Hospital Picks Up Dying Veteran’s $61,000 Medical Bills

A dying veteran’s medical bills, which total $61,000, have been taken care of by The Ottawa Hospital, instead of being left to his family. His daughter was quoted by the Ottawa Citizen as having said that her “father was in tears” and that he had said “someone finally listened.”

The generous hospital’s vice-president of finance, Nathalie Cadieux, said that the hospital was going to “work with the insurance provider on the payment of invoices” and that neither Holt nor his family would owe the hospital for his recently provided care.

“(Ottawa Hospital) will work with the insurance provider on the payment of invoices.”

Cadiuex went further as to apologize for the “undue stress and concern” inflicted on the family by the ordeal.

Retired Royal Canadian Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Holt’s daughter indicated that the debt relief was “a lot of stress off” her father’s mind.

In related news, the New York Times reported that Croatia was going to wipe the debt of some of its poorest citizens.

Holt applied for Ontario Health Insurance (OHIP) when he returned to Canada after Argentinian doctors informed him he had broken back while he was working overseas as a foreign affairs officer. Upon returning to Canada, tests at The Ottawa Hospital indicated the fractured vertebrae was a result of Stage 4 cancer.

Due to the OHIP’s three-month eligibility wait period, the veteran was not covered from December, which is when he was admitted to the hospital, so his family appealed to have the eligibility waived by OHIP to no avail. The family was about to take the case to the independent Health Services Appeal and Review Board when their lawyer, Parry Brodkin, told them that their chance of success was slim, as there were only a few exceptional cases where the period could be waived and Mr. Holt’s was not one of them. Subsequently, the dying veteran was left with a $61,000 bill which included the cost of tests, treatment, and his bed at the hospital.

The dying man’s daughter said that her father has accepted his death, but has been “so concerned” with leaving nothing behind for his wife and this stress had consumed him. She also indicated that she’s grateful to the hospital for waving the fees, however, she’s left with what she called a “nagging feeling” about the issues with the OHIP, to which she spoke out.

“People should not be treated like this.”

She went on to say that the OHIP eligibility regulation needs to be reevaluated. In other uplifting news recently reported here on Inquisitr, a Kentucky cop bought a man food instead of arresting him for shoplifting after he saw realized the man was a single father trying to steal baby formula for his young child.

[Image via Ottawa Citizen]