While vacationing in the United States, a family of South Korean tourists received ahospital billfor over $18,000 after taking their son to the hospital for a very quick and uneventful visit.
While visiting San Francisco in 2016, Jang Yeo Im’s son Park Jeong Whan, then 8 months, hit his head afterfalling off the bedin their hotel room, reportedKaiser Health News.
Before being discharged after just three hours and 22 minutes, the child — who had a few bruises on his face — took a short nap and drank some infant formula.
Heidi de Marco/KHN/Jang Yeo Im
A spokesman for the San Francisco hospital where the child was treated, defended the $15,666 charge to KHN, explaining that even though the child didn’t end up needing emergency trauma treatment, the cost of being trauma-ready is very expensive.
”We are the trauma center for a very large, very densely populated area. We deal with so many traumas in this city — car accidents, mass shootings, multiple vehicle collisions,” Andrew told the outlet. “It’s expensive to prepare for that.”
Trauma fees vary widely across the United States, according to Medliminal, a company that specializes in identifying medical billing errors. While at one hospital in Missouri, the fee can come out to $1,112, in California, it could cost you $50,659.
However, according to Connie Potter — an executive at the consulting firm that advocated for the approval of the trauma fees — the trauma center is supposed to bill at a lower rate if the patient does not require at least 30 minutes of critical care.
“I like the USA. There are many things to see when traveling,” Jang told KHN. “But the health care system in USA was very bad.”
source: people.com
