Australian family expects to pay $1 million after baby born in Florida

3.27.04_Helper:

IT is probably different with nationalized medicine, but I traveled abroad during my first 2 pregnancies. I called my insurance company before I left and they said they'd cover anything abroad at the out of network rate. At the time we had awesome insurance and DH's employer may have had international coverage just because of the amount he traveled outside of the country for work.

Yeah, this is how  mine works as well (mine is not international coverage). 

I'm going to be devil's advocate and ask...Is it really a smart idea to travel that far when pregnant given her "advanced age?" Anything over 35 is considered high risk, right? I don't know if I would feel comfortable traveling somewhere pregnant where i might not be covered should medical problems occur. Would you all really consider it "out of the blue" if you were pregnant at 36 and had preterm labor on a really long trip? Don't doctors warn about deep vein thrombosis on really long trips especially when pregnant? I'm asking honestly, no snark.

At any rate, having a preemie is so challenging & scary. I hope the baby is doing well. 

I have no comment and wish the family well but that's a freaking long way to go for a 4 day Bahamas cruise.

ETA: reading comprehension fail...i saw it was a 2 week US vacation.  I read too fast and thought they flew from Australia to San Fran to Orlando just for a 4 day cruise

karinothing:

3.27.04_Helper:

IT is probably different with nationalized medicine, but I traveled abroad during my first 2 pregnancies. I called my insurance company before I left and they said they'd cover anything abroad at the out of network rate. At the time we had awesome insurance and DH's employer may have had international coverage just because of the amount he traveled outside of the country for work.

Yeah, this is how  mine works as well (mine is not international coverage). 

This is how all my employer-based plans have been, as well.

We get some coverage out of the country with our insurance, I also always buy travel insurance so that there's coverage if we have to be medevaced out of somewhere.  I figure that's the best I can do to cover us while still traveling. 

I've never worried about the pregnancy coverage but am not surprised the policies exclude it,  the policies are pretty clear about pre-existing conditions not being covered.

While I feel terrible that the baby is facing so many problems, as far as the money is concerned, this family took a gamble and they lost.

Also, if their Medicaid application is accepted, they won't end up owing anything, right?

I know of people that needed emergency healthcare (granted, not this much) in the US who were from Italy.  They just put down my H's address and when it came time to pay they were already out of the country.  Apparently my H told the hospital to bill the government of Italy. 

My point - just because you have a bill, doesn't mean you have to pay it. Generally I'm against that, but in a case like this, if I were that woman, that's probably what I would do.

LittleMoxie:

I know of people that needed emergency healthcare (granted, not this much) in the US who were from Italy.  They just put down my H's address and when it came time to pay they were already out of the country.  Apparently my H told the hospital to bill the government of Italy. 

My point - just because you have a bill, doesn't mean you have to pay it. Generally I'm against that, but in a case like this, if I were that woman, that's probably what I would do.

Yeah, this is probably what's going to happen.  They'll leave the country as soon as the baby is well enough, and that bill will never get paid.  Probably what the travel insurance is banking on, as well. 

emisi:

LittleMoxie:

I know of people that needed emergency healthcare (granted, not this much) in the US who were from Italy.  They just put down my H's address and when it came time to pay they were already out of the country.  Apparently my H told the hospital to bill the government of Italy. 

My point - just because you have a bill, doesn't mean you have to pay it. Generally I'm against that, but in a case like this, if I were that woman, that's probably what I would do.

Yeah, this is probably what's going to happen.  They'll leave the country as soon as the baby is well enough, and that bill will never get paid.  Probably what the travel insurance is banking on, as well. 

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

I'm actually surprised it's only $1 mil, with A spending 5 days in NICU our insurance was billed $125K

Big T (aka Mr.P):

emisi:

LittleMoxie:

I know of people that needed emergency healthcare (granted, not this much) in the US who were from Italy.  They just put down my H's address and when it came time to pay they were already out of the country.  Apparently my H told the hospital to bill the government of Italy. 

My point - just because you have a bill, doesn't mean you have to pay it. Generally I'm against that, but in a case like this, if I were that woman, that's probably what I would do.

Yeah, this is probably what's going to happen.  They'll leave the country as soon as the baby is well enough, and that bill will never get paid.  Probably what the travel insurance is banking on, as well. 

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

I'm actually surprised it's only $1 mil, with A spending 5 days in NICU our insurance was billed $125K

Holy crap.  Unless I'm reading DS' bill incorrectly, he spent a week in NICU and it was about $15k. The stay itself, i guess not counting various treatments, was something like 1k/night. 

Big T (aka Mr.P):

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

Customs and Immigration isn't generally in the business of debt collection.

The bill will likely get paid by Medicaid.

Big T (aka Mr.P):

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

The baby has been in the NICU for nearly 2 months now.  Australian visitors can stay in the U.S. for 3 months on a "tourist visa".

They're going to force the woman to violate immigration laws via a pseudo-debtors prison?  I don't think so. 

CatLawdy&:

Big T (aka Mr.P):

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

Customs and Immigration isn't generally in the business of debt collection.

The bill will likely get paid by Medicaid.

And you dont go through customs or immigration when exiting the US so no one would know that she had left.  

Big T (aka Mr.P):

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

Doubtful.  

wise_rita:

Big T (aka Mr.P):

I'd wager that her passport has been flagged and she would not be able to leave the country.  

The baby has been in the NICU for nearly 2 months now.  Australian visitors can stay in the U.S. for 3 months on a "tourist visa".

They're going to force the woman to violate immigration laws via a pseudo-debtors prison?  I don't think so. 

Will the baby even be healthy enough to fly to Australia at 3 months?  Medical bills aside, even if she's actually been discharged I would think she'd still be too medically fragile to fly halfway around the world.   So where does that leave mom, having to fly home alone because her visa's expired, or staying here illegally?  Could she get an extension?

 If they ever even discover that her "visa" expired (in quotes because she's probably in the U.S. as part of the visa waiver program, hence the 3 month stay instead of the usual 6), the liklier consequence is that she would be ineligible for future visa waiver travel.  That's IF it gets flagged for immigration.  In that case, she'd just apply for a tourist visa for future U.S. travel.  Usually you can't extend in the U.S. when you're on visa waiver but given the medical circumstances, I'm sure some kind of exception exists (not that it's easy to get, necessarily).

Mabillon:

 If they ever even discover that her "visa" expired (in quotes because she's probably in the U.S. as part of the visa waiver program, hence the 3 month stay instead of the usual 6), the liklier consequence is that she would be ineligible for future visa waiver travel.  That's IF it gets flagged for immigration.  In that case, she'd just apply for a tourist visa for future U.S. travel.  Usually you can't extend in the U.S. when you're on visa waiver but given the medical circumstances, I'm sure some kind of exception exists (not that it's easy to get, necessarily).

I will never understand why the US doesn't enact exit immigration procedures, but that's another story.  

mxolisi:

Mabillon:

 If they ever even discover that her "visa" expired (in quotes because she's probably in the U.S. as part of the visa waiver program, hence the 3 month stay instead of the usual 6), the liklier consequence is that she would be ineligible for future visa waiver travel.  That's IF it gets flagged for immigration.  In that case, she'd just apply for a tourist visa for future U.S. travel.  Usually you can't extend in the U.S. when you're on visa waiver but given the medical circumstances, I'm sure some kind of exception exists (not that it's easy to get, necessarily).

Yeah, he likelihood of anyone noticing that they've overstayed the visa waiver period is pretty negligible. It's not like they are applying for jobs and drivers licenses and mortgages. And even if they were their irregular status wouldn't be reported to CIS, they'd probably just be denied those thing for which they were ineligible. 

I will never understand why the US doesn't enact exit immigration procedures, but that's another story.  

Ditto.  The one thing that could add value over security theater and we just sit on our hands...

casmgn:

While I feel terrible that the baby is facing so many problems, as far as the money is concerned, this family took a gamble and they lost.

Also, if their Medicaid application is accepted, they won't end up owing anything, right?

I'm pretty sure this is the case wrt Medicaid. It's backdated to the time you qualify, which for this baby would have been the instant she was born. I can't imagine what part of her care wouldn't be covered. There *might* be some co-pays but I doubt it.

A couple thoughts.

1.  The baby's NICU stay will be covered by Medicaid.  That shouldn't cost them much OOP (this depends on the birthweight of the baby but I'm guessing the baby was less than 2lbs, 2oz).  I'm guessing she was helicoptered off the cruise ship ($$$) and spent some time in a high risk maternity ward ($$$) so both those would be pricey but still not $1m.

2.  As for traveling abroad at AMA - I asked, was told it was fine before 28 weeks. Landed back in the US at 23w 2d and got very lucky to not have been stuck abroad/had a micro-preemie in another country.  I had a perfectly healthy pregnancy up until that point and I don't know if my doctors advice was due to AMA or just her general advice.

3.  As for the baby being able to travel home by plane if discharged at 3 months old - it depends but I'd be surprised.  The picture above shows the baby on a vent so it probably has lung issues.  I asked about taking my son's pulmonologist about flying and they'd want to do a special test on him to test his oxygenation while creating an environment similar to air travel.  

ETA:  I think the $1m figure is a very common expectation hospitals put out there for babies born this early.  It was the number we were told to expect for our son and he was born two weeks later than this baby.  Our private insurance was billed $380k by the hospital (that's a four month stay at two different NICU and a surgery - I was shocked it was this low and have a bad feeling something else is lurking).  Our OOP costs are $3k but we have yet to receive a bill for it.

bbbx3:

I feel bad for the family as they are obviously dealing with a lot at the moment. As a pregnant Aussie though, I have to say that this couple must have known the gamble they were taking. Travel insurance policies are perfectly clear about not covering pregnancy, it's not some detail hidden in the fine print. Furthermore it is the child that is making the bill close to $1 million. There was no travel insurance policy for the child (nor could there be). 

This makes things very interesting

I have some sympathy, but not much.

Everyone knows you'll be bankrupted if you need to go to a hospital in America. You don't say "oh, I'm fine, I'm only pregnant, I'm sure they'll cover me". You check that pregnancy costs are covered. Before you go bungee jumping you make sure you're covered. EVERYONE knows this, EVERYONE has heard the story of a cousin's friend husband who had an appendix burst or chest pain and ended up with $30,000 in bills.

3.27.04_Helper:

IT is probably different with nationalized medicine, but I traveled abroad during my first 2 pregnancies. I called my insurance company before I left and they said they'd cover anything abroad at the out of network rate. At the time we had awesome insurance and DH's employer may have had international coverage just because of the amount he traveled outside of the country for work.

Possibly ironically, you might not have needed it, though. I know someone who developed a blood clot on the way to Germany and had everything paid for by the German medical system. Obviouisly, given the Canadian example, this isn't the case for all countries with universal health care.

3.27.04_Helper:

IT is probably different with nationalized medicine, but I traveled abroad during my first 2 pregnancies. I called my insurance company before I left and they said they'd cover anything abroad at the out of network rate. At the time we had awesome insurance and DH's employer may have had international coverage just because of the amount he traveled outside of the country for work.

There are reciprocal agreements with some countries, like the UK. But given the US doesn't have a health care system, how could there be a reciprocal arrangement? Also, the cost differential would be too high even if there were a national health system in the US.

MeredithE:

bbbx3:

I feel bad for the family as they are obviously dealing with a lot at the moment. As a pregnant Aussie though, I have to say that this couple must have known the gamble they were taking. Travel insurance policies are perfectly clear about not covering pregnancy, it's not some detail hidden in the fine print. Furthermore it is the child that is making the bill close to $1 million. There was no travel insurance policy for the child (nor could there be). 

 

This makes things very interesting

 

Mer, please. You know I'm hoping that Obama sends a bill to Julia Gilliard with a copy of Michelle's side-eye photo and "you better pay this if you want to remain friends" scrawled at the bottom. 

Mabillon:

mxolisi:

Mabillon:

 If they ever even discover that her "visa" expired (in quotes because she's probably in the U.S. as part of the visa waiver program, hence the 3 month stay instead of the usual 6), the liklier consequence is that she would be ineligible for future visa waiver travel.  That's IF it gets flagged for immigration.  In that case, she'd just apply for a tourist visa for future U.S. travel.  Usually you can't extend in the U.S. when you're on visa waiver but given the medical circumstances, I'm sure some kind of exception exists (not that it's easy to get, necessarily).

Yeah, he likelihood of anyone noticing that they've overstayed the visa waiver period is pretty negligible. It's not like they are applying for jobs and drivers licenses and mortgages. And even if they were their irregular status wouldn't be reported to CIS, they'd probably just be denied those thing for which they were ineligible. 

I will never understand why the US doesn't enact exit immigration procedures, but that's another story.  

Ditto.  The one thing that could add value over security theater and we just sit on our hands...

Doesn't it? I don't know how it works for people on the visa waiver program but when I leave the US I surrender my I-94 card which indicates to US immigration that I have left the country.  

I read a medical article recently that said pregnany women in AUstralia in som earead are mpre often to deliver on a gurney in a hallway than in a birthing room due to over crowding and an overworked "free" medical system. I think shes pretty lucky that baby was born here. And since it is a us citizen the baby will qualify for medicaid under current rules most likely

Let me clarify: Obviously it would have been better for the baby to have been born full term iin a hallway in Australia than in the best possible circumstances premature in the us. Just wanted to calrify I wasnt saying better born any time in us than elsewhere