{"id":544378,"date":"2026-03-18T11:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/544378\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:27:09","slug":"u-s-woman-visiting-family-in-canada-hit-with-over-111k-hospital-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/544378\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. woman visiting family in Canada hit with over $111K hospital bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Whitby man says his mother was visiting from the U.S. last fall, she became ill and ended up in the hospital. <\/p>\n

A woman visiting her family in Canada from the United States became ill and was admitted to the hospital, and without travel insurance, the family was shocked to get a bill for more than $110,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know if she was going to make it because she was unconscious,\u201d said Naveed Zafar, of Whitby, Ont.<\/p>\n

Zafar\u2019s mother, Begum Bashiran, is in her 80s and lives in Atlanta, Ga. In October, she was visiting Zafar and his sister, who lives in Waterloo. During the visit, Bashiran suffered a stroke and ended up in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\"\"Begum Bashiran Begum Bashiran is seen at a hospital in this undated photo. <\/p>\n

Zafar rushed to the Waterloo Regional Health Network to see his mother and filled out documents for her care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey showed me a form about medical expenses, and I didn\u2019t even bother looking at it. All I was thinking was, \u2018Am I going to see my mom again, and is she going to make it,\u2019\u201d Zafar recounted to CTV News.<\/p>\n

Bashiran was in the hospital for four weeks, in and out of the intensive care unit. She has since recovered and is now back in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

However, since she did not have travel health insurance while visiting Canada, the family was handed a huge medical bill for the care she received.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my mother was discharged, I was sent a bill for over $110,000,\u201d said Zafar.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bill graphic <\/p>\n

The hospital did offer a 10 per cent discount on certain charges; however, Zafar still owed about $100,852.875. So far, he\u2019s paid $55,000, but he is expected to come up with the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a responsible citizen, I definitely want to pay the hospital,\u201d Zafar said, but added, \u201cI was hoping there was some way they could find other discounts to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bill graphic <\/p>\n

When CTV News reached out to the Waterloo Regional Health Network, a spokesperson said in a statement, \u201cWe cannot discuss specific clinical details due to patient privacy laws. We sincerely empathize with the financial strain that unexpected medical emergencies can cause, especially when navigating the complexities of international health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hospital added: \u201cOur goal remains the well-being of our patients, and we continue to offer our support to the family as they navigate these next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Waterloo Regional Health Network hospital Waterloo Regional Health Network hospital is seen in this undated photo. <\/p>\n

Travel insurance expert and CEO of Travel Secure Inc. Martin Firestone told CTV News that several companies offer \u201cVisitor to Canada\u201d insurance. <\/p>\n

Just like how Canadians should get insurance when travelling abroad, Firestone said those visiting Canada will also want to look at getting coverage while visiting in case they suddenly require medical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll people visiting Canada who are not Canadian residents need to purchase \u2018Visitor to Canada\u2019 insurance,\u201d said Firestone.<\/p>\n

He noted that if the family had purchased coverage, most likely the care Bashiran received would have been covered.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, it appears they didn\u2019t buy it, and now they are facing this huge bill,\u201d Firestone said.<\/p>\n

Zafar told CTV News he is thankful for the hospital looking after his mother and said he will have to find another way to pay the rest of the bill.<\/p>\n

\"\"Naveed Zafar Naveed Zafar speaks with Pat Foran about his mother’s expensive medical bill. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, I\u2019ve maxed out options of whatever I paid them,\u201d said Zafar. \u201cIf I have to pay them, I have to, and there is no way out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Whitby man says his mother was visiting from the U.S. last fall, she became ill and ended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[712,49,48,44],"class_list":["post-544378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}