A 70-year-old US man who nearly died of COVID-19 has been billed a whopping $1.1 million for his hospital expenses. Michael Flor was admitted to a hospital in the northwestern city on March 4 and stayed for 62 days in hospital while fighting COVID-19. At one point he came so close to death that nurses and doctors were about to call his family for his last goodbye.
But if the deadly infection did not get him, the bill he got from the hospital for his stay may have given him a heart attack. It amounted to $1.1 million. He was discharged on May 5 and his bill was 181 pages long!
Michael says his heart almost failed a second time when he got the bill from his health care odyssey the other day.
“I opened it and said ‘Holy [bleep]!’ “ Flor says.
The total tab for his bout with the coronavirus: $1.1 million. $1,122,501.04, to be exact. All in one bill that’s more like a book because it was 181 pages. 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.
“It was a million bucks to save my life, and of course, I’d say that’s money well spent,” he says. “But I also know I might be the only one saying that.”
The American man is covered by Medicare, a government insurance program specially made for elderly people. While he may not have to pay out of his own pocket, he does feel guilty that the taxpayers are paying for his care while he is fighting the infection.
Almost the same happened with a 53-year-old man in India. The man was admitted for 23 days as he was infected with covid and his bill came to Rs 20 lakh. Unfortunately, only 7.5 lakh was covered under his insurance. So the rest of the amount had to be paid from his own pocket.
