US man survives COVID-19, gets a $1.1 million hospital bill

An elderly man who battled coronavirus for 62 days at a hospital in the US has been handed over a whopping 181-page bill of $1.1 million.

Michael Flor, 70, also became the longest-hospitalised Covid-19 patient -- at Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah, a city in King County, Washington state, and survived.

Once, while hospitalised, a nurse had held a phone to his ear while his wife and kids said their final goodbyes, reports The Seattle Times.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Recovering at his home in West Seattle, Flor said his heart almost failed for the second time when he saw the hospital bill.

His ICU room was billed at $9,736 per day and the total cost came to $408,912 only for his stay in the ICU.

The mechanical ventilator was billed for 29 days for a total of $82,215. About a quarter of the bill is drug costs.

For two days when his heart, kidneys and lungs were all failing, the bill was nearly $1,00,000 as doctors "were throwing everything at me they could think of," Flor was quoted as saying.

In all, there are nearly 3,000 itemised hospital charges, about 50 per day.

Since Flor had insurance including Medicare, he won't have to pay the vast majority of it, the report added.

"I feel guilty about surviving. Looking at the incredible cost of it all definitely adds to that survivor's guilt," Flor said.

According to the latest reports, coronavirus cases in the US have surged past 21,00,00. So far, 1,16,831 people have died due to COVID-19 in the country.