South west couple left with $200k bill after baby born in US

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2r7d4gzz1o

Posted by revolut1onname

29 Comments

  1. Crispylordvader on

    Well looks like that trip to the US was a one and done…

    Could they realistically chase the money if they got back to the UK ?

  2. PracticeNo8733 on

    Headline misses the point of what happened. This was an insurance dispute – one which (eventually) got sorted (so the couple don’t have a bill to pay).

    > After a nine month legal battle, Zurich has reversed its decision and told the BBC it was sorry for the stress caused.

  3. Shitty situation but I don’t understand why stories like this are 90% of the BBC’s news output. It’s just endless sob stories.

  4. As much as we shit on NHS wait times, lord are we lucky to have it

    200k to give birth is fucking absurd

  5. How in the hell can Americans think there’s nothing wrong with their medical system? Yeah, the NHS is struggling over here, but at least getting an ambulance doesn’t put British people thousands of pounds in debt.

  6. Boogyoogywoogy on

    Love how the US that trying to go super conservative and says WE NEED MORE KIDS bills parents the price of a home before even the raising has begun.

    Abortion is bad but please spend 200k and 9 months of your life

  7. ChaiTeaAndBoundaries on

    Coming to the UK soon..

    The UK public do not have a clue on how expensive medical care is.. They will find out soon if they decide to vote the way the Americans voted in 2024.

  8. External-Piccolo-626 on

    Is the bill so high to discourage this exact thing, travelling there to give birth?

  9. I felt really bad for them until they state that they still use the same insurance company to travel with because its the best…. these guys arent hurting for money if they travel this much, had their lawyer help them fight the insurance company, and now still regularly use this company when travelling…

  10. For those that didn’t read the article – the insurance company did pay the bill.

    Americans with insurance would not be paying $200k for this. They would be paying their deductible and out of pocket. The insurance company would also not be paying $200k because those are “gross” charges and nobody pays those – it would pay far less. They are artificially high for boring regulatory reasons that I won’t cover here unless anyone is interested.

  11. swordoftruth1963 on

    Zurich. The insurance company spent 9 months fighting the case until eventually agreeing to pay. Imagine having that to ruin your first few months with a fragile premature baby.

  12. notrainsaroundhere on

    Lost all sympathy when I saw the baby had been called “Lucky” though all will be forgiven if that’s them playing on the irony of the whole ordeal being a very unlucky situation

  13. jodrellbank_pants on

    Your’e pregnant, dont care how many months gone and you don’t ask you insurance company if your valid, sucks to be you. they will class it as a pre existing undisclosed condition, so the insurance is invalid.

  14. Baffling to me that anyone would see the shit show going on on that side of the pond and think “yes, that’s where I want to travel”

  15. WildWinterberry on

    No matter what stage of pregnancy you’re in you should be 100% sure about the insurance policies over there before flying out. Anything can happen at any time in pregnancy. I have no sympathy for people like this

  16. Can you just … not pay in this scenario? I mean, if you’re not insured for it, this has worked out ok for this couple in the end. But what hold does a US medical provider have over you? A debt in the US surely isn’t enforceable in a UK court?

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  18. Prize-Meeting-7101 on

    At least insurance eventually paid but the poor bloody kid will have to file is taxes for the rest of its life.

  19. Despite the fact it was sorted out eventually, it should be a cautionary tale to anyone that thinks an insurance based system is good.

  20. Insurance companies should have to pay an additional amount for any claim that is initially rejected but then later found to be valid.