Exactly how expensive is Covid-19 treatment?
Well, enough almost get you a condominium just outside the core Central District here in Singapore, according to this website.
A Covid-19 survivor in the US almost got a “second heart attack” after he got to see his bill after recovery.
American Received USD$1.1 Million Medical Bill For COVID-19 Treatment
Michael Flor is the Covid-19 patient that was hospitalised the longest in the United States.
Throughout the course of his illness, he had almost died once. It got so bad that a nurse was holding a phone to his ear while his wife and kids said their final goodbyes.
Thankfully, he survived.
However, he said that when he received his medical bills, his heart “almost failed a second time”.
It’s Like A Book
His bill comes out to US$1,122,501.04 (~S$1566354.79).
He was staying at the Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah with COVID-19 for 62 days.
His stay in the intensive care unit cost S$13.5k per day. He had to stay at an isolation chamber because Covid-19 is highly infectious, and he stayed there for 42 days, racking up a total bill of S$570k.
He needed assisted breathing for 29 days. Each day’s usage cost him S$3956 per day and the total bill (for mechanical ventilator) is S$82,215.
For the two days that he almost died, his doctors threw everything they could to save him and racked up a bill of almost S$139k.
There are over 3,000 charges, resulting in a 181-page bill.
He Felt ‘Guilty about Surviving’
Flor has health insurance, including Medicare, so he doesn’t have to pay for a huge bulk of the bill.
In fact, because it’s Covid-19, he might not even have to fork out a single cent.
US$100 billion (~S$139 billion) was set aside by Congress to help cover the cost of Covid-19 treatment so that even people without insurance will be willing to go to the doctors.
This means that he might not have to pay the S$8.3k out-of-pocket charges.
Nonetheless, Flor is well-aware that other people are forking out for his bill; taxpayers, other insurance customers, etc.
So while he’s glad that over a million dollars were used for his treatment, he knows he “might be the only one saying that”.
He felt guilty about surviving.
“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.”
Currently, the US has over 2 million Covid-19 cases with 115,732 reported Covid-19 deaths as of the time of writing.
Getting Covid-19 In S’pore
The US isn’t the only country subsidising treatment costs to encourage people to come forward.
Singapore’s doing the same thing.
Here’s a snapshot of what you’re expected to pay if you get Covid-19 in Singapore:
Testing Fees:
Waived
Hospital Fees:
Paid for by the government for public hospitals; you’ll have to pay yourself if you have left Singapore from 27 Mar 2020 and became a suspect Covid-19 patient within 14 days of returning.
SHN:
From 9 Apr, returning travellers have to serve their 14-day SHN at dedicated facilities with meals and stay sponsored by the government.
If, however, they had left on or after 27 Mar 2020, they’ll have to foot the bills themselves.
For foreigners (people on Short-Term Visit Passes), testing fees will be waived but they’ll have to pay for the cost of treatment and hospital stay.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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