Current Events > UK couple stuck in the US after baby was born early face $50,000 medical bills

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A couple has been left stuck in the US with extortionate medical bills after their baby was born three months early while on holiday. Louis Borrill and fiancee Yeridiana Chazares were shocked when little Lily was born weighing just 1lb, 11oz, well ahead of her November due date and may not be discharged from hospital for up to four months.

Before their 10-day US trip, the parents decided against taking out medical insurance as they were quoted 4,000 due to Yeridiana being pregnant. Now the north Lincolnshire-based couple are stuck in Baltimore until Lily is well enough to go home, meaning they are facing months of expensive medical and hotel bills.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help them cover the costs. Louis and Yeridiana had been visiting her family in Baltimore for a surprise baby shower but the mother-to-be woke the following morning with a strong fever. A couple have been left stuck in the USA after their child was born three months early while they were on holiday.

Louis Borrill and his fiancee Yeridiana Chazares had been visiting her family in Baltimore for a surprise baby shower but after she woke up the following day with what seemed to be a strong fever, they decided to go to hospital in nearby Rockville. Yeri holding Lily for the first time Yeridiana Chazares went to the hospital with a fever but found out she was in pre-term labour

After hours of hospital scans, doctors said Yeridiana was actually in pre-term labour. They said the waiting period could have been anywhere between a few hours to a few months, and they would have stay in hospital until the baby was born. But at 8.18am on August 6, tiny baby Lily was born.

Louis said: I dont even know how I could possibly describe that 24-hour period. We were scrambling around trying to figure out what we had to do and were both obviously very nervous. But we knew we had to remain calm, knowing our baby could come at any point.

Our beautiful Lily decided she had enough of waiting around and came to us two days after her baby shower and three months earlier than we expected. With Lily being born so premature, she was not moving and could not breathe and needed a breathing tube fitted to save her life. Since then, Lily has stopped breathing twice and had to be resuscitated last week after having a heart murmur, which doctors hoped could be treated with medication.

Lily Borrill, just a few days after being born Baby Lily may need further surgeries due to the complications of her premature birth. Lily also still has a vessel called a Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) which babies lose when they are born and is set to be reviewed to determine if she needs further surgeries.
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Yeridiana recalled the trauma of watching her first-born child put in an incubator and receiving round-the-clock specialist care. She said: Having contractions and a c-section dont compare to the pain I felt seeing my first-born in an incubator covered in tubes and tinier than I could have ever imagined. All day I blamed myself, thinking that if maybe I had done something differently Lily would have made it to full term.

I cant understand how she was so active during her baby shower and two days later I had to deliver her urgently. Nonetheless, we appreciate everyones love and support, we truly do. The doctors say Lily is doing great breathing, moving, and hopefully getting stronger and stronger

I cant wait to have her home. The couple said doctors had told them Lily would not be out of the woods until around three or four months before being allowed to go home to Scunthorpe.

Louis said: We did not have medical insurance as it was around 4,000 because Yeri was pregnant, just for those 10 days. The risk of not paying for this backfired. He added: Im so proud of my little fighter, shes doing really well at the moment and Im sure in the next few months, she will continue to do so. I am so proud of Yeri.

She handled everything so perfectly and was incredible. Louis and Yeri have set up an online GoFundMe page to help them meet care and hospital bills. He said: Any help whether it be a share or a donation is widely appreciated in this difficult time. Thank you in advance.


Full Article: https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/30/british-couple-stuck-us-facing-huge-medical-bills-baby-born-three-months-early-10660259/


Ironically their GoFundMe has raised about 4,000 which would have been the cost of their insurance.

You can also kinda see why the insurance people wanted that 4 grand for 10 days since they just proved it runs a risk of costing them $50,000.

Crazy to think that if they were still in the UK all they would be paying is for parking at the hospital and that's literally it.
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UnfairRepresent posted...

Before their 10-day US trip, the parents decided against taking out medical insurance

I mean.....
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The US healthcare system is evil
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question

why is the dad the one in the hospital gown holding the baby

i thought pregnant women aren't supposed to fly
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SauI_Goodman posted...

i thought pregnant women aren't supposed to fly

Only after 34-37 weeks depending on the airline.

This was like what.... Week 24?

gatorsPENSbucs posted...

UnfairRepresent posted...

Before their 10-day US trip, the parents decided against taking out medical insurance

I mean.....

It was 4,000.

It might literally be a case of either not paying for the insurance or not going on the trip at all.

If you can afford 4,000 for a 10 day period then you're rich enough to never have to go to fucking Baltimore.
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-Cipher- posted...

question

why is the dad the one in the hospital gown holding the baby

Because he gave birth to the baby. Didnt you pay attention in health class?
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Yeridiana Chazares

A classic British name.
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Feetish posted...

Yeridiana Chazares

A classic British name.

Da fuck are you implying here?
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UnfairRepresent posted...

Feetish posted...

Yeridiana Chazares

A classic British name.

Da fuck are you implying here?

I, too, would like to know this
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I'm not sure what extreme preemie care is like in the UK, but being born 3 months early is a death sentence pretty much everywhere. If nothing else, the quality of care they received may very well have saved their baby's life.
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Is there anything to stop them from just going home and ignoring the debt forever? What can a US hospital do to UK residents?
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Jiek_Fafn posted...

Is there anything to stop them from just going home and ignoring the debt forever? What can a US hospital do to UK residents?

Destroy their credit
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-Cipher- posted...

question

why is the dad the one in the hospital gown holding the baby

Did you just assume their genders?
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Jiek_Fafn posted...

Is there anything to stop them from just going home and ignoring the debt forever? What can a US hospital do to UK residents?

Well for starters the hospital is saying the baby will need to remain in the hospital for 3 or 4 months...

So doing that will kill their baby. Which as parents they would see as a net negative. This is why they are stuck in the US.

Secondly, debt doesn't go away because you run away from it.

It would destroy their credit and eventually result in criminal charges.
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YookaLaylee posted...

Jiek_Fafn posted...

Is there anything to stop them from just going home and ignoring the debt forever? What can a US hospital do to UK residents?

Destroy their credit

I'm not an expert by any means but I don't think that overseas debt goes on your uk credit report most of the time. I know if you move there from the us you need to start from scratch building credit.
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s0nicfan posted...

I'm not sure what extreme preemie care is like in the UK, but being born 3 months early is a death sentence pretty much everywhere. If nothing else, the quality of care they received may very well have saved their baby's life.

This is actually an interesting point.

The general standard of Healthcare in the UK is actually higher than the US

HOWEVER, the peak pinnacle of healthcare in the US is higher than the UK.

I don't know what this baby required or the hospital which provided the care. But considering it's only $50,000 I doubt it's tip top of the line care.

And the NHS can and does care for premature babies, even ones this early. However they would have to take the baby to an NHS hospital with the relevant equipment which means there is a chance it wouldn't be near were the parents live for quite a while.

It's possible the parents would also WANT higher standard private care near to where they live which then they would have to pay for anyway. Although considering they balked at the expensive medical insurance I doubt they could.

But in general your statement is incorrect, It's doubtful that this baby would have died unless it was born in Baltimore.

Babies born as early as 22 Weeks have a 60% survival rate on the NHS. That's pretty good.

Not sure how many weeks this pregnancy was but it was more than 22. I think about 27/28. That's probably going to be around 80/95% survival rate in the UK.
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YookaLaylee posted...

Jiek_Fafn posted...

Is there anything to stop them from just going home and ignoring the debt forever? What can a US hospital do to UK residents?

Destroy their credit

And their baby
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