What began as an emergency trip to the hospital has turned into a financial nightmare for Jon Goulet and his wife Jasmine Liang after the couple learned they owe $20,000 to cover her medical bills.
After spending three years in Jasper on a working holiday visa, Liang returned home to Taiwan in April. About a month and a half later she decided to come back to Jasper to surprise Goulet on his 34th birthday.
As a Taiwanese national she re-entered Canada on May 20 using an electronic travel authorization visa, which they would later find out does not include provincial healthcare insurance.
According to Alberta Health, a person must be a resident of Alberta to receive free medical care, however if they are in Alberta to work or they are a full-time student at an accredited institution they are covered. Unlike the last time she was in Jasper, this time around Liang was聽 in Jasper as a visitor making her ineligible for provincial healthcare insurance.
Three days after she arrived back in Jasper her health began to quickly deteriorate with daily fevers reaching 40 C, a sore throat and ear pain.
With things getting worse she went to the clinic and was told by a doctor that her throat and ears looked fine and it was probably just the flu.
Three days after visiting the clinic she was still not feeling better so she returned to see another doctor who also thought she had flu like symptoms and advised her to take Tylenol.
But soon after returning home her liver began to hurt and she started vomiting.
鈥淚 was feeling worse and worse,鈥� recalled Liang, who spent nearly a week in bed before going to the hospital on May 29.
鈥淭his is a girl who doesn鈥檛 give up easily so to see her suddenly bedridden for a week, we had to take her to the hospital,鈥� said Goulet.
Almost immediately after admitting her to the Seton Jasper Healthcare Centre, staff at the hospital began asking Goulet how they were going to pay.
鈥淭hey told us we owed them $5,600 a day, before she was even in the room,鈥� said Goulet. 鈥淲e had no choice. She was sick and not getting any better.鈥�
Right away nurses put her on an IV drip and quickly moved her into quarantine as they tried to figure out what was wrong with her.
After running a slew of tests doctors still couldn鈥檛 figure out why she had a 40 C fever as well as a swollen liver, gall bladder, kidneys and shrunken lungs, but according to Goulet staff were adamant they begin paying for her treatment.
鈥淚t got to the point I told her don鈥檛 give them your debit card. They were that insistent,鈥� said Goulet. 鈥淪he was on morphine with a 40 C fever hooked up to an IV machine and they told her she should call her parents to call the insurance company right now.鈥�
The following day they began making phone calls and were promised by Alberta Health that Liang鈥檚 bills would be covered, but two months later the couple is still on the hook for $20,000 after Alberta Health backtracked on its promise.
鈥淲e were led to believe through multiple phone calls that we could get it covered,鈥� said Goulet, 鈥淲e always let them know she was a visitor.鈥�
According to Liang, they were instructed to get a hardcopy of her electronic travel authorization visa so they could apply for provincial health insurance.
鈥淪taff told me I should be covered, but five days in I started to beg the doctor to leave,鈥� said Liang.
By this point doctors still didn鈥檛 know what was wrong with her, but diagnosed her with hepatitis presumed infectious, which later turned out to be the wrong diagnosis.
鈥淲e begged to get out because of the cost and asked if we could get anything orally because she seemed to be improving except for the headaches, ear pain and fever,鈥� said Goulet.
On day eight she was eventually discharged, albeit without the proper diagnosis.
After getting out of the hospital, Liang started to tell her friends back in Taiwan what happened and after doing some research she thought she might have scrub typhus, a disease transmitted to humans by a mite bite.
鈥淚 read all the symptoms and I thought that sounds like me,鈥� said Liang, who believes she was bitten by a mite while travelling on an island in Taiwan.
鈥淭he saving grace was that they magically gave her the right antibiotic,鈥� said Goulet.
While all of this was taking place, the couple was still trying to figure out whether Liang鈥檚 medical bills would be covered, but after getting the run around by Alberta Health they soon discovered they would have to pay for it themselves.
鈥淭here was so much misinformation given that we were strung along for two months,鈥� said Goulet.
To make matters worse, Liang鈥檚 private travel insurance also refused to pay her bills because her original diagnosis did not fall under the purview of her insurance which only covered accidental injuries or illnesses.
To try and rectify the issue, the couple returned to the doctor to get the right diagnosis, but even with the proper diagnosis the insurance company refused to reconsider her claim.
Exasperated by the entire ordeal, the couple asked Alberta Health Services (AHS) to consider cutting some of their bills, which at one point totaled more than $50,000.
鈥淛ust one bill was $45,000, plus doctor fees, ambulance fees and tests,鈥� said Goulet.
Alberta Health Services declined to comment on the specifics of this case, but according to Liang a few weeks ago a third party contacted them and said they now owe about $20,000, although the couple has yet to receive a final figure.
鈥淚鈥檓 very happy that it鈥檚 no longer $50,000, but it鈥檚 bullshit that it was that in the first place,鈥� said Goulet, who also filed a formal complaint about Liang鈥檚 treatment at the hospital.
Kerry Williamson, communications director for the AHS north zone, acknowledged their concern and said AHS is working with them.
鈥淚f a person does not have a valid Alberta healthcare card, then they are billed accordingly,鈥� wrote Williamson. 鈥淎HS has worked with this individual, and will continue to work with them going forward.鈥�
In the meantime the couple has started a crowd funding campaign on crowdrise.com to try and raise some money to cover the costs. The campaign is called: and has raised more than $2,500 to date.
Paul Clarke
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