Canadian Mother Million Dollar Medical Bill: Premature Birth In U.S. Costing Canadian Mother Almost $1 Million

A Canadian mother is facing a million dollar medical bill after giving birth in the United States. According to Gawker, a family from Canada was on vacation in Hawaii when mom-to-be Jennifer Huculak went into early labor. Although Jennifer and her husband bought travel insurance from Blue Cross, and double-checked with their doctor before taking the trip, Blue Cross will not pay the medical bills, which totaled nearly one million dollars.

Since Jennifer’s baby was born over two months early, she has needed to be cared for in the hospital. Jennifer also needed medical attention following the birth, and was on bed rest herself on several weeks. However, Blue Cross said that Jennifer was considered “high risk” before her trip, and decided not to cover her labor and delivery costs, or the costs of the subsequent hospital stay.

“Ms. Huculak was diagnosed and treated for a high-risk pregnancy in the six months prior to departure. As Ms. Huculak is currently hospitalized and being treated for this high-risk pregnancy, any expenses incurred are not eligible under the terms of your policy,” Blue Cross said in a letter to the family.

The Canadian mother now has a million dollar medical bill, a 1-year-old daughter, and a headache. Residents of Canada get free healthcare, and when traveling to The States they are told that they need healthcare before entering the country — in case this sort of thing happens. While Jennifer Huculak had purchased travel insurance, Blue Cross felt that her “pre-existing condition” basically voided her coverage.

According to Death And Taxes, Huculak was not diagnosed with high-risk pregnancy. She had a bladder infection, which caused her to go into labor, and that isn’t too uncommon.

“It makes you sick to your stomach. Who can pay a million-dollar medical bill? Who can afford that?” Huculak said. It is unknown if she and her husband are appealing the bill, or if they are going to hire an attorney.

Healthcare in America is always a hot topic of conversation. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, healthcare premiums are up, and people are getting more and more fed up with Obamacare.

“The bottom line is that it’s not easy to say simply whether premiums are going up, or by how much. The health law set up marketplaces that allow for state regulation of insurance and regional variation in prices. It also offers a wide variety of insurance plans. That’s the consequence of the structure the Affordable Care Act envisioned: lots of plans competing on price and features in local markets.”

Many feel as though Canada has the right idea with free healthcare, do you?

[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]