News / Society

US hospital charged woman $35,000 for coronavirus testing, treatment

Saturday, 21 March 2020 4:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 21 March 2020 5:58 PM ]

Medical staff talks outside a COVID-19 screening tent at the Brooklyn Hospital Center on March 20, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AFP photo)

A US hospital has charged a woman, who was diagnosed with the coronavirus, nearly $35,000 for her testing and treatment, a report says.

Danni Askini got the virus in February and fell ill later in the month, but doctors thought she was reacting badly to medication for her lymphoma, according to Time magazine.

After doctors told Askini that pneumonia had caused her chest pain, shortness of breath and a migraine, she was sent home. However, because her symptoms persisted, she had to visit a Boston-area emergency room two more times until she was tested for Covid-19.

She received her results three days later, showing that she had contracted the diseases, according to the report, which added her bills for treatment and testing came to $34,927.43.

“I was pretty sticker-shocked,” she told Time. “I personally don’t know anybody who has that kind of money."

Since she was uninsured when she visited the hospital, she will not receive help in paying for the bill.

This might soon happen for many in the United States as millions of Americans have no access to health insurance that can help them pay for medical bills.

There are now over 21,000 confirmed cases in the US and the disease has, so far, killed more than 270 people.

Meanwhile, US officials are saying that the coronavirus stimulus package being negotiated by the US Senate would be worth around $1.3 trillion or $1.4 trillion.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow spoke on Saturday, clarifying comments earlier that the bill would be worth more than $2 trillion.

He initially told reporters “the package is coming in at about 10 percent of GDP.”

Later when asked by reporters if that amounted to more than $2 trillion, Kudlow said, “That’s correct.”

Eric Ueland, the White House legislative liaison, also expanded upon the $2 trillion figure, saying, “The net impact, in combination with the amount that you’ll see pass in the next couple of days, I hope, plus what the Federal Reserve can put in on the table, in combination with what we’re doing, will be well north of $2 trillion.”

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