COVID-19 Treatment Cost Seattle Man $1.1 Million

A Seattle Man Received a $1.1 Million Bill for His COVID-19 Treatment

Time

BY MADELEINE CARLISLE AND TARA LAW

After spending months hospitalized for COVID-19 at Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah, Wash., Michael Flor, 70, says that he knew his stay would be pricey. He’d spent 62 days in an intensive care unit, including weeks in an induced coma, and come so close to death that his family had called to say goodbye. But he says it was still “heart-stopping” to read the hospital’s bill — for $1.1 million.

“I had to look at it a number of times… to see if I was seeing it right,” Flor, a Seattle resident, tells TIME.

The 181-page bill included almost 3,000 itemized charges, the Seattle Times reported. His room in the intensive care unit alone had cost about $9,700 a day, Flor says.

Flor says the total cost of his treatment will likely be higher, because the bill does not include multiple items, including fees for his skilled nursing facility, dialysis and the doctors who treated him.

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Carol Duff, MSN, BA, RN

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.

She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.

• Carol’s Archives 2009-2013