27-Hour Hospital Stay Leaves Parents Of A Killed One-Year-Old Not Only In Grief But Also In $175k Of Medical Debt
The American healthcare system has been refusing to leave the top of the headlines recently. But not for good reasons. Just think about it—the woman who was mauled by a bear said that the worst part of the horrific ordeal was dealing with health insurance providers. What about the time when someone shared an invoice of $39.35 for holding her own baby right after he was born? There have been one too many failed American healthcare stories that make our blood boil, but unfortunately, we seem to be far from the last one.
This time we are covering the horrifying story of Michelle DuBarry, a Portland-based writer, that shows how supposedly the greatest country on Earth failed its citizens at the darkest point of their lives. After DuBarry’s 1-year-old son died after being struck by a careless driver, she “sat at his bedside, his tiny, stitched-together body hooked to a million incessantly beeping machines, straining to recall what our deductibles were.”
Read DuBarry’s heartbreaking Twitter post below that will make you question everything you took for granted in life.
More info: Twitter
The woman shared her personal story on Twitter
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Image credits: DuBarryPie
Michelle DuBarry tells her story in detail on her personal website. “In 2010, my husband Eric and our son Seamus were struck by a careless driver in a crosswalk near our home. Eric sustained minor injuries, and Seamus died the next day after enduring two surgeries and a night in intensive care. Our hospital bills totaled $180,000, and though most of it was covered by health insurance, we still had thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses.”
The family “soon learned that our health insurer was entitled to reimbursement out of these funds, effectively reducing our settlement to $0.” As a result, DuBarry initiated a bill that would match the laws in many other states where the injured party is “made whole” for all damages from the at-fault party’s insurance before the injured party’s medical insurer gets paid. The bill was signed into law last year on the 20th of June and now stands as Seamus’s legacy.
People around the world were left speechless
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This is what people had to say
Cant praise our NHS enough when you read these stories.
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The NHS has a long list of its own problems. It’s not exactly hunky-dorey.
Didnt say it was perfect. But goin threw treatment is stressful enough. I cant imagine how it must feel to have the extra worry about if insurance will cover you or not.
better than for profit gouging and $100 for a tylenol that cost less that $0.01 to make.
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The NHS is a joke. If the kid had cancer, he would have to wait two-three months to see an oncologist. During that time his cancer would probably become terminal.
That is not true, A NHS doctor has specific rules to follow- if they suspect a cancer indication this will be referred to specialists and followed up within 14 days. By law.
Not in my experience. Routine screening thanks to the NHS caught my cancer, tests, scans and an operation all within 2 months. All without the worry of going bankrupt!
Thus spoke garbage.
My mother is in intensive care for a month, and it will last at least two months...we have to pay 0 (in letters: zero). The advantage on a good european health system.
I went to a hospital here in Strasbourg for a simple operation. The doctor did not finished it in a first run, telling me that he knows better what to do, so I had to come again, a week later, for more serious operation. During the waiting for the anesthesy drug to kick in I spend around 15 minutes in a bed. I was bored so I've tried to occupy my mind by reading everything around me. Well, almost all of the tubing on all apparatus in my vicinity had a sign that it should be replaced two years ago. I've tried to point it out to the medical stuff and I believe it started a big commotion there. Anyhow, I was presented with the excuses of the doctor who did the first operation (you can imagine how good are those) and the bill for 3000 and something that I had to send to my insurance company, which covered about 90% of the bill. Not exactly 0 as some of us describing it here. I am not saying it is bad though.
If your insurance company did not cover all of your OOPs for a "simple operation", you most likely went to a private hospital that charged more than the price bands set by the French social security.
I went to the Hôpital Civil de Strasbourg. Doubt it is private )) Went there with two pieces of wood stuck deep in my hand. Doctor removed one piece and refused to search for another arguing that SHE KNOWS BETTER what to do )) how do you argue with that? After a week or so you could imagine what happen with my hand. I was forced to go there again. Second operation was undoubtedly the costly one yet it was needed only because of the negligence of the medical personnel. No one discussed the bill with me so I can't really tell you anything on those price bands except the fact that the total was different from 0 ))
This comment has been deleted.
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Look at the excessive taxes that you have paid out and you might realize the treatment was far more expensive than it would be in the USA.
You can tell them facts all day long and they will still come back with that american exceptionalism B.S. they've been fed to keep them stupid and victimized, especially when it comes to healthcare but it applies across the board.
As wonderful as our healthcare in Europe and other counties can be, can I point out how it must feel to be an American reading about our £0 bills while going through this. My deepest sympathies to anyone fighting with insurance over healthcare - you deserve better!
Exactly, our health care in Europe and Canada may not be perfect but everyone in America deserves so much better.
That's the problem here in America. It has to be perfect or it's a no go for something new. I just don't understand why there are so many idiots here.... Especially the ones who worship the orange orangutan, who wants to strip them of the few health benefits left. Yes, we have some of the best healthcare in the world, but what good is it, if you can't afford it.... I just don't get the idiocy of it all.
Thank you. We're not asking for perfection. Just a fighting chance to avoid bankruptcy or losing our homes because we get sick or injured. How can this be allowed in the so called leader of the free world. I would submit that Europe should have that title.
Most Americans are convinced that the care in other countries is substandard and that the waiting lists to get treatment are so long that you never get the care you need in time. And that the systems are all on the brink of bankruptcy. These are the stories that are told here. We need to hear the good stories!
I think about my insurance every single day. :(
My mom is a diabetic and has a few other problems, making her unable to work. She's on SSD and gets her retirement now, but even with Medicaid (provided from her SSD) and another insurance, We are still paying about $150 on insulin out of pocket every month. That's not nearly as bad, but when you consider that insulin is pennies on the dollar to manufacture but they'll still charge my mom $75 for her Lantus (that she needs to take EVERY DAY) it gets kind of ridiculous. I'll be turning 26 this year. I won't be covered by my dads insurance anymore, despite still living under their roof still. I need to find coverage from my birthday until the new year when I can get coverage from the government and imagining having to pay over $100+ a month plus my medicine keeps me up at night. I work, but I don't make that much.
Yeah I was kind of just thinking that. I wouldn't want to read about people's $0 trips to the hospital if I was losing everything to it.
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see my comment below... these stories are the minority but they get the greatest publicity in order to push the adgenda of universal healthcare.
That's a lie. A flat out porkie pie lie. The #1 cause of homelessness among children is medical bills. The US has the highest maternal and infant death rate in the industrialized world. It's an international embarrassment.
I hope you will one day get to experience universal healthcare and realize how bad your current system is.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
@Martha Meyer I am a german immigrant. I knew all about it before I made it here. I am a small minority of people that truly has experienced both. And both have their merits and both have their issues. No country on earth has found the perfect solution yet.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
@Aunt Messy false, the #1 cause of child homelessness is literally not having parents....
Cant praise our NHS enough when you read these stories.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The NHS has a long list of its own problems. It’s not exactly hunky-dorey.
Didnt say it was perfect. But goin threw treatment is stressful enough. I cant imagine how it must feel to have the extra worry about if insurance will cover you or not.
better than for profit gouging and $100 for a tylenol that cost less that $0.01 to make.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The NHS is a joke. If the kid had cancer, he would have to wait two-three months to see an oncologist. During that time his cancer would probably become terminal.
That is not true, A NHS doctor has specific rules to follow- if they suspect a cancer indication this will be referred to specialists and followed up within 14 days. By law.
Not in my experience. Routine screening thanks to the NHS caught my cancer, tests, scans and an operation all within 2 months. All without the worry of going bankrupt!
Thus spoke garbage.
My mother is in intensive care for a month, and it will last at least two months...we have to pay 0 (in letters: zero). The advantage on a good european health system.
I went to a hospital here in Strasbourg for a simple operation. The doctor did not finished it in a first run, telling me that he knows better what to do, so I had to come again, a week later, for more serious operation. During the waiting for the anesthesy drug to kick in I spend around 15 minutes in a bed. I was bored so I've tried to occupy my mind by reading everything around me. Well, almost all of the tubing on all apparatus in my vicinity had a sign that it should be replaced two years ago. I've tried to point it out to the medical stuff and I believe it started a big commotion there. Anyhow, I was presented with the excuses of the doctor who did the first operation (you can imagine how good are those) and the bill for 3000 and something that I had to send to my insurance company, which covered about 90% of the bill. Not exactly 0 as some of us describing it here. I am not saying it is bad though.
If your insurance company did not cover all of your OOPs for a "simple operation", you most likely went to a private hospital that charged more than the price bands set by the French social security.
I went to the Hôpital Civil de Strasbourg. Doubt it is private )) Went there with two pieces of wood stuck deep in my hand. Doctor removed one piece and refused to search for another arguing that SHE KNOWS BETTER what to do )) how do you argue with that? After a week or so you could imagine what happen with my hand. I was forced to go there again. Second operation was undoubtedly the costly one yet it was needed only because of the negligence of the medical personnel. No one discussed the bill with me so I can't really tell you anything on those price bands except the fact that the total was different from 0 ))
This comment has been deleted.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Look at the excessive taxes that you have paid out and you might realize the treatment was far more expensive than it would be in the USA.
You can tell them facts all day long and they will still come back with that american exceptionalism B.S. they've been fed to keep them stupid and victimized, especially when it comes to healthcare but it applies across the board.
As wonderful as our healthcare in Europe and other counties can be, can I point out how it must feel to be an American reading about our £0 bills while going through this. My deepest sympathies to anyone fighting with insurance over healthcare - you deserve better!
Exactly, our health care in Europe and Canada may not be perfect but everyone in America deserves so much better.
That's the problem here in America. It has to be perfect or it's a no go for something new. I just don't understand why there are so many idiots here.... Especially the ones who worship the orange orangutan, who wants to strip them of the few health benefits left. Yes, we have some of the best healthcare in the world, but what good is it, if you can't afford it.... I just don't get the idiocy of it all.
Thank you. We're not asking for perfection. Just a fighting chance to avoid bankruptcy or losing our homes because we get sick or injured. How can this be allowed in the so called leader of the free world. I would submit that Europe should have that title.
Most Americans are convinced that the care in other countries is substandard and that the waiting lists to get treatment are so long that you never get the care you need in time. And that the systems are all on the brink of bankruptcy. These are the stories that are told here. We need to hear the good stories!
I think about my insurance every single day. :(
My mom is a diabetic and has a few other problems, making her unable to work. She's on SSD and gets her retirement now, but even with Medicaid (provided from her SSD) and another insurance, We are still paying about $150 on insulin out of pocket every month. That's not nearly as bad, but when you consider that insulin is pennies on the dollar to manufacture but they'll still charge my mom $75 for her Lantus (that she needs to take EVERY DAY) it gets kind of ridiculous. I'll be turning 26 this year. I won't be covered by my dads insurance anymore, despite still living under their roof still. I need to find coverage from my birthday until the new year when I can get coverage from the government and imagining having to pay over $100+ a month plus my medicine keeps me up at night. I work, but I don't make that much.
Yeah I was kind of just thinking that. I wouldn't want to read about people's $0 trips to the hospital if I was losing everything to it.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
see my comment below... these stories are the minority but they get the greatest publicity in order to push the adgenda of universal healthcare.
That's a lie. A flat out porkie pie lie. The #1 cause of homelessness among children is medical bills. The US has the highest maternal and infant death rate in the industrialized world. It's an international embarrassment.
I hope you will one day get to experience universal healthcare and realize how bad your current system is.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
@Martha Meyer I am a german immigrant. I knew all about it before I made it here. I am a small minority of people that truly has experienced both. And both have their merits and both have their issues. No country on earth has found the perfect solution yet.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
@Aunt Messy false, the #1 cause of child homelessness is literally not having parents....