A Saskatchewan family is breathing a sigh of relief after finally learning they won’t need to pay an expensive medical bill from eight years.
In 2010, Daisy Smee slipped and broke her hip at school in Melville. She was taken in an ambulance to hospital in Melville, and was then taken to Regina General. She had to take five ambulance trips during her treatment.
“We got a letter from the collection agency that my daughter, Daisy Smee, had owed over $8,000 in unpaid ambulance fees,” said Daisy’s mother Jessie Veeman.
Veeman said the director of education at the time completed the appropriate paperwork to report the incident and assured Veeman the ambulance fees would be covered. But eight years later, the bill arrived.
“We never received (any) bills out of eight years and no phone contact,” Veeman said. “When we moved away from Melville we understood that everything was dealt with and paid for. It really worries me that they could be doing this to other people, especially to young kids. My daught was 10 at the time and now she’s 18. That can really screw up someone’s life; $8,000 is a lot of money.”
The insurance provider for the school division said it can’t release exact details related to the account.
“In reviewing our files, we can indeed confirm that all benefits claimed for by Ms. Veeman were paid,” the company said in a written statement. “The policy stipulates that claims are paid within 30 days of receipt of a duly completed claim with the exception of situations where there is a contractual waiting period.”
The Saskatchewan Health Authority declined to comment on exactly what happened, citing privacy concerns. However, it did write a letter of a apology to Smee, blaming a “breakdown in the collection process.”
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Jessica Smith
