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Comment by snarf21 | Hacker News Reader

Reminds me of an article from a while ago about a homeless alcoholic that ran up over $1M in hospital and ambulance costs over the years.

https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/insights/mill...

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Nitpick, but $1M in unpaid bills is nowhere near $1M in costs. Obviously this is still a troubling result but in all likelihood it was less than 10% of that in actual costs and the costs weren’t in fact borne by “the taxpayer” but rather by slightly inflated fees for everyone else, since US hospitals must bill according to an assumption that some percentage of bills will go unpaid, due to the relationship between themselves, the insurers, and uninsured patients.

And for useful reference: I was in hospital last year for ~2 weeks, and my insurance was sent a bill for ~$580k. The insurance actually paid $32k.

Hospital bills are clearly works of fiction.

Indeed. Those clearly-bonkers initial bills are clearly meant to a) intimidate and terrify the uninsured, and b) present a sympathetic facade to politicians and possibly the IRS about how much cost the hospital absorbs from non-paying patients.

$580k?! As an European, I can only imagine you got 5 organ transplants, 4 titanium limb replacements, and, idk, night vision or something, while staying in a penthouse suite with masages and coconut milk treatments...

(Obviously joking and I know 2 weeks in a hospital is very unpleasant - I'm sorry for your experience and hope you're doing well).

It’s like a tax scam right? Or is it like once in a blue moon they get wealthy whale without insurance?

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