Michael Flor got a $1.1 million hospital bill.
- A 70-year-old Covid-19 patient in the US has received a $1.1 million medical bill, local media has reported.
- This includes payments for using a ventilator and for being in an intesive care ward.
- The man stayed in hospital for 62 days.
A 70-year-old American man who nearly died of Covid-19 has been billed a heart-stopping $1.1 million (about R18 730 877 in today’s exchange rate) for his hospital expenses, media in the US has reported.
Michael Flor was admitted to a hospital in the northwestern city on 4 March, and stayed for 62 days – at one point coming so close to death that nurses held up the phone so his wife and children could say goodbye.
But he recovered and was discharged on 5 May to the cheers of nursing staff – only to receive a 181-page bill totalling $1,122,501.04, he told the newspaper.
Ventilator
That includes: $9,736 per day for the intensive care room, nearly $409,000 for its transformation into a sterile room for 42 days, $82,000 for the use of a ventilator for 29 days, and nearly $100,000 for two days when his prognosis was life-threatening.
Flor is covered by Medicare, a government insurance program for the elderly, and should not have to take out his wallet, according to the Times.
But in a country where health care is among the most expensive in the world – and the idea of socializing it remains hugely controversial – he said he feels “guilty” knowing that taxpayers will bear much of the cost.
“It was a million bucks to save my life, and of course I’d say that’s money well-spent … But I also know I might be the only one saying that,” the Times quoted him as saying.
A gigantic plan adopted by Congress to keep the American economy afloat through the coronavirus shutdowns includes a $100 million budget to compensate hospitals and private insurance companies that treated COVID-19 patients.
