Mum in tears after being hit with $100,000 bill for ‘short’ trip to ER for 6-month-old son
A Northern California mother has revealed how she was left in tears after being billed over $100,000 for a visit to the emergency room with her six-month old son.
Jessica Farwell told KGO-TV that in October 2022 her little boy Brody was left with severe burn injuries after a rice cooker fell off her kitchen counter.
She told the outlet: "I took him to the emergency room. Seeing your baby in so much pain was just the worst feeling as a mom.
"The water just made his skin instantly bubbled up. I was just like is his face gonna start bubbling. Is his skin going to start peeling off?"
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Once at the ER, Brody was given 'fentanyl for the pain because he was screaming'. The hospital in question did not have a burn unit.
Farwell recalled: "They were calling an ambulance but it was the end of Covid-19 so there were no ambulances available and there wasn't gonna be an ambulance for seven hours."
Doctors said the little boy needed to be transferred to Shriners Children's Hospital in Sacramento, however, the panicked mum didn't want to wait seven hours and so asked if she could drive.
Farwell said: "They said 'no I'm sorry, you can't. I can't let you leave with him. I already called the helicopter and they're on their way.' He basically told me there was nothing I could do. I had to go in the helicopter."
The mother was forced to take a $90,000 air ambulance for the 15-minute ride to the hospital, but she said that doctors assured her she would not have to pay the bill because health professionals were requesting it and she had insurance.
She recalled how she was 'breaking down' and 'doesn't like to fly,' but after pushing through and doing it, they were faced with yet another problem.
Once they touched down at the hospital, they were told they needed a 'required ambulance ride' to get to the hospital entrance, which, according to KGO-TV, was only 0.3 miles away.
"You literally can walk across the street to the hospital quicker than that ambulance could have got us there and they charged me $10,200", she said.
Brody's second degree burns were treated by medics and he was discharged from the hospital the following day.
However, a few months later, the bills and monetary requests began arriving.
Farwell claims she was inundated with invoices amounting to more than $100,000 to cover the 15-minute helicopter ride and short ambulance trip.
She was also told to fork out $600 for a 'waiting fee,' as well as a fee for it being a 'night time service'.
Her insurance only covered less than half of the helicopter bill, leaving her with more than $57,000 dollars left to pay, as well as a further $7,000 for the ambulance.
She claims she called the hospitals, ambulance service and insurance companies numerous times but got nowhere.
After receiving calls from collection companies, she desperately got in touch with KGO-TV for help, who assisted her and ended up getting the entire bill waived.
The mum said: "They called, and said, 'It's done, we will never bill you again.' They almost sounded apologetic. I hung up and told my husband. We just couldn't believe it! It's a miracle!"
Since the incident, in January 2024, California passed the AB 716 law, which protects people from receiving surprise bills for ambulance services.
When approached for comment, the ambulance company Pro Transport-1 told KGO-TV that they felt the 'issue still 100% lies with the insurance company simply deciding to pass part of the bill to the patient, we will accept their partial payment and no longer seek the remaining balance of the bill for our services'.
Meanwhile, Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance said it could not answer specific questions about the case, but said: "We are committed to increasing access to safe, appropriate, and effective health care based on the best available information and research, and in accordance with a member's benefit plan."
Tyla has contacted Shriners Children's Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Pro Transport-1 ambulance company for comment.
Madison Burgess