drum up sympathy for breeders over the predicaments they choose for themselves, but even harder to feel sorry for greedy insurance companies, especially ones who benefit from the American healthcare system. I hope the insurers don't get away with this because this is something which affects us all, whether we breed or not.
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