Insurance firm attacks US hospitals’ billing practices

A British insurance company has hit out at the practice of hospitals in America which charge foreign visitors more than US citizens.

The claim by Insure With follows the case of a Brechin man who has received bills for $700,000 following six weeks of hospital treatment in Florida last year.

Mike Webster, 71, fell ill with pneumonia and sepsis in July and required extensive treatment at Oak Hill Hospital in Florida.

The family said the hospital initially refused to acknowledge the Insure With policy as the company did not have a United States office but did eventually make contact with the Kentbased insurer during Mr Webster’s lengthy recuperation.

However, he has continued to receive bills months after he returned to Scotland last August and even received a letter from a Switzerland-based debt collector demanding payment of the bill.

Mr Webster’s wife Elizabeth said the couple had been reassured by their insurance company, who have been in a dispute with the hospital about the size of the bill.

The Kent-based insurer has voiced its concerns about hospitals in America charging more to visitors and then employing debt collectors to “apply pressure on patients”.

The Insurewith.com spokesman said: “We have long had concerns over US hospitals charging amounts for treatment which are way in excess of amounts charged to US patients and their insurers.

“But more worrying still are the attempts by Swiss collection agencies acting for those hospitals to apply pressure on patients – who often are still ill and vulnerable – to pay the inflated costs.

“It is, in our view, a sad indictment on the practices of such agencies that they continue to cause stress to our customer”.

Oak Hill Hospital in Florida did not respond to a request for comment.