After spending months hospitalized for COVID-19 at Swedish Scientific Heart in Issaquah, Wash., Michael Flor, 70, says that he knew his cease would be dear. He’d spent 62 days in an intensive care unit, together with weeks in an caused coma, and approach so shut to demise that his family had called to instruct goodbye. Nonetheless he says it used to be easy “coronary heart-stopping” to be taught the health facility’s invoice — for $1.1 million.
“I needed to sight at it a desire of times… to inquire if I used to be seeing it ideal,” Flor, a Seattle resident, tells TIME.
The 181-internet page invoice integrated practically 3,000 itemized charges, the Seattle Instances reported. His room in the intensive care unit by myself had payment about $9,700 a day, Flor says.
Flor says the total payment of his medication is in total increased, due to the invoice doesn’t encompass a pair of items, together with expenses for his educated nursing facility, dialysis and the doctors who treated him.
Flor says he may well moreover simply no longer in the extinguish must pay for great of his medication. He’s insured by Medicare and Medicare Advantage thru Kaiser Permanente. The smartly being care firm has presented that it’s miles going to waive most out-of-pocket costs for COVID-19 patients thru 2020.
Dr. Anne Lipke, a pulmonary and serious-care specialist at Swedish, instructed the Instances that there used to be a moment when she used to be severely bowled over that Flor made it thru a weekend.
“He used to be as in heart-broken health as that chances are high you’ll moreover procure, with fundamentally every organ arrangement shutting down,” says Lipke.
Issaquah’s Swedish Scientific Heart did no longer answer to a quiz for comment from TIME.
The Coronavirus Quick. The entire lot it be well-known to know referring to the worldwide spread of COVID-19
Thanks!
To your safety, now we absorb despatched a affirmation email to the address you entered. Click on the link to verify your subscription and originate receiving our newsletters. If you happen to form no longer procure the affirmation inside 10 minutes, please test your spam folder.
Write to Madeleine Carlisle at madeleine.carlisle@time.com and Tara Law at tara.law@time.com.