A resident of Florida passed a coronavirus test: the hospital billed him thousands of dollars

Returning to Miami (Florida) in January from a working trip to China, Osmel Martinez Azkui found himself in a frightening situation: he developed symptoms similar to the flu, but at the same time similar to coronavirus. Writes about this Miami Herald.

Photo: Shutterstock

Under normal circumstances, Azkui said, he would buy the usual medicine and fight the flu on his own, but this time it was different. As the health services emphasized their readiness and asked to be alert to respiratory infections, Azkui felt responsible for the family and the people around him as a whole, so he decided to test for a new coronavirus known as COVID-19.

He went to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where, he said, he was placed in a closed room. Nurses in protective white suits sprayed some kind of disinfectant under the door in front of the entrance. Hospital staff then told Azkui that he would need computed tomography to detect the coronavirus, to which he replied that he would like to do a flu test first.

“Let's start with a blood test, and if I get a positive result, then just let me go,” Azcui recounts his words to the doctors.

Fortunately, this is exactly what happened. He had the flu, not a deadly virus that infected tens of thousands of people, mostly in China, and killed more than 2 thousand people.

But two weeks later, Azkui received a $ 3 medical bill.

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In 2018, President Donald Trump's administration rolled back provisions of the Affordable Care Act and put so-called "junk" limited plans on the market. Consumers mistakenly believe that plans with lower monthly costs will be better than no insurance, but often the plans are not much different than what you can get without insurance at all.

Jackson Hospital management said that based on his insurance, Azkui would only be liable for $ 1 of this bill, but Azkui said he would have to provide additional documentation: three years of medical documentation to prove that he got the flu. , does not apply to a pre-existing condition.

Although Azkui’s situation reveals the potential cost of testing for a disease that epidemiologists fear could lead to a public health crisis in the U.S., one insurance specialist sees this episode as a warning about potential risks associated with deregulation in the insurance market.

“When someone has flu-like symptoms, you want them to seek medical attention,” said Sabrina Corlett, a Georgetown University professor and co-director of the Center for Health Insurance Reform. “If they have one of these limited insurance plans, they know they could be on the hook. And that they will spend more than they can afford if they seek help. A lot of them just won't want to go to the hospital, and that's a public health issue."

According to Azkui, he earns about $ 55 a year from a medical device company that does not offer health insurance, but his insurance plan has not always been so limited. Azkui said that more recently, he had insurance in accordance with the Affordable Care Act, which cost him about $ 000 a month.

These contributions rose to $ 400 per month when his annual salary increased, so he had to give up insurance. Now Azkui pays $ 180 per month for a limited plan.

Corlett said that requiring a limited insurance plan to provide three years of medical records before insurance coverage is in place is not uncommon. The professor saw more than once that such documents were required in conditions such as cancer and other diseases.

“This is the critical difference between Affordable Care Act plans and capped plans,” she said. “Limited plans will not cover pre-existing conditions.”

Jackson hospital officials say there are a few more bills for Azkui coming up, but it’s not clear what amounts are there.

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According to Azkui, his experience underscores how US health care spending can help prevent public health crises.

“How can they expect normal citizens to do their part to eliminate the potential risk of person-to-person spread of the virus if hospitals are waiting to charge us $3 for a simple blood test and nasal swab?” - he is surprised.

Plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act often have high fees, Corlett said, but are likely to provide better compensation than limited plans. She also added that these plans are needed to cover flu shots and other preventative care.

“The idea that an insurer would have to comb through three years of their records just to determine whether the flu was a pre-existing condition is just crazy,” Corlette said. “But that’s how most of these plans work.”

Read the latest news and everything you need to know about the outbreak of a new coronavirus from China. ForumDaily special project “Chinese Coronavirus”.

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