A Woman, a Banana and a $120,000 Question About What a Life Is Worth – The New York Times

It was acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

What are you talking about? she remembers telling the physician.

Ms. Toleubay wanted to go home, but doctors told her she was too sick to travel.

Her mother, who lost her job last year after a serious car crash, sold several of the familys assets, including a car and an apartment, to come to Florida to be with her daughter.

The blood cancer was aggressive, and her condition was dire, Ms. Toleubay said. She was hospitalized for 40 days this spring but managed to recover enough to take two courses in the fall semester. Then the bills started coming. She found out that her student insurance policy has a half-million-dollar annual cap.

Florida International University gave her a scholarship to cover her tuition, but Ms. Toleubay said the hospital informed her that each round of chemotherapy would cost $34,000, and that the insurance company had ceased paying. She already owes $205,000. She suspended her treatment about three weeks ago, with plans to resume in January, when her insurance kicks back in again.

After The Times asked the University of Miami hospital about her case on Friday, Ms. Toleubay said her doctor called to say that the hospital administration decided she must resume treatment. It is unclear, she said, who will pay for that.

Providing appropriate care to our patients at all times is our top priority, the hospital said in a statement. In some cases, we work with our patients in navigating their insurance coverage, always putting their care first.

Ms. Toleubay, the statement said, has been in remission since June.

Her friends at school started the GoFundMe in May, and it has raised more than $25,000. One of Ms. Toleubays teachers, the restaurant and nightclub owner David Grutman, made a sizable donation.

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A Woman, a Banana and a $120,000 Question About What a Life Is Worth - The New York Times