Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Medical Expenses

This is my first major health related event in my life. I didn't really know how much health care cost before this injury.

My hospital stay in Colorado was not a small amount of money.
  • $5,484.60 for room and board
  • $5,750.44 for drugs
  • $431.20 for non-sterile surgical supplies
  • $19,000 for sterile surgical supplies
  • $11,900 for my fibula implant
  • $691.33 for laboratory work
  • $633.20 for radiology
  • $2,099.35 for my foot and ankle CT scans
  • $2,180.54 for full body CT scan
  • $15,395.54 for the operating room (they charge by the minute)
  • $1,284.10 for general anesthesia (I received a separate anesthesia bill for $2,000)
  • $898 for physical therapy
  • $323 for physical therapy evaluation
  • $488 for occupational therapy
  • $329 for occupational therapy evaluation
  • $3,397 for the emergency room stay
  • $545.14 for "pulmonary function" (I think this is what kept me alive during surgery)
  • $2,681.64 for the recovery room stay
This added up to just over $73,500! I was admitted to the hospital in Colorado around 11:45 AM on February 13th and I left around the same time on February 16th. It was about a three day stay.

It just blows me away how the health care industry works.

Fortunately, since hitting a tree on a snowboard is considered an emergency, my insurance covered everything. But what if I didn't have health insurance? I guess I'd still have a floppy foot.

1 comment:

  1. My mother broke her hip 3 yrs ago (without insurance I must add). Her emergency bill was around $90,000. They comped a lot of it, but she still pays monthly for that little accident! I'm sure I am not for this health care bill, but not sure how I feel about my mom being uninsured. It stinks both ways!

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