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Couple left with $200k bill after baby born in US (www.bbc.co.uk)
submitted 6 months ago* by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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A couple were told they faced a $200,000 (£146,500) medical bill when their baby was born prematurely in the US, despite them having travel insurance which covered her pregnancy.

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[–] 66 points 6 months ago (8 children)

The insurance on question is not American, but from their home country. The ridiculous price is American though

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    I realise that, my connecting thought was that the hospital looking at their insurance policy should have been able to understand the pregnancy was covered. Even with it being unclear due to the contract's wording, it should have triggered the billing department contacting the insurer for clarification.

    That's not how America works though, they operate on a 'invoice first, ask questions later' approach. If one in a thousand bills get paid without question, the superfluousness is considered justified. Oh well, I would add this to my list of reasons to avoid the country if it weren't so long already.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    You seem confused.

    As someone who has worked directly with medical (dental) insurance, the billing hospital/doctor almost definitely sent the bill to the insurance company first, were denied the claim, and then sent it to the couple afterwards.

    You seem to think the hospital told them they weren't covered, but that isn't what happened. At least not in this article. They thought it was covered and dealt with until returning to the UK, where the insurer told them they weren't covered.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    You aren't the only one whose work has involved medical insurance.

    From my experience, it was quite uncommon for the practitioner themselves to be preparing and sending an invoice to the insurance company. Typically they would pass this off to the billing department, though in smaller places like a dental office I've seen the 'billing department' just be the front desk. It's a touch misleading to equate the billing hospital with the doctor as if penning invoices is a shared responsibility between the two with each taking roughly equal part.

    In any case, it's irrelevant. I'm not here arguing minutia about on which continent the responsibility specifically failed, nor whatever individual made an error. The system failed these people, even if the end result was only a momentary heart rate increase from seeing a medical bill until a phone call resolved the issue.

    If my underlying point remains unclear, I doubt I can clarify further.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

    ...right, you still seem confused about what is being said, since the first half of your reply is just... stating that the practitioner themselves usually don't directly send the bill, the billing department does.

    I guess I could see how you could misconstrue that from what I said, but it doesn't really address the crux of who was at fault here: the insurance company.

    The system failed these people? Uh... sure... the American health care system is hot dog ass and insurance is bullshit. I agree, the system sucks.

    My only point here is that your comment directly makes it out to be the US/hospitals fault.

    But! That being said! I see where the confusion is, now.

    I realise that, my connecting thought was that the hospital looking at their insurance policy should have been able to understand the pregnancy was covered.

    You presumably meant to say "the pregnancy wasn't covered". Because of this typo, it made me think you were saying that it WAS covered and that the hospital made a mistake when reading.

    Also:

    You aren't the only one whose work has involved medical insurance

    To be fair, when you say "I wouldn't choose to live or travel through the US", it makes it pretty fair to assume you aren't already there. If you are out of the states, I have no idea how your experiences with a different healthcare system could be relevant? But hey, maybe you should lead with relevant information about why your input has more weight behind it than the average commenter.

    That being said... it still doesn't. You spent half your comment acting like I was being misleading because I said "the billing doctor/hospital sent it to the insurance company", when any reasonable person would extrapolate that obviously the staff is responsible for that? I said billing doctor because the hospital sends the bill in the doctor's name. They might not be literally penning the bill, but they are the biller, they are doing the billing.

    Edit: also, insurance companies are mostly all closed on weekends and you can't just "call to confirm the policy" in every situation.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (3 children)

    I don't make it a habit to preface a general comment by preemptively stating why I may be qualified to weigh in on a topic. This is the internet after all, not really a formal setting. My qualifications are just as irrelevant as yours here. While we may have insight that others lack, we aren't doing anything but commenting on an article.

    Without going point for point as you have done, it should suffice to say that even now after I have reread this thread and what I wrote previously, the underpinning of my initial comment stands - these people were failed, and it shouldn't have happened.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    And yet you still have the opportunity to chime in about how you have televant qualifications, and you haven't.

    Yes, like I said, we already agree that the system is bad. They were failed directly by the insurance company in this case, and there is pretty much nothing additional you could reasonably have expected from a hospital in an emergency situation like a premature birth.

    Your original comment put the blame at the hospital's feet, not the insurance company's feet. When called out, you justified it by saying "the whole system was wrong, I'm not here to argue minutia".

    Indeed, you are here to force out a point, backtrack and move goalposts when called out, and act as if your messaging has an underlying "the system is bad" message, when you could have just said "yeah, the insurance company sucks in this case. Whole system is bad."

    These people were failed (directly by the insurance company), and it shouldn't have happened.

    Insufferable. Just learn to back down when you misspeak instead of getting defensive.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    It seems a little funny to claim I am here upholding an agenda. What I am is unsure. Unsure where you've read my moving goalposts when I have just stated I stand by my initial comment - which in fact does not lay the blame on the hospital, but the for profit healthcare industry in the United States.

    Tell you the truth, this thread has drifted into a commentary on my word choices and my general disinterest in disclosing my career history to someone on the internet, so bringing this to a polite close isn't something I'm willing to try for any further.

    Consider my insufferable self to be backed down, apologetic, and thoroughly defeated.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    You quite literally attempted to place blame directly on the hospital and its staff at least once, and implied it multiple times. You also are attacking the for profit healthcare industry in the US (which is bad), but also are refusing to acknowledge the failure of a UK entity which is participating in, and profiting off, the same for profit industry. Rereading all your comments, you have refused to acknowledge the insurance company as the party at fault. The closest you come to admitting it is saying "the system is bad."

    So maybe we can end it with a conciliatory agreement, since you "admit defeat" by writing out a comment attempting to reframe me as some sort of aggressor.

    So: we both agree. The American hospital, by participating in the for profit health industry, de facto sucks. The for profit health industry in America, sucks. The insurance company, by participating in the for profit health industry, de facto sucks. The insurance company, specifically, is the party directly responsible for this specific issue.

    Agree to those statements, as each one is factually true, and I'll concede that you aren't trying to whitewash the insurance company's participation in the course of events.

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