Don't know about the average cost and I guess it all depends on the severity and treatments but did run across this article yesterday. 70 year old guy who was near death got 1.1M in bills but probably won't have to pay most as he's covered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage by Kaiser Permanente and they might be waiving most out of pocket costs for COVID patients through 2020.
I've had a family member who has had that guy kind of bill and was covered by Medicare and a secondary insurance as well so only paid 1000+ dollars but let me tell you just seeing the number still gives you sticker shock and rattles you. Without the secondary insurance Medicare only covers 80% so 20% of a huge number like that is still a lot.
From the article:
Just the charge for his room in the intensive care unit was billed at $9,736 per day. Due to the contagious nature of the virus, the room was sealed and could only be entered by medical workers wearing plastic suits and headgear. For 42 days he was in this isolation chamber, for a total charged cost of $408,912.
He also was on a mechanical ventilator for 29 days, with the use of the machine billed at $2,835 per day, for a total of $82,215. About a quarter of the bill is drug costs.
The list of charges indirectly tells the story of Flor’s battle. For the two days when his heart, kidneys and lungs were all failing and he was nearest death, the bill runs for 20 pages and totals nearly $100,000 as doctors “were throwing everything at me they could think of,” Flor says.
In all, there are nearly 3,000 itemized charges, about 50 per day. Usually hospitals get paid only a portion of the amount they bill, as most have negotiated discounts with insurance companies. The charges don’t include the two weeks of recuperating he did in a rehab facility.
Going through it all, Flor said he was surprised at his own reaction. Which was guilt.
“I feel guilty about surviving,” he says. “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.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...omes-with-a-1-1-million-dollar-hospital-bill/