Baby born prematurely abroad - any help with medical expenses?

niknaks

My apologies if this is the wrong place!

A friend of mine from the UK is currently living in Thailand, and his girlfriend gave birth three months prematurely about 2/3 weeks ago.

The baby is doing well all things considered, but they don't have insurance and the medical bills are very high.

I don't suppose there is any official UK help that they can get - but I thought if anyone would know it would be this forum!

Has anyone any suggestions?

Many thanks in advance!

Kira000

No, i am afraid that without insurance, there is unlikely to be anything available. The UK government etc is not responsible for health care of citizens overseas. Moral of the story, never go abroad, uninsured! Glad the baby is doing well however.

sassyblue

Not sure if anything would be available. Hopefully they have a generous friend or family member or it'll have to be loan or credit card.

So glad mother and especially baby are safe but they were daft not to have medical insurance?

Is the mother from the UK? Only you say your friend the father is but not the mum. I hope they weren't going to burden the UK with the cost of the birth if they usually live abroad.

Make-it-3

Was she out there visiting or living there too? If visiting does her travel insurance not cover her? Otherwise there is no official help. Assume she needs to stay there for a while until the baby is recovered enough to return home. In these situations it usually ends up being the family/friends who start a collection for the couple. This is why good travel insurance is imperative when going abroad.

Make-it-3

I made the assumption the mother was a UK citizen, but agree it is unclear from the post where the mother is from. Matters little to the response though.

puddy

Make-it-3 wrote: »

I made the assumption the mother was a UK citizen, but agree it is unclear from the post where the mother is from. Matters little to the response though.

it does matter. if the mother is Thai, then she will use whatever resources she would get from her home country surely?

*Robin*

In the past couple of years two people I know had uninsured medical emergencies abroad; both very similar injuries (diving off rocks, hit head on submerged rock). In each case friends and family had to raise funds for the hospital bill and pay for an air ambulance to get the patient back home.

Good Luck to your friends and their new baby.

Nicki

If dad is living in Thailand, even if a UK national, I am not completely sure he would have been able to have the medical costs covered even if he had come back to England with his partner for the birth. We have friends who were living abroad on a 5 year work placement, employed by a UK company and paying UK tax, but they were not entitled to NHS treatment when home in the UK on leave. You need to prove residence as well as nationality AFAIK and if you can't, even though the child will be treated, you will later be billed for the costs.

niknaks

The mother is not from the UK, nor is she Thai (from the Philipines), it is the just the father that is British. He is currently working out there.

I agree about the insurance, of course, but it is the baby I am thinking about.

I just wondered if there was a emergency relief fund or something to help.

euronorris

Nicki wrote: »

If dad is living in Thailand, even if a UK national, I am not completely sure he would have been able to have the medical costs covered even if he had come back to England with his partner for the birth. We have friends who were living abroad on a 5 year work placement, employed by a UK company and paying UK tax, but they were not entitled to NHS treatment when home in the UK on leave. You need to prove residence as well as nationality AFAIK and if you can't, even though the child will be treated, you will later be billed for the costs.

If they were paying National Insurance and Tax, they should still be entitled to NHS care AFAIK.

I assume they were doing both (as it would be odd if they were only paying tax and not NI).

OP - If they are living there, why didn't they have medical insurance? Your best bet is to find out what assistance, if any, is available to residents without insurance. There may be charity organisations that can help.

euronorris

niknaks wrote: »

The mother is not from the UK, nor is she Thai (from the Philipines), it is the just the father that is British. He is currently working out there.

I agree about the insurance, of course, but it is the baby I am thinking about.

I just wondered if there was a emergency relief fund or something to help.

Where is she resident currently? Does she have health insurance from her home country that may cover this sort of thing?

Does the father have health insurance out there that can be extended to the spouse? Or any assistance through employer?