The Plight of a Newborn Baby Stranded in Hong Kong

[diabeticman]

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-plight-of-a-newborn-baby-stranded-in-hong-119054651652.html



Some women dream of having a baby overseas. For U.S. citizen Wendy Morrow, the birth of her child in Hong Kong has been a nightmare.

Morrow was seven months pregnant and traveling to China for her brother’s wedding when her water suddenly broke at Hong Kong International Airport. The Iowa resident — who had been told by her doctor that it was safe to travel — went into labor, and Baby Ky uss was born prematurely on May 7 at Princess Margaret Hospital. What should have been a joyous occasion turned sour when Morrow discovered that health insurance wouldn’t cover the family’s spiraling hospital bills.

The family also tried to appeal to their travel insurance providers but were informed that it wasn’t possible because the baby’s name was not listed on the insurance, which had been taken out before the birth.

The family was also turned down by Medicaid and told by their Iowa congressman that there was nothing to be done. “We regret to inform you that Medicare/Medicaid does not pay medical bills resulting from medical treatment in foreign hospitals,” wrote the office of Iowa Congressman Steve King.
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Another fine example of American Exceptionism!


But we can't have socialized medicine like Canada and England and other European countries have... We might have to actually take care of our citizens instead of lining the pockets of corporations and 1%ers

[Hoppy]

1. Was the hospital named after The Dummy Princess Margaret or another Princess Margaret?

[MADem]

3. The deceased Margaret, sister of Elizabeth, from when HK was a Crown Colony.

What's the point of speaking ill of the dead? She was a rather tragic figure; she had serious addiction issues. She was a walking, talking representation of the adage that money can't buy happiness.

[hedda_foil]

12. What on earth are you trying to say?

It's named after Queen Elizabeth's late sister, Princess Margaret.

[Hoppy]

15. Google "Monty Python The Dummy Princess Margaret

[choie]

2. Medicaid

Has a very low income threshold and Medicare is for people who are disabled or at least 65, so they probably wouldn't be eligible for that coverage anyway...if she's covered by private insurance, then the insurance co needs to be held responsible.

[MADem]

5. A lot of those insurance coverages do not cover overseas travel.

Particularly holiday travel.

It sucks, but it is worth it, to be on the safe side, to buy some travel insurance when going on holiday.

[Fumesucker]

6. Evidently the couple did buy travel insurance

From the OP:

The family also tried to appeal to their travel insurance providers but were informed that it wasn’t possible because the baby’s name was not listed on the insurance, which had been taken out before the birth.

[MADem]

7. At least they've separated out the mother from the child.

But the baby’s bills are yet to be covered. According to a Facebook page the family set up, “Bring Baby Kyuss Home: born Abroad in China,” Kyuss’ bills have already totaled $11,000 and are adding up, at an additional $1,600 a day. By Monday, the family predicts the sum will be at $14,000.

She needs to take out a loan and pay that off, then head for GOFUNDME or see if she can do some TV appearances (lots of places pay for interviews, even though US does not) to knock down those costs.

This is a lesson for future pregnant travelers, though--always put "Unnamed Baby/Fetus (Last Name)" on the policy.

Those costs are actually pretty resonable for a child born that prematurely, at least compared to stateside expenditures.

[alphafemale]

14. How did someone low-income buy an international flight?

Do they have a gofundme page set up for grift yet?

[pugetres]

4. Remember the Canadian couple

hit with a nearly $1 million dollar hospital bill? She gave premature birth while in Hawaii on vacation and their travel insurance wouldn't cover the bill.

The Canadian health care system couldn't be responsible for their citizen's bill. I couldn't image that if the US ever went single-payer or socialized that the govt would be able to pay for travel insurance for its citizens either.

[MADem]

8. That's right--socialized medicine wasn't of any help, there, either.

It's a situation where people just have to buy the doggone travel insurance. And even at that, with the case of those Canadians, the travel insurance was the one refusing to pay:

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/27434582/million-dollar-baby-born-in-hawaii

[SoapBox]

9. Uhhhhhhh...huh?

She was 7 months pregnant...traveled half way around the world, Iowa to Hong Kong...and they wanted MediCAID to pay?

I am having a very hard time mustering a lot of sympathy.

So is the baby going to be Chinese citizen?

[Live and Learn]

10. Wow nt

[alphafemale]

13. Yeah, that is a trip totaling in thousands not hundreds.

Get these Grifters a reality show.

Always a sob story.

Always a con.

[Malraiders]

11. Travel agents in England advise their clients to

buy medical insurance for themselves when traveling abroad or when traveling the UK.

The rteason being is that they are not covered by England's socialized medical care after leaving the UK.

[davidpdx]

16. Even with a doctor saying it's ok for her to travel there are no guarantees

Premature births happen unexpectedly. it has nothing to do with insurance. I have wonderful health insurance here in South Korea (we have universal health care) and in 2011 I visited back home and became very ill and ended up in the hospital for 5 days with pneumonia. The price tag: over $30,000. I certainly can't blame that on the health care here. Even with socialized medicine the likelihood of her hospital bills being paid were slim to none.

You may have a legitimate point about the health system being far from perfect in the US, but certainly this situation does nothing to further your point.