S’pore Mum Hit With $41K Medical Bills After Domestic Helper Suffers Collapsed Lung Twice, Hospitalised For 2 Mths

Hiring a domestic helper is supposed to make life a little easier, especially when you’re juggling work and kids.

For Jean Tan, 30, a single mum with a nine-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter, however, things took a stressful turn just two months after her helper from Myanmar arrived.

Jean, who works in the insurance industry, recently took to Instagram to share what she calls the “biggest risk” she never considered when hiring a helper: unexpected medical bills.

And hers came up to a staggering $41,156.50.

According to Jean, her helper arrived in Singapore around the beginning of June to help care for her children so she could focus on building her career.

Before coming here, her helper had undergone a medical examination and, according to Jean, her report did not flag any issues.

Then, in mid-August, the helper began experiencing chest pain, chest tightness and breathlessness.

Jean took her to the A&E, where she was diagnosed with a collapsed lung.

After she was discharged, however, the problem returned.

“One day after her discharge, I had to send her back to the hospital because she was complaining of the same thing. And apparently she had a second lung collapse,” Jean said.

Jean also stressed that she had not overworked her helper and said she did not know what caused the condition.

By late September, Jean said her helper had worked for her for two months and been hospitalised for two months.

Jean broke down just how much the whole ordeal had cost her.

The first hospital admission came up to $27,242, while the second cost another $13,521.

There were also other expenses, including a polyclinic visit, wound dressing, a follow-up consultation and an X-ray.

Total damage? S$41,156.50.

“Can you feel the pain that I have out of my pocket?” Jean lamented.

This came after she had already forked out around $6,500 when she first hired her helper, which covered her loan as well as documentation, agency fees, airfare and insurance.

Thankfully, Jean said she had purchased insurance with zero co-payment and expects the medical expenses to be reimbursed.

But she had to pay the bills herself first while waiting for the insurance claim to be processed, which she was told could take four to six weeks.

“I don’t even know when the insurance [is] going to pay me,” she said, adding that the uncertainty was “scary”.

Jean also shared that she was grateful to have her parents’ support during this period.

The financial strain wasn't Jean's only concern.

After taking her helper for a follow-up appointment, Jean revealed that the latter had been cleared to continue working.

While that was good news, Jean was torn over what to do next.

“I don't know if I want to take that risk that another episode might happen, or her body may be not fully recovered or weaker,” she said.

She considered keeping her helper, returning her to the agency and hiring someone else, or giving up having a helper altogether.

“The amount of bills that I spent just paying for it while my income is still not stable... It's a big hit,” she admitted.

The situation was particularly difficult for Jean as she had hired a helper so she could concentrate on work while having someone help with her two children.

While her helper was still in hospital, Jean said she had been relying on a neighbour to help with her kids and that her home was “in a mess”.

At the time, she described herself as being at her “wits’ end”.

But simply sending her helper home didn't sit well with Jean either.

She said her helper still had several months left on the loan she had taken to come to Singapore, and Jean was worried that it would be difficult for her to find another employer given her health issues.

Then there was the cost of getting another helper.

Jean said that if she sent her current helper home, she would have to pay for her airfare. Hiring a replacement would mean forking out more money too, including what she described as “close to about $4K” for the new helper's loan.