.. which isn't complaining about the US system, its costs or its functioning (though a million dollar baby is certainly shocking, if not very surprising, to Canadians), but about the Canadian travel insurance business which is in serious need of reform and revised regulations because that story is hardly an isolated incident. Lawyers specialized in such cases already advised the couple not to pay the bills, that their case is pretty solid and they should sue the insurance company. That's what the Canadian media are after in this story.

Canadian provinces (the exact rules vary from one to another) will only reimburse medical fees incurred while abroad up to the cost of the same procedures in the province itself (and only those covered by healthcare... American private hospitals are reputed for their extraneous and "overkill" tests and for picking the most expensive procedures available, because they need to cover the ass) , and they won't reimburse related costs not covered by healthcare, such as the hospital room, supplies etc. which every Canadian is well aware are insanely expensive in the US. That's why the state only reimburse them 20 000$.

Anyway, we're told over and over again that even crossing the US border for an hour without having bought a health insurance for travellers first is a very high risk game. Visiting the US when you have a condition that might require hospitalization is a financial hazard. The problem is that it's nightmare to get one that you can trust not to screw you, that won't find loopholes (it seems quite possible that the pregnancy wasn't considered high risk in Canada, but in the US, where doctors can be sued, it was). That they failed to warn the couple that anything related to the pregnancy wouldn't be covered by the plan they were selling them is no big surprise, the agent probably knew if they were given all the facts the couple might well decide to cancel their trip and the insurer would lose the sale.