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.
Sylvester explained: “Essentially what they said is that we would have been covered had the baby not survived. But the fact was that the baby survived.”
“We weren’t going to be covered for that, because we didn’t put his name on the insurance policy.”
JFC
Travel insurance is a scam. I used to pay Allianz for cancellation insurance every trip but the one time I needed to claim it they denied it.
It’s not safe to travel to the US while pregnant or sick, they will take everything from you.
It’s just not safe to travel there ever
I’m certainly not going back until at least 2029. Let MAGA eat itself over the Epstein files and the next president reform the gun laws (as both sides are now talking about it) and then I’ll think about it.
It’s not safe to travel to the US while pregnant or sick, they will take everything from you.
Until Trump they also claimed the baby as US citizen which is dangerous because they demand taxes from their citizens whereever they are on this world.
Traveling in 3rd trimester is already medically dangerous.
Everyone knows blood attracts sharks, now we have sharks on planes.
Thanks obama.
It sounds fake but its real. If they got a car and ran a baby over they’d have paid 1% of this. Our system is so deeply fucked up.
Lol, even better. Usa credit cant hurt them abroad. They can just never pay it.
Usa: dear tourists, the old have a baby in usa trick will also be tarrrifed and taxed.
UK tourists: how u gonna do that?
Usa: evil grin
$200k? did the hospital make the baby?
Sadly that’s low for some cases of births. I’ve heard of people being charged >$1M before insurance (so that number might be BS insurance negotiations, but still)
if that happened in my country I’d cut my dick off just in case
Oh wow and people wonder why people aren’t having kids…
If you paid protection money to another gangster but then they didn’t protect you what would likely happen?
The gangster apologizes and deeply regrets the situation but does not return your money.
I love the 'Achually, you are supposed to beg the hospitals and rely on your insurance shady deals." Comments in this thread.
Just so we are clear, you know the US is the only country with running water that also charges it’s citizens to remain alive, right?
This is NOT normal. Not the amount, the situation.
This is what’s so fucked up about being an American. Every time there’s a complaint about the system, some “good soul” comes out to explain how you avoid it.
Healthcare is expensive? Oh you have to negotiate with your doctors, your hospital, your insurance, and get it fixed.
Internet is too expensive? Oh you’re supposed to call them every few months to have them lower the prices by threatening to quit.
Oh, fast food is too expensive? Oh use the mobile app and take a picture of your butthole to get it back to normal!
Listen, I think we’re as barbaric about this as any reasonable person, but we really aren’t unique. Mexico, Egypt, and the Philippines aren’t doing so great, but they’re all modern nations with modern infrastructure in their urban areas. India has even worse health insurance than the US and while yes they’re still building out their plumbing systems, Mumbai and New Delhi are modern megapolises.
LOL not unique! Where exactly do you think the US stands when comparing their nominal GDP per capita with Mexico, Egypt, the Phillipines, Mumbai or Dehli?
US: #9 out of 193
Mexico… 71. Egypt… 134. Phillipines… 126. India… 140
Why don’t you take a look at the healthcare systems of the countries in the top 10 GDP per capita and make an actual apples to apples comparison, hm?
Yes, we’re a profoundly broken country in how we use our wealth. But you were over here acting like no other country that isnt entirely and devastatingly impoverished is failing it’s citizens this way, and I’m pointing out that no, once again we fall in line with developing nations rather than developed ones. And for those of us who wish for it to be a functional country, I think my framing is much more useful.
And i apologize for assuming you’re a European who knows nothing of anywhere beyond the Eurosphere and assumes developing nations don’t even have running water.
I’m saying it’s ridiculous, stupid and confusing to say “we aren’t unique”. The US is in the top 10 in GDP per capita but is ranked in the lower 50 when it comes to Healthcare.
But “we aren’t unique”.
American exceptionalism, unless its about taking responsibility I guess. Lmao
Just out of interest: Would U.S.-Americans be allowed to found a non-profit health insurance organization?
Allowed to, sure. But it would quickly be crushed by the companies that have way more resources to draw on…
Yeah the better option is for a multi state compact for a public option. I know Washington has a bit of a public option. That said, you get no subsidies if your employer offers minimum contributions to the health insurance of their choosing.
Edit to finish the thought: we need universal single payer, but barring that we need public options and real choice, including choice over where to apply our employer’s contributions. It wouldn’t fix everything that universal single payer would, but it would enable you to have the freedom to not need to change doctors every time you get a new job.
Allowed? Technically yes, in the same way people are allowed to start local broadband co-ops or like grocery stores or whatever else.
The problem comes when you have to actually make people aware you exist and have a service or product for sale, and “compete” with the national/multi-national corporation who have infinitely more resources than you do.Just look at how Walmart and now Amazon have put just about every mom and pop shop out of business. They can move in, drop prices so low locally long enough to put you out of business because they have other areas locked down already and covering the losses. Then once they have the market locked up they can charge whatever they want because you have no other options.
Almost certainly there already exists a non-profit health insurance organization, they just don’t have the resources to advertise on all the major channels and across the interwebs like all the predatory ones do.
Insurance company trying to evade one job it is supposed to do
You pay them to keep their lawyers on retainer
You get hired to help out a business in a emergency situation. You do nothing and get paid month after month. A couple years go by and finally the phone rings.
Hey man, we really need you right now! Come on in!
“Claim denied, I will see you in court.”
insurance
Some of them probably don’t even have the means to help, they just get lawyers to avoid accountability and write ridiculous terms for their policies, and in the EXTREME case they actually need to fix something they probably outsource it lol
“But what about helping our people Bob!?”
We need a real life Mr Incredible to do that to every insurance CEO. Throw through 6 concrete walls.
After a nine month legal battle, Zurich has reversed its decision and told the BBC it was sorry for the stress caused.
Yeah, very sorry I’m sure. Oopsie, we accidentally fought a nine month legal battle to avoid paying out the exact thing the insurance is for
Arguing the care wasn’t covered because the baby wasn’t named in the insurance despite explicitly covering pregnancy-related care is ghoulish behavior. I can’t fathom how you can argue that seriously and not feel like a piece of shit.
“We’ve now strengthened and clarified our wording and guidance so other families travelling abroad at this stage of a pregnancy do not have to go through this experience.”
TLDR: the next couple is fucked
No, what this means is that they have increased premiums for anyone at 33 weeks of pregnancy and added something about premature births that will cost more if you’re traveling to America. Either that or put in specific language excluding coverage for premature births. Either way, insurance companies are a scam.
Like ‘hey, your baby is not covered, it’s 43 minutes under due’
I mean not if you go to those not really a hospital “clinic” things they have then its like $12k.I know people doing that.
I’m guessing if something goes wrong at one of those then you’re royally fucked though.
Plus a lot of people aren’t vaccinating their babies now so no need for the hospital. I know these people.
I hate Americans.
Not trying to victim blame but do not go to America.
Also dont have kids
They’re Brits
I don’t see how the advice doesn’t apply. Do not go to U.S.A
Evwn Canadians should recons8der a US visit
Maybe your scummy government should’ve reconsidered their complicity with the US regime a long time ago.
Their virtue signalling because the big bully you were always friends with and help in their scumbaggery is now temporary bothering you.
hypocritesWhich government is my government? I don’t live in North America.
Ech, on re-read I see the problem … my apologies. I was typing too fast for my own good.
I meant that any Canadians considering a US visit shouldreconsider
It means Brits are the closest to the US with Canadians.
They love the banana republic.
Despite the temporary spat they will be back aiding them in their imperialist looting and mass murder
Do not travel to the US
They were performing there, it’s work .
The problem in this story wasn’t actually the US this time, it was the Swiss insurance company.
I would say the problem also was a very high medical bill of $ 200k.
If I’m going to be paying $200,000 for medical procedures then they better be replacing my liver or something. How could a pregnancy possibly cost that much money?
They probably asked 6 grand just for pulling out a splinter.
Yes. You’re right. Our healthcare system is absolutely bonkers bananas insane, and that’s before you calculate in the cruelty. And as US citizen, I strongly advise everyone who isn’t to avoid this country like the plague.
However, if I travel to Switzerland or Canada or Italy or wherever, as a tourist, I am not covered if I go in the hospital. I still need to carry travel insurance, and if I don’t, or if it doesn’t cover something, then those countries with their modern, sensible healthcare systems will charge me out of pocket, just like an American hospital. The difference is that in America, even the citizens aren’t covered by default, and the amounts are astronomical compared to other countries.
It’s a shitty system all around, and frankly, I genuinely believe that if it weren’t for America’s weird fetish for as much money as you can possibly choke on, we would probably have started building an actual universal healthcare system for the global community, so that you’re covered by default even when traveling. But like with most things, the right wing nonsense has held us so far back that that is so unlikely as to seem utterly impossible
Yes if you come here to Danmark from the US you will not be covered. But if you are from a country in the EU you will in most cases be covered and don’t have to pay anything for being hospitalized.
Even if you do have to pay something, the cost Ive seen people post in europe are in the hundreds/thousands, not hundreds of thousands like the US.
Maybe this couple woukd have gotten a $200/2000 bill in the EU for a birth? $200,000 is a purely US problem.
Yeah do people actually pay in that price range for health care in the US? If so then thats absolutely bonkers
It’s complicated, because it’s American healthcare.
The hospital charges $200k. The insurance agrees to pay a negotiated discounted rate of $100k. $75k goes to the various insurance plans of the doctors and hospital. $15k goes to the people providing care and materials costs (everything is itemized, so then $50 aspirin you see is because it includes the time of the pharmacy tech who got the order, entered it into the system and checked for interactions, the tech who filled the order, the pharmacist who had to sign off on it, and the nurse who carried it to the patient.). $10k goes to the hospital as profit.
The insurance then makes the patient pay their $5000 deductible, which is what you pay before the insurance you pay for pays for anything, then the patient pays their $2500 coinsurance, which is what you pay after the insurance you pay for starts to pay for things but they only pay for half. After that the insurance covers it. The “perk” is that having met your deductible and coinsurance costs you likely have to pay little or nothing for care for the rest of the calendar year, making January to most financially responsible time to have a medical emergency.In terms of actual “cost”, I think the biggest difference is the itemization of everything. Universal healthcare is intrinsically more cost efficient, but it still has to pay doctors and nurses. When that cost is viewed as part of the cost of running a hospital as opposed to part of the service “charged” to the patient it can bring the “list price” down a lot. You end up with the price of a broken arm being the cost to treat a broken arm, not then cost to treat a broken arm and have everyone involved show up and your share of building the hospital room, and the cost of the janitor cleaning the room.
NICUs are capital and professional labor intensive. I got to meet the team of doctors and nurses who kept my son alive and thriving for the three months between birth and due date. Idk what the magic number to care for him should have been, but I don’t think six figures is an unfair estimate in any socio-economic system.
The question after that is “Who paid for it?” And, in my case, it was Medicaid, which was a huge relief. These poor bastards clearly didn’t have the option.
Why it’s so capital intensive is another issue, but the matter of six figures being reasonable is to compare that to costs of similar treatments in other countries (usually it’s an order of magnitude more expensive).
Healthcare just can’t be free market bcs the demand side cannot be free by definition.
I don’t see how this is the US’ fault. Their insurance, who initially denied them, is with a Zurich company. Do they expect any country they visit to cover them medically?
Maybe I’ll pop over to Berlin if I ever get cancer. Surely they’ll pay for all my treatments even though I’m just a tourist. They aren’t barbarians like the US.
I’m fairly sure in Berlin they won’t charge you two hundred thousand fucking dollars for an emergency procedure, but sure, go on strawmanning. What the hell.
Sorry to burst your bubble of USA-hatred but nope. Germany will not decline to treat you but they will bill you. Oh wait… that’s exactly what happened in the US! This was not just an emergency procedure but 3 weeks in the ICU.
This couple’s insurance ultimately decided to pay. So this is a total non story. It would have happened the same in a million places. Tourists do not get major services for free. If they did, people from around the world be showing up with conditions and just reporting straight to the ER and then hop skipping home.
This story was drummed up to tap into people hating on the US for its poor healthcare system. Which is usually valid. But if we judge by whether tourists get free major services, the US isn’t any worse off.
The costs are not comparable, otherwise or healthcare systems would all be bankrupt. And here we don’t have the same incentives to inflate costs.
Yes the costs would be different. Perhaps 100,000€ instead of $200,000. The fact remains tourists don’t get free healthcare anywhere.
This is a complete nothingburger of a story. The couple got treatment. Their insurance was billed, exactly as it would have been if they’d been in Canada or Portugal.
Their insurance momentarily denied to cover them. Why aren’t we mad at them? Because this clickbait story was created to stoke a pre-existing “America sucks” narrative and get outrage clicks.
And they seem to have played everyone here perfectly.
Maybe they denied to cover them because of the ridiculously high bill, have you ever thought about that?
Edit: It seems the cost of a normal birth in Germany is at most €7500 for a tourist with no insurance.
Helllllo the baby was 7 weeks premature and in intensive care for 3 weeks. The cost of a normal birth is totally irrelevant. You didn’t read the article, obviously.
I paid literally zero for either of my kids births right here in California.
why would you go there??? this couple was asking for it
Did you see how they were dressed my god
If i take a boat and sail to a known cannibal island, where people like me have gone and been eaten before, and I then get eaten, there’s no one to blame but me. The US is simply not a good place to travel to at this time. It would have been even more hell for them if they had to over stay their visa.
🤦♂️
