Bossip Video

Unrecognizable man in hospital gown asks about medication

Source: SDI Productions / Getty

Coronavirus is the #1 source of anxiety for just about everyone around the globe. The fear of getting sick is one thing, but the COST of getting sick is something else entirely.

According to TIME, a Boston-area woman got the sticker shock of a lifetime when she began to feel ill on a Saturday night in late February. Danni Askini was experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath and a migraine at the same damn time and immediately contacted her doctor who told her it was probably pneumonia and sent her home.

Over the next few days Danni had a dangerously high temperature and a dangerously low temperature. She also developed a gurgling cough as her lungs began to fill with fluid. She went to the ER twice more where she was treated by doctors for her flu and pneumonia symptoms. On the seventh day, she was given a test. Three days later, she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

A few days later, Askini got the bills for her testing and treatment: $34,927.43. “I was pretty sticker-shocked,” she says. “I personally don’t know anybody who has that kind of money.”

Danni did not have insurance when she fell ill. When she received her bill she applied for Medicaid but if they refuse to retroactively cover her hospital bill then she will have to score almost $35,000 to pay it herself.

Earlier this week, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that provides relief for those who need testing, but does not address the cost of treatments.

While most people infected with COVID-19 will not need to be hospitalized and can recover at home, according to the World Health Organization, those who do need to go to the ICU can likely expect big bills, regardless of what insurance they have. As the U.S. government works on another stimulus package, future relief is likely to help ease some economic problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but gaps remain.

Please, please, please, stay your a$$ in the house, wash your hands, keep your distance from others, and put pressure on your local, state, and federal politicians who will address the cost healthcare in America.

Comments

Bossip Comment Policy
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.