this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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As someone that wouldn't choose to travel into or through the United States, I can't say I would be surprised if I got back home after this ordeal and the medical bills started showing up. US healthcare will charge for anything under the sun. I half expect visitors will be sent invoices for travelling in the vicinity of a hospital in the near future.
I have both a heathcare insurance and because my hobby is reenacting (ie, travel with really expensive things and doing dumb things like sleep under a hedge for 2 days) a very good travel insurance which includes healthcare abroad.
Both go out of their way to point out I have coverage in the entire world except the USA and active warzones.
The insurance on question is not American, but from their home country. The ridiculous price is American though
I realise that, my connecting thought was that the hospital looking at their insurance policy should have been able to understand the pregnancy was covered. Even with it being unclear due to the contract's wording, it should have triggered the billing department contacting the insurer for clarification.
That's not how America works though, they operate on a 'invoice first, ask questions later' approach. If one in a thousand bills get paid without question, the superfluousness is considered justified. Oh well, I would add this to my list of reasons to avoid the country if it weren't so long already.
You seem confused.
As someone who has worked directly with medical (dental) insurance, the billing hospital/doctor almost definitely sent the bill to the insurance company first, were denied the claim, and then sent it to the couple afterwards.
You seem to think the hospital told them they weren't covered, but that isn't what happened. At least not in this article. They thought it was covered and dealt with until returning to the UK, where the insurer told them they weren't covered.
You aren't the only one whose work has involved medical insurance.
From my experience, it was quite uncommon for the practitioner themselves to be preparing and sending an invoice to the insurance company. Typically they would pass this off to the billing department, though in smaller places like a dental office I've seen the 'billing department' just be the front desk. It's a touch misleading to equate the billing hospital with the doctor as if penning invoices is a shared responsibility between the two with each taking roughly equal part.
In any case, it's irrelevant. I'm not here arguing minutia about on which continent the responsibility specifically failed, nor whatever individual made an error. The system failed these people, even if the end result was only a momentary heart rate increase from seeing a medical bill until a phone call resolved the issue.
If my underlying point remains unclear, I doubt I can clarify further.
...right, you still seem confused about what is being said, since the first half of your reply is just... stating that the practitioner themselves usually don't directly send the bill, the billing department does.
I guess I could see how you could misconstrue that from what I said, but it doesn't really address the crux of who was at fault here: the insurance company.
The system failed these people? Uh... sure... the American health care system is hot dog ass and insurance is bullshit. I agree, the system sucks.
My only point here is that your comment directly makes it out to be the US/hospitals fault.
But! That being said! I see where the confusion is, now.
You presumably meant to say "the pregnancy wasn't covered". Because of this typo, it made me think you were saying that it WAS covered and that the hospital made a mistake when reading.
Also:
To be fair, when you say "I wouldn't choose to live or travel through the US", it makes it pretty fair to assume you aren't already there. If you are out of the states, I have no idea how your experiences with a different healthcare system could be relevant? But hey, maybe you should lead with relevant information about why your input has more weight behind it than the average commenter.
That being said... it still doesn't. You spent half your comment acting like I was being misleading because I said "the billing doctor/hospital sent it to the insurance company", when any reasonable person would extrapolate that obviously the staff is responsible for that? I said billing doctor because the hospital sends the bill in the doctor's name. They might not be literally penning the bill, but they are the biller, they are doing the billing.
Edit: also, insurance companies are mostly all closed on weekends and you can't just "call to confirm the policy" in every situation.