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?

I understand that if OP owes money she would not be allowed entry-but if the woman said it as she did-it sounds as if it´s apenalty for not giving out her address!

It´s not as if OP has had a bill & ignored it, is it?

Yes, she may now get a bill-which she can actually do something about!

You did brilliant. Never give personal details over phone. The woman is a nutter.

Blimey. Look if they call back don't give them your address but do give them the insurance companies name and address. If they're legit they'll go through the insurance to track you down, if not

If it's a legit claim then you'll have to pay, as others have said it's your responsibility to advise your insurance company.

company's

Refer any bill to the insurance and take if from there.

Op you must remember the insurance company you were with. Why not ring them and ask them to trace your records, see if they made a payout. If not, I am affraid it is your responsibility. I think people are being a bit harsh on you. You were more concerned for your baby at the time and had other things to think about. But now you can try and find out how to rectify it.

Someone may have said this already, BUT... If you took out standard travel insurance, you probably weren't covered for treatment for morning sickness. There are lots of 'specialist' pregnancy insurance policies, but the off-the-peg, high street ones generally exclude cover for any 'pregnancy-related' conditions. I guess it's too late now, but reading the policy, including all the small print, is essential.

So, the debt is probably yours, not the insurance company's.

I agree the caller was probably a debt collector rather than someone from the hospital - unpaid debts do get 'sold on'. I agree you shouldn't give personal details to anyone over the phone, let alone a loan shark (which is effectively what they are).

If they manage to track you down by post now, I'd say you are very very unlikely to be able to argue you don't owe this money. In any case, it'll take months and months, so you have time to 'save' to pay back what's owed if you want to clear the debt. Of course it's up to you if you want to try to ignore them or fight them... But if you find yourself facing debt recovery action, it's absolutely crucial you get all your facts straight which definitely includes reading the policy you should have read a year ago and get some advice from the CAB or a lawyer; because if you can't win, you're probably better off paying... I assume you have better things to do with your energy than fight a losing battle?!

Yes, I agree with the others. You wouldn't be insured on a bog, standard agreement.

I'm not blaming you in th slightest but do bear in mind that an insurance 'fraud' could count against you and invalidate any other policies that you hold

Speaking as someone who does read the small print, my travel insurance which was the cheapest deal for the 2 of us did cover early pregnancy (up to about 20 weeks iirc). If the cheapest available insurance covered early pregnancy then I'm sure any other insurance would do so too.

As for the ECHI card, that is for free healthcare. Most of Europe doesn't have completely free healthcare system so you also need travel insurance, but having a valid EHIC to reduce the cost of your treatment is a common requirement of travel insurance policies.

But even in the EU, where you have reciprocal agreements, you have to deal with paperwork and understand how the EHIC card works. I had treatment in France, I paid the French rate at the doctors and then had to call when I got back to the UK and submit a claim for reimbursement.

There's really no excuse for going abroad and getting medical treatment and then deciding not to bother understanding how it all works.

I am sympathetic, I was really sick throughout my pregnancy, but it's not like I didn't do a UK tax return because I'm American and don't understand how it works and I have more important things to worry about.

I really doubt you could be banned from the US. I think only criminal matters would flag your passport and unpaid debt is a civil matter.

If the cheapest available insurance covered early pregnancy then I'm sure any other insurance would do so too.

I agree - obviously you wouldn't be covered for routine scans and care, but in an emergency (which this was) I would imagine you would be covered for early pregnancy - otherwise the insurance companies would be involved in all sorts of arguments about whether the insured knew they were pregnant or not.

Anyway, the premium paid by the insured either covers the treatment or not. Hopefully the OP has now phoned them. Her response to the person from the hospital wasn't reasonable, as this person was only doing her job.

Gosh, very annoying that this has cropped up now, many months later. But my first thought was, why didn't you notify your insurance company at the time? Even if you weren't sure of procedures, it would be sensible to do that. I've never claimed on travel insurance but if I ended up having hospital treatment in the states, the first thing id do on my return is to get in touch with my insurance company and find out what the procedure is and what else I needed to do.

I agree that if you do owe money, you're better off facing the issue and not burying your head in the sand, because it could come back to bite you if you're unable to get insurance cover in future or if other policies are invalid.

They have your name and phone number so I'm sure you will be traceable anyhow

Novack - yes the NHS does have reciprocal agreements, but that doesn't mean that the healthcare is necessarily free at the point of use. Even with an EHIC card within the EU, there may be costs to pay that can be reclaimed later through your insurance.

I am astonished at the level of general ignorance on this thread.

I live in the US and I have never received a bill at the time of treatment. We give our insurance details- perhaps the hospital were unclear that it was a travel policy, and thought it was medical insurance and have just gotten round to billing you. It can take as someone upthread said up to 6 months for things to work through the system.

Owl

I paid per visit, in US and in Switzerland, but in all cases it was in areas with lots of non-locals and some foreigners, I am sure they were geared up to dealing with it quickly to avoud lengthy and difficult collections processes like the one seen here.

I am very willing to believe they bill their regular local patients differently.

In UK private hospitals they are very keen to make you pay for incidentals (not covered by insurance) before you leave the building.

Piglet, was that in hospitals or doctors' offices/clinics?

I'd be very surprised if a massive NY hospital could knock up a bill for an ER visit before you leave, but I could be wrong.

A recent visit to the paeds ER resulted in paperwork v quickly, but i think that was because it was an auto accident and they want to try and get any money owed that way, too. I think it is fair to say that methods vary from place to place, but op, if they call back, check how much the bill was for. I know everyone hears horror stories of millions of dollars, but ime the fees are not anywhere like I expected. It may be easier to pay than to have it hanging over you.

yabu, and very naive.
sorry to hear that your financial situation is bad, but it will not get better when you have to pay the bill which is likely to be in the thousands.

Debt may be a "civil" matter in the UK, but if you investigate US customs & borders, you will note that prison terms for violence, drug dealing, et al are OK - but "moral turpitude" (I think they call it that) is not. Upon further investigation it is revealed that the US would prefer you destroy another person than property/money. So yes, in theory you may well get flagged at an airport - but it's unlikely for such a low monetary value in reality.

dreaming

In my case it was either a "family practitioner" or a fairly small clinic in quite small towns.

Ah, I would expect in that case a bill would be pretty easy to give you right away. Interesting what owlwarrior's experience was though.

Dolomites, I think you misunderstand 'moral turpitude', this actually refers to serious crimes including murder, rape, human trafficking, as well as financial crimes like money laundering.

A conviction for drug dealing or serious violence will get you barred. Some crimes won't, like DUI or disorderly conduct.

Don't underestimate the capacity for administrative incompetence in us hospitals.

We once had a claim go back and forth between the insurance and hospital because the hospital misspelled my name and they ended up passing it to a debt collector even though it was their mistake!

If it turns out the debt is yours and you weren't covered under insurance, speak to the hospital. Tell them you have no money and ask to come to a settlement. The hospitals charge inflated prices partly because they have to cover the costs of those who are uninsured and can't pay! They often significantly reduce the bills of those who cannot pay and are uninsured - they're happy to get something!

You shouldn't have assumed the travel insurance would cover you. If it happens again you have to call them and they will probably tell you where to get treatment. You need to authorise any treatment before it starts.

You were right not to give any details on the phone but you do need to call your insurance and ss if they are aware of the claim.

op first of all don't worry.

I lived in the US for 7 years, nothing will happen to you.

Take your time and work things through.

Nothing will go wrong for you, the hospital if things go wrong will simply pass your details to a debt collector. As you live here, you are very safe.

I'm not suggesting you do nothing, but even if you don't nothing will happen to you

Debt is also a civil matter in the US.

Its the same as here.