MICHAEL Flor, a 70-year-old resident from the US city of Seattle who is infamous for being the longest-hospitalised COVID-19 patient, almost needed to be re-admitted for a heart attack after receiving a US$1.1 million hospital bill for his coronavirus treatment.
Flor spent 62 days at Seattle's Swedish Medical Centre in Issaquah, and was unconscious for much of the time.
A 181-page itemised hospital bill includes US$9,736 per day - or a total of US$408,912 - for his sealed private room in the intensive care unit, which was only accessible by hospital staff in full protective gear.
The patient spent 29 days on a mechanical ventilator, charged at US$2,835 per day making a total of US$82,215.
He was also charged about US$250,000 for drugs administered during the treatment, while there was almost US$100,000 in costs related to two days when he suffered multiple organ failure and was extremely close to death - at which time a nurse held a phone to his ear so he could say goodbye to his family.
The charges don't include a further two weeks of recovery in a rehabilitation facility.
Insurance will cover much of the bill, and the US government is also likely to pay the cost of any shortfall because of special coronavirus funding.
However, in the early stages of the illness his wife says he told her "you gotta get me out of here, we can't afford this".
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