I spent half that time in Critical Care (much of that on a ventilator, a small amount sedated), and most of the rest in a specialist neuro-rehab unit. I would have died otherwise.
Fortunately it cost me nothing - Thank Bevan for the NHS - but if I were in the US I imagine I would be financially crippled!
All the screwed. And now as of this month medical debt will be part of your credit reports, so good luck on getting a home loan or job
Why on earth would debt effect getting a job? My employer doesn’t know my credit rating.
Mortgage and loans I understand but not the job bit.
Credit history is often included in US background checks
They changed the law so medical debt can go on your credit score.
More likely you just would not have been kept in hospital four months here. Somehow we have the combination of highest cost and also cost-cutting schemes.
To answer your question - $18,000 I guess, if I got lucky and the insurance worked correctly. That’s the alleged max out of pocket for the insurance I pay for at work.
According to https://nchstats.com/average-cost-of-hospital-stays-in-us/ the average cost for inpatient care in the United States is 3,025 dollars.
4 months of 30 days multiplied by 3,025 is equal to 363,000 dollars without insurance.
That is an entirely believable number to me.
If you spent 4 months in a U.S. hospital and didn’t die, you would spend the rest of your life wishing you did.
According to https://nchstats.com/average-cost-of-hospital-stays-in-us/#google_vignette the average is $3.025 per night. 4 months = 120 days = $363,000 = €313.307,21
The average cost of a hospital stay in a U.S. hospital is about $3,000 per day, but it varies significantly by location. So long stays like yours might cost between $250,000 and $500,000.
If your insurance covers it (and about 92% of Americans have health insurance), you’d be looking at your annual out of pocket max, which the law caps at $18,000 for family plans or $9,000 for individual plans, but which most people on employer sponsored plans (around 60% of Americans) have out of pocket maxes around $4,000 to $5,000. Source
So for most Americans, your hospital stay would’ve probably cost the individual patient about $5,000. Insurance would’ve paid another $350,000.
But for some Americans, they’d be looking at a $360,000 bill and then would just file bankruptcy, start over with close to a net worth of zero, at least for non-exempt assets (people generally get to keep their homes, cars, and retirement accounts in bankruptcy so it won’t actually be starting from zero if you’re well into a middle age in the middle class).
Or worse, the hospital would realize they’re not getting paid, and then would find a reason to kick you out as soon as you’re stabilized. They have to keep you alive even when you can’t pay, but don’t have to treat you beyond that for free.
Agree 100% except one thing to be a little picky, the insurance doesn’t pay the full 350k like ever, that’s the list price they have negotiated prices with the hospital that differ, and if your ask the hospital bursar/collections you can get a cash price that’s usual less as well.
And if you do have insurance and get a bill over a few thousand, there are pretty good odds insurance will deny paying for it and drag you through many levels of confusing and auto-denied appeals over the course of 6+ months! Even if your procedure is clearly covered in your summary plan description or required by law.
And this is why Brian Thompson got what was coming to him.
With the recent changes to the medical insurance landscape in America, and thousands upon thousands of people losing their jobs due to various factors, your 90% figure is pretty generous. Add in the fact that most insurance is tied directly into employment, Americans have much less options than the rest of the free world, unless you are filthy rich.
do you loose your house if you file bankruptcy?
generally, no
Excellent answer
I don’t know the answer to your question, but I will say that I’m glad you’re still here with us, friend
I’m British just reading this thread and shaking my head. Can’t fathom these stories.
And hope that the tories don’t get into power again and kill the NHS.
You probably would have been sent home much earlier
With opium
And a $100,000 bill.
So cheap!
That is bankruptcy, pure and simple. There’s no way you’d financially recover from a four month stint in the hospital.
People have literally unalived themselves here over hospital bills like that.
Thank God you weren’t in a shit hole country, like the US.
America needs to be thrown into a volcano
This is not YouTube, don’t make it so. You can -and in my opinion, should- say suicide, kill, etc.
Dont say unalived. Say “suicideded” or killed themselfs. Stop censoring yourself
So much of this
I don’t understand the need to find alternative words for words we already have. What, in 20 years we need to find alternative words again because the next generation feels insulted by the words this generation came up with?
Just use the words. Suicide. It is what it is. Its ugly, it’s sad, it shouldn’t be needed, but here we are. Don’t make it more palatable by censoring yourself
I like “met their end credits”
I don’t think suicide really needs a cutsie nickname
As someone who just last week attended a wake for the suicide of an 11 year old who lived two houses down from us and was one of my child’s friends :thank you for saying that.
Crazy that suicide even crosses the mind of an 11 year old, let alone them actually going through with it.
I think you’ve hit perfectly why I don’t like the “unalive” and related euphemisms for death. Death, especially violent death, is a big fucking deal, and trying to obscure that impact behind vague or even cutesy words, makes it seem mundane or routine and accessible.
This is a result of communication being penned in by social media rules. We largely can’t even discuss this serious topic on an open level so unfortunately cutesy nicknames are required when talking about serious issues these days.
Or get insurance and then the bill is significantly smaller. The much smaller amount can be put on a payment plan if needed or even haggled down to something you can pay.
Unless you got a couple of million bucks in your bank account…. Super fucked
Or have good insurance.
Even then how whats your deductible or your out of pocket cost before insurance kicks in and then your doctor will have to prove you needed it they might stick you with a bill anyway and 4 months in IC will likely be $5009-15,000 per day maybe more depending on any surgical procedures. The land of the free run by the POTUS- Pedo of the United states, what a great time to be dying
You would have lost your job and likely be on medicaid and disability and it would be very unclear if you have or lost your house and possessions but keeping hold of them moving forward would be almost impossible unless you could find a new job which is also highly unlikely.
Hm, would you though. There is short and long term disability. Some states require some amount of it. And salary type jobs often include more of it. You may get replaced after a bit, but you technically would still be employed until after. That might mean you would have to pay the insurance premiums out of pocket, but assuming you could afford to, that would be well worth it.
Not saying that is how it “should” be though. Just that there is probably more nuance.
Im talking about the concept of insurance in general. Im just comparing it. You pay more to handle and event that you can’t economically handle at the time. Like losing your house to a fire. Im just saying the value is worth the cost much like generally these things are.
Also, at some point you couldn’t afford care anymore. So you would have stopped treatment and died.
maybe. the us is odd in that if you literally cannot walk out on your own they usually keep you while the bills rack up.
Hmmm. Probably like $500,000. It would be cheaper, but good affordable rates are only available to insurance companies. But with a GoFundMe plan you might save up to a $50,000. Best bet is to get on the evening news with you in total shambles. The good news is you can haggle hospitals here, no joke. Not acceptable anywhere else in the US unless you’re buying something hot.
My brother smashed and broke his thumb.x ray, er visit, blah blah blah. They call him a month later to talk about payment. I cant remember how much, he had shit insurance though. He said, I’d love to pay, but I can only afford 20 a month. I’m willing to pay 20 a month for the rest of my life. Hospital told him dont worry about it. We got a fund for that.
Buying something hot
Your mum?
My hospital stay billed insurance like $300k for a 5 day stay. It was not critical care but it was specialized. Insurance covered all but like a thousand, I also have a $5k out of pocket max that goes into effect in some situations.
So if my hospital stay was 4 months and I didn’t get a bulk discount we’re looking at like $7mil USD but with insurance I’d instantly hit my out of pocket max and only be out $5k. Because there are lots of ways insurance can fine print you from actually hitting out of pocket though I don’t know
Unless anything was out-of-network and that bumps you up into a much larger out-of-pocket max.
But you planned for that. You went to the hospital you specifically knew was in network before you entered your coma.
Problem is they brought in a doctor they knew was out of network. You didn’t choose him, they did. Now pay up!
Or just not covered procedures, like organ transplants
How marketable would you say your illness was?
Your options would be: begging strangers on the internet for money and going viral, being rich enough to pay out the ass for really good insurance when you were healthy, declaring bankruptcy, and playing Luigi’s Mansion.
Your first stop would be a bankruptcy lawyer.
if you can afford one lol.
