to think you don't go on holiday whilst having a high risk pregnancy and without adequate insurance

[Defenderwife]

Woman gives birth after food poisoning whilst on holiday in the Dominic Republic.

She had a cervical cerclage so knew she had a high risk pregnancy.

Her insurance didn't cover her entire pregnancy.

They are now stranded with a premature baby in a foreign country with no financial help and are relying on donations and GoFundMe.

I have made a donation but inside I feel almost angry. Why on earth have they let themselves be in this situation? That poor poor child.

[TheOnlyOliviaMumsnet]

@JeffsanArsehole

Yes, the difference is that they're not a poster on here. Personal attacks are not allowed to be directed to posters on here not randoms in the media.

Actually, we would say that Mumsnet's raison d'être is to make lives easier and while we are all for free speech, we also think that if there's one thing we can ALL do with it's some moral support.
AKA Peace and love folks.
Thanks

[Hulababy]

It says she had the baby on September 28th, so the insurance paid out in about a week, which if you've ever claimed is pretty fast.

I agree; within a week is fast. I had to wait 10 weeks for my claim to be paid in full.

Even for emergency cases it can't be done immediately - checks have to be made.

[PrincessTooty]

The admin of the Facebook page have just posted an update. (At around 23:00)

It seems a more coherent and considered update. It looks like everything (medical costs, accommodation, travel, communication) will be covered. 'Professionals' have advised that Evie stay put at the public hospital while she is still at risk. There was no update about how Evie was doing.

I've copy and pasted it. (Hope that's ok)

.....

Little Evie's Medical Costs
46 mins ·
I think it’s important to address the questions and concerns that some of you may have. Unfortunately details are a bit scarce as you can imagine but there are a few facts that we know.

1. Infinity insurance has agreed to cover the expenses that were incurred by the family while Evie stayed at the private hospital (medical expenses, accommodation, transport and communication);
   
2. Infinity insurance has also agreed to cover all of the costs being incurred at the current (public) hospital where Evie is being treated (medical expenses, accommodation, transport and communication);
   
3. Infinity insurance has also agreed to cover the expenses of transport for Evie and the family back to the UK when Evie is strong enough.
   
4. Professionals advise that Evie should remain at the public hospital instead of being moved while she is still at risk. It is unknown whether or not the family will transfer her to the private hospital when she is strong enough.
   
5. It is unclear whether or not the insurance company will cover the costs of the private hospital if the family do decide to transfer her.
   

It is important to remember that the fund raising was established to cover the costs of Evie’s care at the private hospital. This is of course still a possibility which is why it remains so important that we can raise as much as we can.
Evie’s well-being is still at the very forefront of our concerns and ultimately her continued care is the most important thing in all of this.
Whether all of the funds that are donated at the end of this is used by the family for Evie’s treatment or not, any remaining donations will be donated to the (public) hospital where she is currently being treated and to an organisation/care unit here in the UK.
So please, remember who really matters here and keep pushing to raise these funds if the worst (god-forbid) were to happen.

[sashh]

www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/costs_of_healthcare_for_baby_evie_will_be_paid_insurance_company_confirms_1_4262984

Insurance are paying for hospital costs, hotel costs, taxis to/from hospital, phone calls, flights home.

[RomComPhooey]

I'm staggered they are still collecting. Given that the necessity of funding for the private hospital is uncertain, I think they should suspend the fund-raising and reopen it only if they need to.

I can't help wondering if moving Evie to the private hospital off their own bat her would bring the insurance company's medical support to an end, which would be incredibly foolish if it were the case. I'd also be very interested to see a comparison of the two hospitals' outcomes - a shiny, posh hospital doesn't always guarantee the best clinical outcomes. The quality of the clinical care and expertise is really, really important.

[Only1scoop]

Glad baby doing well.

So it's a 'what if' fund now. Insurance even covering accommodation for parents and their calls.

Amazed also still collecting.

Let's hope we see a transfer in entirity of funds to the hospital on their departure.

[Sansoora]

So please, remember who really matters here and keep pushing to raise these funds if the worst (god-forbid) were to happen.

What is this supposed to mean?

Are they asking people to contribute incase the wee one dies? Why?

[Only1scoop]

I read it as though they are keeping it going incase they decide to switch to the other hospital.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

So they are keeping go 'in case' they move her and 'in case' the insurers won't pay out.

And they are continuing to push to raise their maximum estimated amount if the full period of her care had taken place in the private hospital. Presumably it will be less than this as the period she spends in the public hospital has confirmed to be covered. They already have enough for something like 7-8 weeks in the private hospital.

And they are stressing the idea that it goes to charity if not. Which would be great, were it not for the fact that a massive chunk of it won't. It will go to GoFundMe.

I think that's very, very wrong. They are taking money on an awful lot of ifs:

• if they move her; and
• if the insurance doesn't pay out; and
• if, when they move her and the insurance doesn't pay out, the remainder of her care isn't covered by what they already have.

I can't believe that they are actively still pushing for more money in those circumstances.

[Only1scoop]

Pretty shocking the just letting it tot up.

[sleepyelectricsheep]

:Which would be great, were it not for the fact that a massive chunk of it won't. It will go to GoFundMe"

Give over.

A huge amount of charitable giving these days happens through third parties,.who take not only running costs but a percentage for profit too.

The ethics of this aside, it's pretty standard practice.

How else should they have raised money? Can you suggest a platform as effective as GFM that doesn't take a cut?

[Only1scoop]

I would suggest "thank you for your very kind donations. In light of the fact that our insurers have agreed to pay for all Evies care and even our own stay here and some expenses on top of that we will be closing the GFM page and donating the donations in entirity minus their cut as soon as we are able.

[ConstanceMarkYaBitch]

So they are still not only accepting money, but actually asking for more? Un real.
And since they aren't a charity at all, there will be no checks made to see what they do with the money, no proof that they will donate any of it to hospitals or charities, and every chance that they will do whatever they hell they like with it.

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

I read it as though they are keeping it going in case they decide to switch to the other hospital

So did I - and if they'd only transfer Evie once she's more stable then the continued fundraising makes less sense than ever. If this "dangerous/dirty" hospital are good enough to bring the baby safely through the crisis, what's the point in even thinking of moving her, unless it's just because the parents consider the private place their due?

I'd have enjoyed going private when in hospital, but I don't have private medical insurance so couldn't afford it - I certainly didn't think of asking anyone else to pay

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

Exactly 1 scoop. The insurance is covering everything at present and they potentially have even if they move her and it doesn't cover that. I would suggest that they stop asking for more!

And of course this isn't the same as chugger costs or whatever . What an odd argument.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

How else should they have raised money? Can you suggest a platform as effective as GFM that doesn't take a cut?

I am not suggesting that they should have used an alternative platform. Though of course, the fact that they ended up on GoFundMe at all seems less the fault of the insurance company and more to do with their (understandable) panic when they read their policy and realised it was woefully inadequate. I suspect that is how they latched onto the erroneous (but very tabloid worthy) idea that a time difference cut off was somehow relevant - being chronically underinsured they panicked at the normal delays in processing a claim and latched on to the first thing that made sense to them personally. And also the fault of a bullying hospital - who seem to have escaped public censure for their behaviour entirely, weirdly.

But once things were as sorted as they are, they should have stopped collecting. Regardless of processing fees, etc there are much, much better ways of donating to charity. Certainly for the UK clinic, proper donations could have been gift aided through many online routes. But money collected this way can't be. (Now I realise that most people wouldn't have given to the clinic without this, but the 'oh we got some anyway' answer is really no excuse when there are people saying they can't afford the £5 but are giving it anyway to save this particular baby).

[Want2bSupermum]

I would think the hospital they are at is better equipt to deal with their needs compared to the private hospital. What most people don't know is that those private hospitals mainly care for Americans and Canadians flying in for routine operations like hip replacements and plastic surgery as the cost is lower. They really are not set up to cope with premies which is probably why they were moved in the first place.

I've been saying it for a while that I can't believe these two parents. At best they are naive but they are looking to be more and more stupid with a hint of entitlement. They should be so thankful that the insurance company are paying out and quite frankly ashamed of themselves for initially putting the insurance company in a bad light.

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

Regardless of processing fees, etc there are much, much better ways of donating to charity

There are, yes - but not all of them hold out the tantalizing possibility of making a nice little packet for yourself out of publicly money

And to repeat: if it can be shown that they'v given the cash (or even the vast majority of it) to charity I'll be the first to say I was wrong

[Only1scoop]

Have just clicked on Op's link to GFM page. Could it have finally been removed?

I'm not on FB so hopefully they will update their intentions there at some point in the future.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

That wasn't a link to the GFM page. It was a news article

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

Not sure if you mean the link or the actual page, Only1scoop, but the Gofundme collection is still running and standing at £75,106 now

[Only1scoop]

Apologies my mistake

Yes I've just found link over 75,000 now last update I could see on there was 2 days ago.

Donations still flowing in.

[CorBlimeyTrousers]

I think it's a valid point above that the public hospital may actually be better equipped for a premature baby than the private one. Here in the UK our son had surgery (paid for by private medical insurance) at an NHS hospital because the local private hospitals don't have intensive care facilities for under 3s. It was fairly routine surgery and he was fortunately fine but there needed to be ICU facilities available in case of unforeseen complications.

I wish the baby and her parents well.

[PrincessTooty]

Donations are still coming in but I would describe it as a slow trickle not a flow.

I'm really hoping that Evies parents are now happy that Evie is in the right place. I've lived in a similar type of country and if DR is anything like where I lived the difference between the private hospitals and the public hospitals is shocking. I'm hoping that Evies parents initial horror over the scruffiness of the public hospital has lessened. It's the care, expertise, hygiene and equipment that matter and not the superficial scruffiness IYSWIM - I've no idea if this is the case but that's what I'm hoping.

There has been no recent update on how the baby is. (Which is understandable as I imagine the parents are busy and the time difference means it's still early there )

I hope she is doing well.

[sleepyelectricsheep]

PrincessTooty I hope so too.