Canadian parents hit with a bill of almost $1 million from a US hospital after their baby was born prematurely on vacation in Hawaii are now facing possible bankruptcy. Their story provoked a social media storm with many people offering to help.
Jennifer Huculak-Kimmel was six months pregnant when she
travelled to Hawaii with her husband. She had consulted before
the trip with her doctor, who gave her the go-ahead to travel.
Things went wrong when her water broke two days into the trip.
Jennifer was taken to the hospital by air ambulance and spent six
weeks on bed rest before her baby girl was born by emergency
caesarean section last December. Her daughter Reece, born nine
weeks prematurely, spent two months in intensive care.
Huculak-Kimmel was hit with a $950,000 bill, which the insurer
refused to cover, citing a "pre-existing condition"
allegedly not declared by the mother-to-be before the trip.
"Blue Cross said that because I had a bladder infection at four
months and hemorrhaged because of that, that they would not cover
the pregnancy," Huculak-Kimmel told CBC.
Something is wrong with the US Healthcare System... "Canadian billed $950.000 after giving birth in U.S." http://t.co/NpAgGKmv3L
— Grischa Brower-R. (@BrowerGrischa) November 20, 2014
She said her doctor was aware of the condition when he cleared
her to travel. On top of that, doctors in Hawaii allegedly told
her it had nothing to do with the premature water break. Some
suggested that the long flight could have possibly played a role.
"We thought we had done everything right. We thought we had
covered all avenues and we thought we were covered. We thought we
were safe to go," she added.
The family decided to go public to warn others know to be careful when purchasing insurance.
$950k bill for giving birth in a US hospital prematurely. WTF America. http://t.co/xiVg2RLmlm
— Andrew Johns (@adjsays) November 20, 2014
"When a Blue Cross representative sits across a table from you
and says, 'Yes, you are covered,' maybe their representatives
should be more well-educated on what they're selling,"
Huculak-Kimmel told the National Post.
According to the newspaper, the family were recently also
celebrating the purchase of a new house. Now that they're on the
verge of bankruptcy, the house is for sale.
Vancouver-based lawyer Scott Stanley, who works on similar cases,
said the family should not pay the bill.
"I see cases like this all the time — not necessarily
involving pregnancies — where people have gone to the United
States ... and they've had a minor medical condition, but that's
enough to disqualify them," he told CBC.
Lesson learned: have your baby in Canada where you get COMMUNIST healthcare!!! http://t.co/K5USZSFzGy
— Mark Cerqueira (@markmcerqueira) November 19, 2014
Huculak-Kimmel and her husband are at a loss, "weighing their
options", but at the same time "in high spirits" -
thanks to support they received after sharing their story with
ordinary people.
"The last 24 hours have been very overwhelming for our family.
The support, response, and reaction to our story is
unbelievable," Huculak-Kimmel told Vancuver Sun in an
emailed statement. Some people offered help, while others made
"mean comments about traveling while pregnant," she
said.