When Binghamton University student Mayra Rodriguez fell ill with bacterial meningitis while studying abroad in Spain last January, and later overcame the illness, family and friends were overjoyed that she had won her battle. While Rodriguez remains well on the road to recovery, her family is now facing another battle ‘ this time, with her insurance company.

Rodriguez and her family have been charged with more than $400,000 in medical bills that their insurance provider is refusing to cover.

After she contracted meningitis, Rodriguez was granted medical leave by the University. While she is still considered to be a BU student, her insurance company, which required Rodriguez to remain in school full-time in order for her to receive coverage, refused to pay her bills.

‘It’s a righteous amount of money and we can’t afford to pay it,’ Irma Rodriguez, Mayra’s mother, said. ‘Even if we had the money, we shouldn’t have to pay it. It wouldn’t be fair.’

According to Katharine Krebs, director of the Office of International Programs, all BU students are required to have medical coverage while studying abroad.

‘There is a SUNY-wide policy that requires that students be covered with comprehensive medical care while studying in a foreign country,’ she said. ‘It covers for the student’s care while in that country and covers the cost to evacuate them back into [the United States].’

Mayra Rodriguez’s care was covered by the insurance as long as she remained in Spain. As her condition worsened, her parents made the decision to airlift her back into the United States. They knew she would no longer be covered by her study abroad insurance, but thought Mayra Rodriguez’s father’s insurance would cover her medical bills.

‘They told us there was nothing more they could do for her recovery there,’ Irma Rodriguez said. ‘We had to return.’

Mayra Rodriguez and her family have since hired a lawyer to help in their negotiations with the insurance company.

Despite the mounting medical bills, however, Mayra Rodriguez has made great progress in her physical recovery.

‘In the beginning we didn’t even know that she’d be able to walk, to heal,’ Irma Rodriguez said. ‘Now we know it’s just a process and we need to wait for the brain to heal.’

Last week Mayra Rodriguez completed her last physical therapy session, a huge accomplishment according to her mother. She’s begun to paint and play the violin again, both passions of hers before she became ill.

She is also in the process of re-learning how to read and write, something her doctors say will come back to her with time.

‘At the beginning of the summer ‘ she was working on answering questions and basic conversation skills,’ said Rachel Barrocas, a senior English major and close friend of Rodriguez. ‘Since then, she has moved on to identifying letters and numbers, and is now reading full words.’

Irma Rodriguez said her daughter is also returning to a more normal social life. She talks to her friends at BU on the phone and has been asking to be able to volunteer at local charities.

‘She saw all of her friends return to school at the end of the summer and that motivated her,’ Irma Rodriguez said. ‘That’s one of her biggest ambitions, to return to school.’

Donations for Mayra Rodriguez can be made out to:

The Mayra Fund/El Centro Hispano

346 South Lexington Ave.

White Plains, N.Y. 10606