A year after 16-year-old Sara Yara died following a hit-and-run in Honolulu, her mother received a hospital bill for nearly $60,000, adding a financial burden to the family's grief.
Here's what to know
Yara had spent just half a day at Queen's Medical Center before her death, according to her mother, Chevy Saniatan.
Yara was struck on Feb. 15, 2023, at a Kapiolani Boulevard intersection while walking to McKinley High School, according to Hawai'i News Now.
The driver, Mitchel Miyashiro, had no license and had received more than 160 traffic citations before the collision that killed Yara. After years of legal proceedings, he waived a jury trial and entered a no-contest plea.
The unpaid charges had reached collections after HMSA, Yara's insurer, refused coverage, according to Hawai'i News Now's account of the invoice.
"I had to explain to them what happened, and I said I don't think I should be paying for the death of my daughter," Saniatan said, per Hawai'i News Now.
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More background
Both the hospital and the insurance company left the reasons the charges remained unpaid and went to collections unexplained.
"Due to member privacy considerations, HMSA cannot comment on the specific case presented. Generally, if an HMSA member receives emergency medical treatment following an accident and subsequently passes away, covered medical care would be processed according to the terms of their health plan," the insurer said in a statement cited by Hawai'i News Now.
Queen's cited federal patient privacy laws in declining to discuss the case.
A health insurance expert offered a possible explanation: Yara's insurer likely believed a third party — in this case, the driver — was responsible for the expenses.
What's being done?
Saniatan received a call from Queen's billing staff following Hawaii News Now's inquiry to the hospital.
"It was totally out of the blue," Saniatan said. "They basically explained that the reason it took so long was because they were trying to get HMSA to pay some of the bill, but HMSA never did, so it bounced back. I'm grateful they were trying to make it work and call me."
Under state law, victims can seek restitution to cover costs including medical treatment, though Hawai'i News Now noted that a judge decides whether to grant it. Saniatan wanted Miyashiro to receive a prison term of 10 years or more.
Raised pedestrian crosswalks and red-light cameras are among the changes made at the intersection where Yara was killed.
"If we can bring closure to this in honor of Sara, she made a difference in our community," Saniatan said. "That my daughter did not die in vain."
Where can I learn more?
Saniatan's family is grieving while also facing a nearly $60,000 hospital bill, and similar issues too often make already difficult situations even worse.
• A patient disputed an $85,000 hospital bill before an AI sweep found $20,000 more.
• An in-network hospital's $2,400 annual lab charges left a patient facing a $500 bill.
• Blue Cross says hospitals' AI billing tools increased costs by $942 million without more care.
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