Tens of thousands of dollars: how much COVID-19 treatment can cost

Americans have spent thousands of dollars on medical bills when they needed COVID-19 treatment - with or without insurance. And those who were hospitalized or caring for the sick deferred payments on bills, credit cards, mortgage payments and spent their savings to afford treatment. Writes about it Fox Business.

Broadway star Nick Cordero passed away at the age of 41 after spending almost four months in the hospital fighting COVID-19. A day earlier, his wife Amanda Kluts published on social networks information about the need to refinance her home to help pay for treatment costs. A family friend created a page on the GoFundMe portal to cover Cordero’s medical expenses to raise $ 400. He received almost 000 donations, raising $ 5000.

The Cordero family is one of the millions facing emotional and burdensome financial costs due to the coronavirus. According to figures released in April by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit healthcare organization, about 15% of people who contract COVID-19 could end up in the hospital. Data show that approximately 2 to 7 percent - or 670 to just over 000 million - of uninsured people require hospitalization.

This was the case with the 40-year-old Tim Regan from Denver, who turned to the emergency department in March, when he had a fever, chest pain and shortness of breath. He went to the emergency room when a nurse explained to him that he had symptoms of COVID-19. Regan took a chest x-ray and an electrocardiogram (ECG), but he was told that he was not sick enough to undergo a coronavirus test.

“The doctor told me that he is convinced that I have COVID-19,” Regan said.

Regan was worried that if he went to the hospital, he would spend his savings, so he continued to work from home while he was ill.

“I thought I had to earn all the money I could if my family and I had to go to the hospital,” he said. Regan feared that he might infect his wife and child.

For an ambulance visit, Regan was billed $ 3.

“The insurance company said they wouldn't pay for this,” Regan said.

On the subject: 20 million Americans raise funds online to pay medical bills

Medical bills for uninsured patients can range from $ 42 to $ 486, according to a report by an independent nonprofit organization, FAIR Health. But even those who have insurance can be saddled with bills from $ 74 to $ 310.

“Even after you undergo treatment, you still have a lot of financial questions. The amount can be $ 5000, $ 8000 or more, ”said Patrick Quigley, CEO and co-founder of Sidecar Health, which provides personalized and affordable health insurance.

“The second problem is the network - if you go to a hospital that is outside your insurance company's network, your company is not responsible for these costs - they can help, but they do not have negotiated rates with these hospitals,” Quigley said.

Recovering, who fought for their lives, receive shocking medical bills. Journalists reported the case of Michael Flora, a 70-year-old man from Seattle, who received a hospital bill worth $ 1,1 million, which included 181 pages of expenses.

Congress has allocated more than $ 100 billion to help insurance companies and hospitals deal with unprecedented treatment costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.