A Manitoba man says he isnât getting any financial help from the province after he was slapped with a medical bill for $118,000 for a life-saving procedure in the U.S.
Robin Milne, 60, lives a few kilometres north of the American border in Sprague, Man. When he suffered a heart attack last October, he rushed to the closest hospital in Roseau, Minnesota, where Manitobans have health coverage through a U.S.-Canadian deal.
A doctor then told Milne to get a heart stent at another hospital in North Dakota, a state where Manitobans are not automatically covered. The decision came after Milne says he waited 90 minutes for an air transfer to a Winnipeg hospital.
He later received the whopping medical bill. Milne says heâd need to remortgage his house or dip into retirement savings to cover the six-figure expense.
Milne has spoken out about his story, but he says the province still wonât help him with the payment.
âPretty devastated by that news. I really felt that they would be a lot more compassionate than that,â he told CTV Winnipeg. âWhy theyâre playing hardball ⊠I just donât know.â
A spokesperson for the province told CTV Winnipeg that they could not speak to the details of a specific case. The province says that, by law, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen does not have the authority to order Milneâs bill to be covered.
"Additional clarity about eligibility of coverage and services is needed for both residents of Manitoba and the service providers in the United States," Goertzen said in an earlier statement on the case.
Manitobaâs NDP health critic says the minister should do more to help Milne.
âHe should look at this particular case, revisit it and do the right thing: step up and make sure that he pays this bill for this patient,â said MLA Matt Wiebe.
Milne says he understands that there was a âbreakdownâ during his case, but that he was forced to make a life-or-death decision under pressure from a U.S. medical expert. He added that heâs upset with the way elected officials have handled the problem.
âWhen we elect these people to represent us and the response that we get from them is so unkind, I just donât know.â
With a report from CTV Winnipeg and The Canadian Press