Mom Receives $100K Bill For 15-Minute Helicopter Ride From Hospital That Couldn’t Treat Her Baby
The cost of the bill came after doctors assured her she wouldn't be charged for the helicopter.
Prostock-Studio from Getty Images | Canva Pro A California mom had one of the worst moments that any parent could ever have after an incident involving her 6-month-old son left her rushing him to the emergency room. In October 2022, Jessica Farwell, a resident of Antioch, California, said she was forced by ER doctors to transport her baby by helicopter to another hospital that could treat his burns.
However, talking to news outlets, Farwell admitted that the helicopter ride for her son resulted in an astronomical bill from the hospital that left her gobsmacked. To make matters worse, her insurance initially refused to cover the entire cost of the medical bill.
A mom received a $100K bill for a 15-minute helicopter ride from a hospital that couldn't treat her baby.
While speaking with KGO-TV, Farwell explained that a rice cooker had fallen from the kitchen counter and onto her son, causing him to become severely burned. Brody, Farwell's son, was only 6 months old at the time.
"His skin, it just instantly bubbled up," she recalled. "I was just like — is his face going to start bubbling?" Panicked, Farwell immediately rushed her son to the nearest emergency room, where doctors "gave him fentanyl through his nose because he was screaming."
However, doctors at the hospital Farwell had taken her son to explained that they were unable to treat him there because they didn't have a burn unit. So instead, the hospital began calling ambulances to come and transport them, but because it was the end of COVID, they were expected to have to wait up to seven hours for transport.
When the mom asked if she could drive her son herself, she was told that it wouldn't be a good idea.
Farwell recalled that doctors said it was medically necessary to transfer Brody to Shriners Children's Hospital in Sacramento. Instead of choosing to wait seven hours for an ambulance, Farwell asked if she could drive.
"They said, 'No, sorry, you can't — I can't let you leave with him. I've already called the helicopter.' He basically told me there was nothing I could do," she said. The only option they gave her was a 15-minute helicopter ride that cost nearly $90,000. She was initially told by doctors that she wouldn't get the bill because the hospital was requesting it, and she had insurance.
Farwell recounted how emotionally taxing the entire experience was. From having to wait for the helicopter and seeing her baby in so much pain, she admitted that it was a hard day. When the helicopter finally arrived to transport her son, Farwell, on top of everything else she was going through, was hit with another ridiculous charge on top of the helicopter fee.
They were required to get into an ambulance to get to the hospital's entrance, which was only 0.3 miles away. "You can see the hospital. You literally can walk across the street to the hospital quicker than that ambulance, and they charged me $10,200."
Thankfully, Brody's second-degree burns were treated at the second hospital, and he was discharged the next day. But, a couple of months later, Farwell received a bill in the mail for more than $100,000 for the 15-minute helicopter ride and the 0.3-mile ambulance ride.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," Farwell said. "You look at the bills, and it's absolutely enraging. We got hit for a $600 waiting fee; there's a fee for it being a nighttime service. There's just every single fee you can think of."
The mom's insurance covered less than half of the overall cost.
While doctors had reassured Farwell she wouldn't be charged, that didn't end up being the case at all. Her insurance, on top of that, only covered less than half, leaving her with $57,929.80. Her insurance only covered a fraction of the ambulance bill, leaving her responsible for another $7,327 in addition to the cost of the helicopter.
Unfortunately, this is the case for many Americans, both with health insurance and without. Despite paying an absurd amount of money each month to keep their insurance, many Americans are foregoing medical treatment because it's still too expensive. Things like taking an ambulance, and in Farwell's case, a helicopter, can cause financial devastation, and people try to avoid those services as a result.
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According to a poll from KFF, a health policy research company, nearly half of U.S. adults said it is difficult to afford health care costs, and one in four said they or a family member in their household had problems paying for health care in the past 12 months. On top of that, about one-third (36%) said that in the past 12 months, they have skipped or postponed getting health care they needed because of the cost.
Thankfully, Farwell was able to get the medical bill for her son waived, but it was only because she had reached out to ABC's 7 On Your Side after initially calling the hospital, the ambulance company, and her insurance multiple times, only to get the runaround.
However, the news isn't going to step in and help everyone when they simply can't afford basic medical costs, and unfortunately, a staggering number of Americans are being forced to live in crippling medical debt. It's a stark reminder of the health insurance industry's extreme flaws, which consistently seem to favor those who don't need it over those who do.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
