UK couple billed $200,000 in US for premature delivery, faces insurance hassle

A UK couple, who were in the US for a performance while the woman was 33 weeks pregnant, received a terrible shock when they were handed a $200,000 medical bill following a premature delivery. Folk duo Issy Ferris and Archie Sylvester had travelled to Nashville for a tour. During their second last show, Issy started feeling sick. She was throwing up and assumed that it was because of food poisoning. However, she was suffering from pre-eclampsia, a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication, but was unaware. This meant that her baby had to be delivered via emergency C-section, as it could prove deadly to the mother and the baby. She was taken to the hospital, where she gave birth to a baby boy. However, they could not believe the bills they were handed that totalled to a whopping $200,000. The couple tried using their travel insurance to cover the bills, but the agency declined. After months of legal hassle, the insurance company finally paid the medical expenses.

Issy fell sick during the concert

Issy was supposed to go on maternity leave after the show in the US. The couple had chosen a top travel insurance plan but had not imagined something like this happening. Issy was 25 at the time and says that when she fell sick during the concert, she was in denial. "I was 25, I’d never been seriously ill before. I had been on stage singing the night before. And suddenly there I was, fighting for mine and my child’s life in a hospital thousands of miles from home," Issy said. She says the insurance company's behaviour and refusal to foot the bill added to their stress after the birth of their child.

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Couple were about to sell their house

"I spent months examining my medical records in order to build my case against a huge company that should have behaved better, and instead claimed ignorance of an illness which was included in their insurance policy," she said. They were on the verge of selling their Somerset house as they could not get the company to pay. The couple said that pre-eclampsia was clearly covered in the fine print of the insurance policy. Pregnant women are also allowed to fly until their 36th week, she said.

Issy said she experienced chest pains and vomited for eight hours. Fearing dehydration, she sought medical help and was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. The doctors tried to stabilise her with a magnesium drip, but she was later told that an immediate birth is necessary in this scenario. The baby was kept in the NICU for three weeks, and they spent five more weeks in the US for the baby's health. The insurance company's underwriters refused to cover the entire amount. "The insurance company made the whole process much more traumatic," Issy said.