hospitalization bill for my maid

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:20 pm

Dear all,

I've taken my maid to see the GP for several times, and today it is confirmed that she has TB. Gosh. We have lived for about 2 months... The medical insurance we purchased for her covers up to $15,000 for hospitalization. Since she needs to be quarantine and be treated in hospital, I am not sure whether of the amount the insurance covers, how much out of pocket hospital bill I would need to pay beyond the insurance amount. The insurance I bought for her is from Great Eastern Plan B.

But since TB is infectious, what would be my best strategy to deal with her?

Thank you very much.

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Thu, 29 Jul 2010 4:32 am

What you have done is above the normal practise the locals will do. Since you have sent her to the hospital usually the insurance part will take care of it. If there is an excess , you will only need to pay for that excess.
If you have her in the C ward, it will not cost you an arm and a leg. The insurance should cover most of it. Top of my head would be about $5K
For the maid herself, well, if you have young children, you might want to consider changing another maid. As you are already aware that TB is contagious. Most locals have this injection at a young age hence there are some protection there. You might want to consider that for yourself if you have not had this b4.
I realise that she is a human being and you do not want to ruin her employment BUT if your maid employment is just started, either the GP or the employment must have missed this ailment.
This is a tough call but sometimes you have to make that call

batgirl_cdn · Post by **batgirl_cdn** » Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:13 am

Doc, it is great that you are looking after your helper and allowing her to get crucial treatment instead of sending her home. She must be feeling pretty sick. I hope she will be feeling better soon! My fingers are crossed that you and those who had most contact with your helper haven't contracted TB. I'm not sure how long the treatment time is, and how long she is deemed contagious and a risk to others, but I just hope that a good solution can be reached, because the helper has only been 2 months working for you and may have debts to the agency that need paying. If possible it would be great if she could still work for you when well, or be allowed to transfer after her treatment if you need to hire someone else. If the agency isn't being helpful, please call HOME and ask for advice or help with this issue. 6348 9939 / 6333 8384
migrants.home@gmail.com http://home.org.sg/

ancientmariner · Post by **ancientmariner** » Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:42 am

Doc wrote:Dear all,

I've taken my maid to see the GP for several times, and today it is confirmed that she has TB. Gosh. We have lived for about 2 months... The medical insurance we purchased for her covers up to $15,000 for hospitalization. Since she needs to be quarantine and be treated in hospital, I am not sure whether of the amount the insurance covers, how much out of pocket hospital bill I would need to pay beyond the insurance amount. The insurance I bought for her is from Great Eastern Plan B.

But since TB is infectious, what would be my best strategy to deal with her?

Thank you very much.

2nd Thought
=========

TB is a very much treatable disease and believe, good treatment can be
arranged with much lower cost in the maid's home country! It won't even
cost you the amount you are going to pay out of pocket!

Post by **x9200** » Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:51 am

ancientmariner wrote:
2nd Thought
=========

TB is a very much treatable disease and believe, good treatment can be
arranged with much lower cost in the maid's home country! It won't even
cost you the amount you are going to pay out of pocket!

And how does the procedure look like to send a person with diagnosed, active TB back to her country on the plane? Unless this is not required...

batgirl_cdn · Post by **batgirl_cdn** » Fri, 30 Jul 2010 7:18 pm

Yes, I'm sure she can get the best TB treatment, especially if she has multiple drug resistant TB, in her village in Indonesia/Philippines/Sri Lanka...

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:37 pm

We actually sent her to tan tock seng hospital, but the hospital won't take her. The hospital would only treat me as an outpatient case. This means she has to stay at home. But she had fever every day, and I have two kids at home. Given it is contagious, she stayed in one of our room for almost one month. We were afraid that she is too sick to take the airplane back to her home.

The recovery to TB takes a long time. Given she is not able to work, I don't really know what to do (besides giving her the treatment the hospital suggested). Also, is there any waiver of the maid tax for this case? She was transferred to us around three months ago, and she has been sick for a month.

Any suggestion welcomed.

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 4:56 am

Call the agency or her embassy or even MOM for advise is one way to go.
You have kids, the concern is greater

Post by **x9200** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 8:15 am

Was a local agency involved in hiring her?

Mad Scientist · Post by **Mad Scientist** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 9:52 am

It is much harder to bring your own maid into SG . MOM has to vet her stringently. It is a common practice going thru maid agency . Save all the hassle

Post by **x9200** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:28 am

I am simply thinking if the full symptoms got apparent only after 2 months in SG then almost certainly she already had TB when started to work. So perhaps it was overlooked during I assume obligatory medical check-up (you also mentioned it above).
I am deeply sympathetic to the maid but even if this would be a member of the family I would think of separating her from the kids and other, hopefully still not infected members. If this is the agency who should ensure the maid is healthy prior to her work in SG then they should provide a temporary accommodation for her. This is very serious if somebody's negligence (if the case here) leads to endangering of other people safety. A clear risk is that the agency, if forced will likely do everything in expense of the maid.
If OP rather prefer not to go his way, then perhaps the mentioned HOME can help providing temporary accommodation with some donation from the OP?

Or maybe we are all demonizing it a bit and it is reasonably safe to live with a TB active person under one roof if some basic precautions are taken?

batgirl_cdn · Post by **batgirl_cdn** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:01 am

Doc, who have you called for advice? Have you called the agency, embassy, MOM or HOME yet?

I'm puzzled as to why the hospital did not admit your helper. What exactly did the hospital say about her condition and her treatment? They are the medical experts, so only they can advise on the risk to your family and others and set appropriate treatment for her and those exposed to her if she has been contagious.

Why isn't there an info resource for employers for what to do in situations like this? I haven't seen anything on MOM pages.

batgirl_cdn · Post by **batgirl_cdn** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:10 am

I found a news article dated April 2010 that says that foreign workers are eligible for free TB treatment from the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (sata CommHealth)

sata CommHealth website - http://www.sata.com.sg/

Post by **x9200** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:50 am

batgirl_cdn wrote:Why isn't there an info resource for employers for what to do in situations like this? I haven't seen anything on MOM pages.

Because I guess nothing like this is supposed to happen or does not happen frequently or everybody pretends it does not.

Post by **nakatago** » Sat, 31 Jul 2010 1:33 pm

x9200 wrote:
batgirl_cdn wrote:Why isn't there an info resource for employers for what to do in situations like this? I haven't seen anything on MOM pages.
Because I guess nothing like this is supposed to happen or does not happen frequently or everybody pretends it does not.

What are you talking about? You can't blame me if my maid suddenly decided to go home!

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