“Don’t be so sure, you might be receiving an invoice. LOL”
Ha! I had to laugh at that. That is true! I got bills from doctors or whoever that I didn’t even see. Maybe they looked in the room and seen me. That’s the part about hospital bills that disgusts me.
Last year I went through three days of tests at one of the hospitals in Philly; all was covered by my insurance, but I didn't get the bill. I did have access to the insurance co.'s online system through my employer, and pulled the records showing procedure/amount billed/amount paid. I noticed that there were about 25% of the line-items that were denied, due to Not Applicable, or as Included in Other Payouts. Of the balance, any MD or other qualified medical individual's bill was cut to 55% or less; Drugs and Durable Medical Equipment charges were cut to 35% or less. My insurance paid out less than $14K on the original $40+K bill.
I too believe that the hospital in your case should submit the bill to Britain's NHS and get their refusal in writing before your son makes any arrangements with them. As a visitor here on a valid visa, he should be covered at least in part, if not in whole due to it being emergency surgery.