SPRAGUE, Man. — More Manitobans are speaking out about being left with bills sitting in the thousands following their emergency visits to a hospital in the U.S.
Verna Kittleson joins many in her community who have had to dig deep in to their pockets for thousands of dollars to pay for unexpected medical bills from the U.S.
Kittleson said she has a heart condition that was fixed, but it came with a cost that brings pain every time she thinks about it.
After hearing about Sprague resident, Robin Milne’s story shared by Global News, she agreed to share her story in hopes of adding to the push on the Minister of Health to start an agreement between Manitoba Health and the hospital in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
READ MORE: Manitoba man on hook for close to $120K medical bill after having a heart attack at home
In October, Robin Milne had a heart attack at his Manitoba home and was rushed to the nearest hospital in Roseau, Minnesota, part of a long-standing agreement with the province known as the Altru Agreement. He ended up stuck with a hospital bill of more than more than $118,000.
After much back and forth with the province, on Thursday, a portion of Milne’s bill was paid by the province and discussions are ongoing to cover the remainder.
READ MORE: Province pays off large portion of $118k bill for Manitoba man treated in U.S. hospital
In 2015, Verna Kittleson said she left her home in the Manitoba border town of Sprague and went to Roseau, Minnesota, to visit her doctor.
That’s a journey that is made by many living in Sprague, following the Altru agreement made between Manitoba Health and Roseau, Minnesota.
The Altru agreement allows residents in Manitoba to seek treatment in Roseau because there’s no hospital in Sprague.
After Kittleson arrived at her doctor’s office, the doctor immediately sent her to the emergency room in Roseau, telling her she had a heart condition that needed to be treated.
“They diagnosed me with congestive heart failure and they referred me to the cardiologist at St. Boniface Hospital. I waited and never heard or got an appointment [from St. Boniface]. And, of course I got sicker as each day continued,” Kittleson said.
As she waited to hear back from the hospital on her side of the border in Manitoba, she received a phone call from her doctor in the U.S., telling her she needed to head to Grand Forks, North Dakota immediately.
“I got a call telling me to get to the Grand Forks hospital the next day. They had a surgeon lined up,” Kittleson added.
She said when her doctor called her and told her to get to the hospital immediately she knew it was urgent.
In the midst of her stressful drive over to Grand Forks, Kittleson said she had no worries about her medical bills because of the agreement Manitoba Health had made with Roseau.
“I got really scared at first beacause I knew then that I needed surgery and I was sicker than I thought I was.”
She also said a phone call from Manitoba Health made her feel safe from any medical expenses from the U.S., even though she was going to a different hospital.
But, that wasn’t the reality for Kittleson.
Following her visit to Roseau, she received a bill for US $67,454. That is a bill that Kittleson said she’s had to mortgage her house to help pay for. Her husband had to come out of retirement, and she herself said she worries now she’ll never be able to retire.
Kittleson said she’s made her case with Manitoba Health and lost the battle, but she doesn’t want to see this continue to happen with the rest of her community and others living in border towns.
She said it’s time Manitoba Health steps up and makes a similar agreement with the hospital in Grand Forks, North Dakota allowing residents to travel there for treatment as well, with no added U.S. costs.
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