Costs for Treatment of Conoravirus

Further research by Susan Handlesman:

Factors relevant to COVID-19 and healthcare costs in McHenry County:

Insured patients:

1. Healthcare insurance premiums are higher in McHenry County than Cook and other counties.  Premiums of private sector insurance follow ACA marketplace rates.

Example:

  • McHenry County Cheapest bronze plan for 58-year-old female: $774 
  • Cook County $621

That is,  25% higher premiums cost due to living in this county.

2. If one has severe symptoms suggesting COVID-19, what will the personal financial costs be?

Medicare A patients even without supplemental plans*  have low or zero costs for hospitalization–so long as it is for inpatient, not observation.

Medicare B patients seeing doctors for testing will only be responsible for 20% of Medicare -approved prices, and this co-pay amount should be  below a month’s premium for Medicare supplemental insurance.

Privately insured individuals will likely owe the entire cost of testing and treatment up to deductible amounts, as it is early in the year and deductibles have probably not been met.

It is important to note that the huge amounts billed are nonsense numbers meant to scare everyone. 

The amount “allowed” is a much lower price. Note that copays are percentages of that allowed payment price.

If one goes to an out-of-network hospital for non-life-threatening emergency, one will be billed the full terrifyingly high rack rate.

If one receives inpatient care from an out-of-network provider (anesthesiologists, for example),  one will be billed the full price of their rack rate.

Patients with insurance are rightfully concerned about seeking testing or treatment without first knowing their cost obligations…patients  without insurance even more so.

Uninsured patients:

1. Testing: assuming tests become available for wider range of indications, what will the cash price be?

HCPCS code U0001 is the billing code for testing but reimbursement rates have not been published yet (April 1 according to CMS.gov).

Anecdotal information suggests out of network (cash) prices billed for this  testing range from $300 to $3000.

2. Treatment costs: only severely ill patients are receiving treatment for COVID-19. The costs at rack rate are typically reduced at least by 50% for cash payers.

A good method to estimate costs for COVID-19 inpatient care is to look at Medicare DRG (diagnostic related groups) reimbursement data. For DRG 207 Respiratory System Diagnosis With Ventilator Support 96+ Hours:

Here are ranges of average Medicare prices billed and average Medicare Reimbursement:

  • Highest is UIC Chicago charge $246,000 reimbursement $55,000
  • 4th is Sherman Elgin charge $192,000 reimbursement $41000
  • Lowest is Mercy Hospital Chicago charge $55,000 reimbursement $45,000

This is website where you can look up a condition,  click on that condition DRG description,  enter your state, and obtain comparative hospital pricing information:Hospitalcostcompare.com/drgs

These circumstances (who can afford to write a blank check for an unknown cost of a test when there is no treatment (for non-urgent care)?) hamper efforts to collect data of value to researchers seeking preventive and treatment methods.

Treatment costs: insured or not, there are significant costs.

This may prevent uninsured or underinsured humans from seeking treatment. 

But stepping back we see that a few years’ health ‘insurance ‘ premiums add up to the reimbursement costs to providers of a major lifesaving healthcare event. 

The rest is lost to administrative costs and profits of third party intervenors who stand in the middle of —and dictate terms of —every health care transaction.

*(read David Belk MD website truecostofhealthcare.org , or Kaiser Foundation  https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-much-could-medicare-beneficiaries-pay-for-a-hospital-stay-related-to-covid-19to understand that such plans are almost always a huge waste of money).


Comments

Costs for Treatment of Conoravirus — 22 Comments

  1. Only a fool would be tested for something that is so fake. There ARE NO tests. They are collecting your DNA!
    How do you sheep not see that you are IN THE gulag now?
    Hosea 4:6

  2. Cindy I’m sure “they” have collected more DNA from everyone who has submitted to Ancestry.com than from coronavirus testing.

  3. Romans 1:22

    “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,”

    King James Version (KJV)

  4. Hello Satan: How about a massive “hug your neighbor” caravan around McHenry County today? I am thinking you and my sunshine blogger as the grand marshals leading us in the parade? American flag hugger Catella would be another good option. Perhaps racist Diane Evertsen would lend us the gop float with the elephant included. Let’s lead the way for our president’s idea to get back to work by Easter. Aren’t we proud of this sunshine blog? Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  5. All must subsidize the indolent, criminal, stupid and genetically self-damaged.

  6. Isaiah 5:21

    “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

    King James Version (KJV)

  7. Viruses are definitely an odd subject and we all know a wet head on a cold night can give you a sore throat and “cold-like”symptoms.

    Obviously there is more at play.

    But to extrapolate common knowledge to the absurd and encourage people to risk their lives is arguably criminal.

    Having relatives in the medical field in Europe I am being told over and over this is real.

    As I said before, hopefully the numbers will be much lower than the flu.

    But we definitely need to protect those who are very vulnerable to this virus.

    To place all your trust in a handful of individuals and ignore the body count is truly foolhardy.

  8. Looks like a commenter feels there is a giant conspiracy to collect the DNA of every living human in the U.S. And, elsewhere around the globe. Then what? Is this secretly backed or run by Martians in collusion with governments around the world? Or other aliens who come here to earth in flying saucers? Are the aliens here already within some humans walking around earth? Was the Virus started by the Martians/aliens to rid the earth of all humans so that they could take over?

  9. Seems to me like Cindy is giving CNN, CBS, NBC, Chicago Tribune some serious Pulitzer competition.

  10. A virus recurs on this blog from time-to-time. It comes for a while, stays, disappears, and then later reappears. It is known as the novel coronacatvirus. Some call it the coronaclockvirus. Apparently it goes away after it is ignored. Fortunately it is not contagious.

  11. Molly? Don’t be an idiot. Read the WHOLE book of Hosea. This is NOT about cherry-picking verses that you think will justify your foolishness! This is NOT a game.

  12. CP? What body count? The ones you are TOLD exist? Who do you know personally that is sick? Who do you know personally that has died? Have you spoken to anyone in the “industry? There is NO EMERGENCY at any healthcare facility if you ask. You are being lied to across the whole world. In your own advice, you say not to trust a handful of individuals. This is a GRAND handful of demons that are pulling off a hoax on ALL of God’s creation. You have been set up for decades and decades to believe in their lies. Your life as you know it is over and your very soul is at great risk if you do NOT turn around and heed the calling. The message from GOD is clear in Hosea.

    For idiots like Molly that think themselves so clever to retort in non-sequiturs: No one said anything about being wise or claiming some kind of braggadocio position. I am doing the Lord’s work by shouting the truth. He tells you Himself that fools will NOT listen, even knowing that, yet He STILL calls you!

  13. **He tells you Himself that fools will NOT listen**

    Man… who knew that the Bible would be talking about you 2000+ years in the future!

  14. All that proves is that there are more nut jobs just like you.

  15. Cindy, I will pray for you. I will pray that you don’t get sick.

    I will pray that you come to your senses and take the necessary precautions to keep you and your loved ones safe.

    I will pray for others to look past your conspiracy theories and pray with me.

  16. I hope readers will find the specific content helpful.

    Note the billing- coding references.

    Understanding your medical billing and typical reimbursement process is the first step toward saving us all from the murderous system in which we are now trapped.

  17. Cecil? I have not said anything but truth. Why you think truth is some kind of conspiracy is beyond belief. No one is going to get sick. The people that get colds or the flu have messed up immune systems from stress, poison food, poison air, and poisoned water. There is NO SUCH THING as a wireus. A wireus CANNOT be caught by ANYONE. Don’t waste your prayers on me. Read Hosea chapter 4 You are living it. Come to your senses and pray for all the blind sheep that refuse to open their ears because they have been indoctrinated by the decades of lies. OPEN YOUR EYES. USE YOUR COMMON SENSE. REINSTALL YOUR CRITICAL THINKING!

  18. Cindy’s right, maybe by accident.

    But the truth is there’s no real crisis.

    It’s all hype and cherry pick cases that would exist this time of year in 2019 or 1955 for that matter.

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