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The family of a Portland man had to fight to get him back to the United States after he suffered a severe reaction to a jellyfish sting while swimming in Mexico.
The former Portland State University student is now in San Diego.
Leibelt's family and friends said the Mexican hospital kept upping his bill to as much as $50,000, telling them they wouldn't work with Leibelt's insurance company or release him until it was paid in full.
Are there no single, isolated, anecdotal examples anyone can find of an American hospital overcharging a patient? In American hospitals, every day that you stay there, unconscious in the ICU, your bill goes up. That surprises you?
American health insurance plans never cover health costs outside the USA, so of course the Mexican hospital would not "work with" the insurance company, with no hope of compensation, which is the policy of the American insurer, not the Mexican hospital, so your outrage is misdirected. Travelers are advised to buy separate coverage while abroad.
Every health plan I have had covers medical in other countries.
Also another good reason to have a credit card - travel protection.
This is not revenge. When I worked in El Paso, it was well known that Mexican hospital might literally kidnap the patient until the bill was paid. Or toss him over the bridge...we got a lot of patients that way.
Every health plan I have had covers medical in other countries.
Also another good reason to have a credit card - travel protection.
I just did some checking. While some American insurers cover some overseas costs, they never pay direct to the provider. The traveler has to settle the bill, then apply to the insurance company for reimbursement. So if the guy in the story has medical insurance, all he has to do is gather up his Mexican itemized receipts and submit them to his provider, to see what they cover
Credit card travel insurance never covers medical expenses -- only trip cancellation for paid tickets, and then only if the cause is death or illness.
Both Mexican and American hospitals have the same policy. All patents are treated, all patients are billed the same, and the bill can be adjusted later according to the patient's ability to pay, at the hospital's discretion. If a rich Mexican is treated in an American hospital, he'll pay the same as an uninsured American. A poor Mexican will pay the same as a poor American.
And yes...you go get care and submit your claim to your insurance company.
I have done this. It is not the insurance company...no one outside this country wants to deal with them directly.
Stupid is as stupid does/ He went to a foreign country without travel insurance that also covered medical evacuation. Duh.
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