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A tiny little girl may be making a very big trip across the ocean this month, much to her parents’ relief.
Hayden Spratt, who was born prematurely in Portugal in May while her parents were vacationing there, will be flown home to the United States on a special flight, after Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield agreed Tuesday to pay for the transportation following an earlier refusal.
“That is great news,” said dad Fred Spratt, a New Jersey resident who first became a subscriber of the former Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania — which had been headquartered in Wilkes-Barre — while working for the Kingston-based Denisco Kindler group. He now is employed by ASSA ABLOY Door Security Solutions.
Highmark and Blue Cross merged on June 1.
Early birth
The Spratts, who live in Jackson, New Jersey, planned the European trip as a “babymoon” together before their twins were born.
Spratt said his wife, a physical therapist, was six months pregnant when they left home for Spain and Portugal, with her doctor’s blessing.
But cramps and illness in Lisbon soon led Kim Spratt into a hospital bed, where she gave birth 13 weeks early.
Their son, Hudson, did not survive.
Then came Hayden’s long road to survival, during which her parents have moved from a hotel to a series of apartments in Portugal, living on only half of their income.
Spratt said his employers have been very accommodating. But his wife runs her own business, he explained, which is sitting shuttered while the pair is overseas.
Friends set up a gofundme account to raise money for the family, at http://www.gofundme.com/twinsinportugal.
Flight denial
The family’s tragedy was compounded a few weeks ago when doctors told them Hayden might soon be ready to leave the hospital — perhaps by mid-September — but it would be many months more before her little lungs and immune system would be ready for a commercial flight.
Rather, Portuguese doctors said, the only way for Hayden to reach America would be on a private flight, with proper medical care.
Preliminary estimates put the cost of the flight alone at about $80,000, Spratt said.
Then he learned, much to his surprise, that they were “not covered for repatriation.”
Spratt said Highmark told him the insurer denied their request for a private flight because it was not “medically necessary.”
“So how am I supposed to get my daughter home?” Spratt said.
Moreover, he said during an initial interview on Monday, Portuguese doctors made it clear they were not going to release Hayden to her parents in Portugal unless they had a stable home there, which they clearly do not.
And, Spratt added, there were questions about just how long the two Americans would be allowed to stay in Portugal, and that was on top of the constantly mounting costs of their unexpected life away from home.
As of Monday, the Spratts were appealing Highmark’s decision. They also had been in touch with their congressional representatives back home in New Jersey, including Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who contacted the insurer personally.
Cleared to fly
Following a Monday evening conversation with Fred Spratt, the Times Leader contacted Highmark on Tuesday.
The story already had garnered other media attention, including reports in People magazine, USA Today and television stations in New Jersey.
Tuesday turned out to be the day the Spratts finally heard the news they had been so desperately waiting for.
Highmark spokesman Anthony Matrisciano confirmed the decision to fly Hayden home in a conversation with the Times Leader, shortly after the insurer had communicated that information to the Spratts.
While other costs related to the flight have not yet been worked out — including onboard medical care for little Hayden, who still weighed barely 5 pounds — Spratt expressed optimism and relief about the outcome. He said the flight could happen in mid-September.
Matrisciano said he could not comment further due to patient privacy, but said he understood that decisions about related costs had yet to be made.
“Yes, still much to be done and may not know for another couple days,” Spratt said. “At this point I would like to believe they will pay for the entire thing.”
