The News Lens
Date: 2016/08/19
By: ZiQing Low

An expat couple in Taiwan have started a crowdfunding campaign after being hit with a

PHOTO CREDIT: Erica Brüll-Reinhold and Bas Brüll

surprise medical bill after the birth of their twin daughters.

After a month-long battle with birth complications and surgeries, Erica Brüll-Reinhold and Bas Brüll expected to be able to take their twin daughters home from a hospital in southern Taiwan. Instead, the couple were told the newborns could not be discharged until a hospital bill of NT$1.3 million (US$41,000) was paid, because their babies were not covered under Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) policy.

The twins were born on July 12 and rushed to intensive care after doctors discovered the babies were underweight because their umbilical cords had been tangled. On Aug. 8, Brüll-Reinhold was told both girls needed surgery to remove tissue that had protruded through their abdominal muscles.     [FULL  STORY]