Had a stroke in the Bahamas and woke to $55,000 in charges on my Bank of America credit card from hospital, however, I never gave them my credit card : legaladvice

This should be fun so strap in. I was in Nassaus Bahamas and suffered a stroke unexpectedly. I am young (low 30’s)and an overall pretty active and healthy so a stroke was the last thing that I would expect it to happen at this time in my life. So when the stroke hit the left side of my body went ‘limp’. I wasn’t able to talk, walk, or function … it is similar to being paralyzed and all around sucks. The hotel thankfully called an ambulance which brought me to a hospital.

Here’s where the fun begins. My girlfriend (lets call her T) went to give them my health insurance card when I was admitted which covers me internationally but the hospital refused my insurance and said that I don’t have coverage and insisted on cash payment or they would not treat me. When you are having a stroke minutes count so she give them whatever they wanted to treat me

This is when T gave them my credit cardimportant note T is not an authorized cardholder on my credit card account. She does not have her own card nor is she an authorized signer or user on my account she simply went into my wallet while I was unconscious and gave it to themSo I was not able to step in and deal with the situation. I woke up hours later to T crying by my bedside. She was explaining to me the situation, even though I was conscience I was not able to process nor have the energy to respond. She was explaining that they would chase her down the hallway for $ 5000 $10,000 $20,000 at a time whatever they could as if buying a used car, it was surreal and makes me so mad but she did not have any other options at the time she notified my parents who showed up a day later. My father was raising hell about them not taking my insurance when he arrived but it was not the time to argue and made arrangements to get me back to the states. T is not an authorized user on my credit card account but she was doing what she thought was best for me while trying not to die. I think anyone else would have done the same

Long story short I was transported via air ambulance back to the states Pompano Beach Florida where my health insurance took over and now that the dust has settled I have $55,000 in charges on my credit card from said hospital in the Bahamas. I have spoken to my insurance company and they said the hospital should have taken the insurance when I was admitted but the hospital prefers cash because insurance companies will pay discounted rates whereas cash out of pocket is subject to whatever the hospital charges.

So the rub is the insurance company will not reimburse me for the full amount as that is not what they would have paid the hospital directly Since T is not an authorized user and she signed all the credit card receipts I already attempted to chargeback the charges but the credit card company has rejected this as a claim stating I have benefited from the services at the hospital and it is not considered fraud. I’m not trying to stiff the hospital on their bill, rather I want my money back and have my health insurance company pay them what they should have been be paid. My blood boils that they chased a grieving emotional girl for money knowing what they were doing. They took complete advantage of the situation

Does anyone out there have any advice or work for Bank of America disputes dept that can help guide me anyway or should I bother contacting a lawyer in the Bahamas? I assume I have to deal with an attorney over there not here, correct? If so a contact or advice on how to find one over there would be great.

Complete sidenote on where I’m at today. I am in rehab full time and started walking a few weeks ago for the first time since the stroke it’s not a pretty walk but gets me around my left arm is still flaccid but starting to move so I’m encouraged and the DRs think about six to 12 months to get full movement back, they say being young is one when the advantages in rehab ..I guess silver lining?? .. still sucks though LOL

I typed this post using voice dictation software apologies for any typos or grammatical errors or formatting I sucked with grammar before the stroke :)