'We feel we can breathe again': Blue Cross reverses course, will cover Sask. man's $500K medical bills

Saskatchewan Blue Cross has had a sudden change of heart.

The family of Louis Lamothe, 72, the Halbrite, Sask. man who suffered a stroke while vacationing in Arizona, had to pay $56,000 for his medical flight home and was facing thousands in expected bills from U.S. hospitals when their travel insurance claim was denied.

On Thursday evening, the family says, the insurance company informed them that they will cover all expenses.

"We feel like we can breathe again," Lamothe's granddaughter, Rebecca Fee, told CBC News. "There are finally some smiles.

"It's just a huge sense of relief that Blue Cross reversed its decision. They didn't give us a reason why they changed their minds, but I don't need that reason as long as they cover it."

Fee suspects the national media coverage was a reason for the sudden reversal, but said the insurance company "declined that as a reason." She said Blue Cross, who is in consultation with the U.S. hospitals, informed them on Friday afternoon that their hospital fees are "more than half million Canadian dollars."

In a Friday morning email exchange, Saskatchewan Blue Cross declined an interview but confirmed that the situation had reached a conclusion through their standard claim management process. 

"As with all claims and claims decisions, privacy requirements prohibit us from sharing specific details," the statement said.

The letter Blue Cross sent to the family on Thursday evening says the insurer, after reviewing the family's claim, accepted "the expenses related to the emergency medical services" received in Arizona for the period from Feb. 3 to Feb. 26, 2023.

"They are covering his hospital bills from Yuma and Phoenix, his medical flight home and offered $500 for extra expenses, which of course were close to $10,000," Fee said.

"They are even transporting his truck from Yuma, Arizona to home. We'll see what else they can do for us after this very very long month. I'm glad they took responsibility for this."

Fee says the claim should not have been denied in the first place. She said the insurance company had argued it was because Lamothe failed to disclose a change in the dosage of cholesterol medication he had been taking. 

Lamothe had been on a 10-milligram pill, which was increased to a 20-milligrams in July, three months before he left for the U.S. Because Blue Cross had not been informed of the dosage increase, the family said, Blue Cross declined to insure Lamothe for his hospital stay or flight home. 

Fee said her grandmother, Arlene Lamothe, who told CBC on Monday that the predicament would have meant her selling her house in Halbrite, was "screaming, hugging and crying" upon learning the news.