Coronavirus survivor hit with $1.1 million hospital bill
A COVID-19 patient who was dubbed “the miracle child” after spending weeks in an induced coma has received a US$1.1 million (NZ$1.71 million) bill for his hospital treatment.
Michael Flor spent 62 days in an intensive care unit at Swedish Medical Centre in the city of Issaquah in Washington, United States, where he came so close to death from the coronavirus.
But the 70-year-old man said it was still “heart-stopping” to receive the hospital bill for $1,122,501.04.
“I had to look at it a number of times… to see if I was seeing it right,” Flor told TIME.
The 181-page bill included almost 3,000 itemised charges, The Seattle Times reported. Flor was charged $9,736 for every day he spent in an isolation chamber and an additional $2,835 for each day he was put on a mechanical ventilator. A two-day period when his heart, kidneys and lungs were failing cost close to $100,000.
Flor said he will likely foot little of his bill because he is insured by Medicare and Medicare Advantage through Kaiser Permanente. According to the Times, he may not have to pay anything due to the special policies applied to hospitals and insurance companies for COVID-19.
However, Flor said he still felt guilt while going through the numbers.
“I feel guilty about surviving,” he told the Times.
“There’s a sense of ‘why me?’ Why did I deserve all this? Looking at the incredible cost of it all definitely adds to that survivor’s guilt.”
Flor is now recovering in his West Seattle home.