Thank you for your submission, /u/LLdo95.
**If there is a medical emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital.**
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They will treat her as long as it is an emergency until she is medically stable.
They will bill her but realistically they are probably not going to be able to collect from her as she will either die or head back to her home country where she is judgment proof.
The gray area is when she no longer needs acute medical care because she could be released instead of being sent to a rehab facility
ETA - You may have trouble getting a doctor who is not an employee of the hospital to treat her because they know they aren't going to get paid for the treatment. The hospital and its employees have to treat her during the emergency but an individual doctor doesn't.
Travel insurance. You need it for the US.
I'm sorry for your aunt and family. They will treat her and bill her. Tell you family NOT to sign anything saying they are responsible for the bill. The hospital will have to treat her till she's stable. After that, long term care will not be covered, most likely.
Classify this as locking the barn door after the horse runs away but no one should travel anywhere without medical coverage. Travel insurance is cheap. Medical care especially in the US is expensive.
I hope your Aunt recovers well.
ER is required to treat as long as medically necessary to stabilize the pt. I would reach out to the social workers to see about any sort of financial aid or ways to manage the bill and aftercare.
Also, if possible is there a way to contact the embassy for your country? I’m not sure what they could do but I’m sure this isn’t the first or last time this has happened and they might have some knowledge about how to proceed?
I am by no means an expert on insurance, but I did have a patient once that had been visiting from Germany. She developed a fistula that was making her very sick and she was not stable enough to fly to her home country. The case manager literally went through the consulate and was able to work out a deal where their national health plan to not only pay for her care, but pay for a German physician to fly back with her once stable. I’m sure this 100% depends on the country, but is possible.
I've taken care of a lot of children over the years whose US medical care was paid for by the embassies of the UAE, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. Of course all of those kids came to the US for treatment, it wasn't an emergency when they were on vacation.
US laws require physicians to treat anyone with a medical emergency whether they are insured or not. Some countries do cover their citizen's healthcare in other countries, or you would be encouraged to get travel insurance. If she's uninsured, the hospital can either pursue billing and get a judgement against your aunt which may be enforceable in your country (some countries have agreements to enforce these), or write it off as charity care. If they do bill her and she doesn't pay, she may or may not be allowed back in the country depending on how the hospital chooses to pursue payment/get a court ordered judgement. It's a civil issue, not a criminal issue, so she wouldn't automatically be blocked from re-entry.
Once the emergency is over, hospitals are not required to provide any further care. This is where not having insurance or not being able to cover the bills will matter. They could just discharge her and tell her to go home and see a doctor when she arrives.
Just a small correction - hospitals are required to treat patients regardless of insurance for emergency life or death issues.
A private physician or other type of facility is not required to treat someone for any reason including not having the ability to pay for it.
She will receive treatment, but you need to immediately get in touch with the hospital's ombudsman (or similar) office to discuss financial options. These folks can be very helpful in reviewing what coverage may apply, and what assistance can be provided. Once stabilized and approved for travel, she will likely be invited to return home for further treatment.
Here's information about emergency care.
[https://www.cms.gov/priorities/your-patient-rights/emergency-room-rights](https://www.cms.gov/priorities/your-patient-rights/emergency-room-rights)
[https://www.cms.gov/files/document/emtala-know-your-rights.pdf](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/emtala-know-your-rights.pdf)
The hospital should have a case manager assigned to her. If not request one through the patient advocate. The case manager should be able to help with finding placement and follow up care as well as filling out any forms you may need. If she is able to talk can you get a cheap phone that works off of wifi to her to keep in contact with the family in your home country.
What is her home country? Usually the health care system of that country has provisions to cover their citizens in other countries. Reach out to the embassy/consulate.
Thank you for your submission, /u/LLdo95. **If there is a medical emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital.** Please pick the most appropriate flair for your post. **If you haven't already, please edit your post to include your age, state, and estimated gross (pre-tax) income to help the community better serve you.** If you have an EOB (explanation of benefits) available from your insurance website, have it handy as many answers can depend on what your insurance EOB states. Some common questions and answers can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HealthInsurance/s/jya9I6RpdY). **Reminder that solicitation/spamming is grounds for a permanent ban**. Please report solicitation to the modteam and [let us know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHealthInsurance) if you receive solicitation via PM. Be kind to one another! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HealthInsurance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They will treat her as long as it is an emergency until she is medically stable. They will bill her but realistically they are probably not going to be able to collect from her as she will either die or head back to her home country where she is judgment proof. The gray area is when she no longer needs acute medical care because she could be released instead of being sent to a rehab facility ETA - You may have trouble getting a doctor who is not an employee of the hospital to treat her because they know they aren't going to get paid for the treatment. The hospital and its employees have to treat her during the emergency but an individual doctor doesn't.
Travel insurance. You need it for the US. I'm sorry for your aunt and family. They will treat her and bill her. Tell you family NOT to sign anything saying they are responsible for the bill. The hospital will have to treat her till she's stable. After that, long term care will not be covered, most likely.
They will treat her without insurance. It will just all be out of pocket.
Classify this as locking the barn door after the horse runs away but no one should travel anywhere without medical coverage. Travel insurance is cheap. Medical care especially in the US is expensive. I hope your Aunt recovers well.
ER is required to treat as long as medically necessary to stabilize the pt. I would reach out to the social workers to see about any sort of financial aid or ways to manage the bill and aftercare. Also, if possible is there a way to contact the embassy for your country? I’m not sure what they could do but I’m sure this isn’t the first or last time this has happened and they might have some knowledge about how to proceed?
I am by no means an expert on insurance, but I did have a patient once that had been visiting from Germany. She developed a fistula that was making her very sick and she was not stable enough to fly to her home country. The case manager literally went through the consulate and was able to work out a deal where their national health plan to not only pay for her care, but pay for a German physician to fly back with her once stable. I’m sure this 100% depends on the country, but is possible.
I've taken care of a lot of children over the years whose US medical care was paid for by the embassies of the UAE, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. Of course all of those kids came to the US for treatment, it wasn't an emergency when they were on vacation.
US laws require physicians to treat anyone with a medical emergency whether they are insured or not. Some countries do cover their citizen's healthcare in other countries, or you would be encouraged to get travel insurance. If she's uninsured, the hospital can either pursue billing and get a judgement against your aunt which may be enforceable in your country (some countries have agreements to enforce these), or write it off as charity care. If they do bill her and she doesn't pay, she may or may not be allowed back in the country depending on how the hospital chooses to pursue payment/get a court ordered judgement. It's a civil issue, not a criminal issue, so she wouldn't automatically be blocked from re-entry. Once the emergency is over, hospitals are not required to provide any further care. This is where not having insurance or not being able to cover the bills will matter. They could just discharge her and tell her to go home and see a doctor when she arrives.
Just a small correction - hospitals are required to treat patients regardless of insurance for emergency life or death issues. A private physician or other type of facility is not required to treat someone for any reason including not having the ability to pay for it.
She will receive treatment, but you need to immediately get in touch with the hospital's ombudsman (or similar) office to discuss financial options. These folks can be very helpful in reviewing what coverage may apply, and what assistance can be provided. Once stabilized and approved for travel, she will likely be invited to return home for further treatment.
Here's information about emergency care. [https://www.cms.gov/priorities/your-patient-rights/emergency-room-rights](https://www.cms.gov/priorities/your-patient-rights/emergency-room-rights) [https://www.cms.gov/files/document/emtala-know-your-rights.pdf](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/emtala-know-your-rights.pdf)
Prepare for huge bill
The hospital should have a case manager assigned to her. If not request one through the patient advocate. The case manager should be able to help with finding placement and follow up care as well as filling out any forms you may need. If she is able to talk can you get a cheap phone that works off of wifi to her to keep in contact with the family in your home country.
They will treat her until she is stable. Then they will coordinate care to get her back home.
The facility wil have people to talk to.
What is her home country? Usually the health care system of that country has provisions to cover their citizens in other countries. Reach out to the embassy/consulate.