Pregnant MN Woman Will No Longer Lose Doctors After Donors Pay Debt

GLENCOE, MN — A pregnant Glencoe woman will not be cut off from receiving medical care after people who read of her plight donated to help pay her debts and allow her to keep her doctors, she said.

“I don't even know where to begin to say thank you,” Stephanie Beesing wrote in a GoFundMe. “I am overwhelmed and in awe of people's generosity.”

Beesing was told while eight months pregnant that she would be cut off from clinic care due to $4,100 in medical debt owed to Glencoe Regional Health, according to the Star Tribune. Beesing was able to ensure care during the birth of her child and two additional visits, but would then only have access to the provider’s emergency services, the Tribune reported.

“ER and Urgent Care only access is not helpful when you have a chronic or ongoing illness that you need specialists for,” she wrote. “I don't want this to happen again, to myself, and definitely not to anyone else.”

Beesing and her husband were in bankruptcy two years ago after suffering pandemic-related job loss and chronic health issues, according to the Tribune, which reported their state insurance had a high deductible and they struggled with copays and out-of-pocket costs.

Glencoe Regional Health told the Tribune that patients are encouraged to pursue financial help and consider payment options and that it tries to avoid cutting off care.

Tribune readers donated money for Beesing’s bills, according to Beesing, who was scheduled to be induced Thursday due to diabetes and a high-risk pregnancy. She is also debating whether to return to work at a local library after her unpaid three-month leave, as childcare could cost more than her salary, the Tribune reported.

“I want to encourage people to contact the State Attorney General and the clinics who have these policies: they need to change,” she wrote. “Especially when we are hard-working people and have medical insurance but the costs of specialists or continued care for chronic issues just keeps piling up before anyone can even get a chance to get ahead.”

Allina Health recently fell under scrutiny when a similar policy was reported by The New York Times, but the provider has since paused the practice.