To not give my address to this American hospital and to be fuming over the phonecall I received

[whysogrumpy]

Ok, I will try to be brief but I am actually shaking over the conversation I had on the phone earlier today.

Last year my dh and I went to New York. I was pregnant at the time and I had horrendous 'morning' sickness while there - in fact, after a whole day of being sick dh was advised by a dr on the phone to take me to hospital as I could have been dehyrated. He did so and I was put on a drip as I was dehydtrated and I also had a scan.

We had taken out travel insurance and, as happens in the states, a man in the hospital came and took the details of it before we saw anyone medical. I also had to give my name and address to the triage nurse and when I left my details were verified again.

When we got back we heard nothing further from our insurance company such as being charged an excess but I have never claimed anything on insurance before so don't really know how it works. Also, during the stay and for weeks after I kept bleeding and, as I also have 2 older dc, I haven't had time to ever consider whether I should have heard from the insurance company, and the incident took place last November.

Anyway, today I received a phonecall from the hospital. The woman said that she needed my address as there had been a fault with their computer and they had lost my insurance details and therefore had not been able to claim for the treatment I recieved. I said that I had given them those AND my address (and they had clearly not lost my phone number ) and she repeated that there had been a fault with the computer. I said that my insurance was a travel policy and I didn't know whether I would be able to claim on it nearly a year after the event and she apologised and asked for my address again. I ummed and ahhed a bit and then she snapped, "If you don't give me the details, your name will be given to all American airports and you will never be able to enter the states again!" .

I hung up at this point. There is no way I can pay a huge hospital bill at this point - we have 3 dc including a 3 month old and I am on mat leave. More to the point, why should I - I had adequate insurance and gave them all the details they asked for. I am upset by her threat but highly unlikely to ever afford to go there again anyway - if it does hold weight - does it ?

AIBU?

Like shoplifting

Ah, the memory returns. Maybe you can remember your insurance details.

wtf??? Are you accusing me of theft? Are you the person that rang me? Not paying a bill that you haven't been given is like shop-lifting is it??

Whilst there is treatment that should be paid for, they may well have a weak claim if their ineptitude meant they have lost your insurance details - however, your insurance people will almost certainly wriggle out of responsibility as you didn't inform them at the time - ignorance is no defence, although that will feel very unfair. It would not surprise me if this has been passed on to medical debt recovery agent and this is who you were speaking to. Because you have confirmed by phone they have the right person you may well be getting some US mail in the post.

What do you mean, 'the memory returns,'. Everything in my last post could have been in my first.

If you haven't paid for services received, what would you call it?

That's a bit much knowsabit, the hospital has not billed the OP at any time. They indicated they were going to bill her insurance and at no time asked the OP to pay up front.

I call it fucking stupid to not give someone a bill for services received, to formally discharge them wthout at any point asking for money or mentioning what they need to do. Maybe I am very stupid, as is my dh. We are not theives - you seem to be implying we did this deliberatley - why??

It is not the hospital's responsibility to ensure you've read your insurance details. You're an adult. It is, or should be, common knowledge that if you're abroad and in hospital, you notify your insurance company. The fact that you gave the details of the company to them is irrelevant. I can't help feeling that you were very naive - yes, you were unwell, but it was therefore your husband's job to deal with things.

That said, this latest turn of events sounds more than a bit dodgy.

But if the OP gives the hospital dodgy invalid insurance details, this takes a while to pan through. The claim would have exceeded their usual time frame and therefore passed onto Rottweilers collections.

What makes you think the insurance details she gave were invalid? She hasn't said that.

letsblowthistacostand speaks sense imho. If this is a genuine demand for payment they would have i] approached you sooner ii] would have already obtained your address iii]tried a bloody sight harder

Lesson learned for everyone going abroad, make sure you read your travel insurance and enquire to the company there and then of the etiquette should you need to use it.

Ok so we are stupid/ naive. We do not often travel abraod, certainly not long-haul - it was not common knowledge to us and I don't think it unreasonable to expect the staff to advise us of what we needed to do.

Someone upthread said they don't molly-coddle you in America - on the contrary, the treatment I received was excellent, friendly and extremely caring. Molly-coddling is not a pleasant term but I felt very looked-after and therefore didn't realise there was something else I neeeded to have done. A man came who was not medical and spoke only of insurance - I think i twell within his remit to have pointed us in the direction of the phones if needed.

I will know better next time.

They were invalid if she did not get authorisation for treatment.

knowsabitabouteducation - what have you got against me? why are you now accusing me of having dodgy insurance?

FFS. If it happened a year ago and this is the first you've heard about it, LIKELY IT'S NOT LEGITIMATE. The hospital should have billed you at the time or contacted you within a reasonable time frame. Call the hospital and take no notice of anyone saying you've bankrupted them with your fare-dodging ways.

I don't think she is accusing you of anything, but I would think that the majority of policies do not cover pregnancy, you may have had to tell the insurance co before you went.

Sorry to be harsh OP,

but it is YOUR responsibility to make sure you are properly insured, and that YOU have read the small print and understand how your travel insurance works. The hospitals job is to treat you, not to advise on insurance issues.

Having said that, I too find it odd that their computer managed to lose everything apart from your phone number.

All sounds very stressful whysogrumpy.

I can see why you'd panic a bit. I have no advice, but I wouldn't have given out your address either.

Is there any way you can trace the call and see if it was genuine?

Sorry to add to your insurance woes, but it is quite likely that your pregnancy was not covered under your holiday insurance anyway, unless you took it out knowing specifically that it did so, so your insurance company is even less likely to assist.

If you do get further written contact from the US, probably by debt recovery on behalf of the hospital, do you know what you will do?

I have nothing against you, but you have received a service that you did not pay for. That is what I am pointing out.

The reason US medical costs are so high is because of the large number of non-payers. Hard working Americans have to cover these costs, often with insurance premiums in the region of £800 per month for a family of four. It's not victimless.

Knowsabit do you know so much about this as you work in insurance ?

It would explain why doing such a dull job would make you rude , and condescending .

Insurance and the American medical industry both industries that rip people off and shit on the little people daily . Don't lose any sleep over it op.

I just don't think this has anything to do with the OP's insurance and whether or not she read the fine print. I'm sure all you perfectly perfect people have never ever exceeded the speed limit, run a red light or jaywalked? Hmm?

There was no bill at the time of the treatment. The hospital has an obligation to present the bill to the patient in a timely manner. This was not done. You can't call up people a year later and say "oh ho ho you didn't pay now you can never ever come to the US again." IT'S DODGY.

Most us hospitals make you sign something to say that you will be responsible for the bill should the insurance not pay.
I was being chased by a us clinic for 75 dlrs for about 3 years and they only gave up when i asked them to prove what it was for.
If you bought yr insurance online you migjht be able to find some details in your email.
Some policies will cover pg complications, but not normal childbirth or antenatal tests.
Us hospitals prob not aware that some travel policies require authorisation. Mine does for inpatient, not outpatient.