American woman who saved her life from Corona… It was a ‘1.5 billion won bill’ that came back.

Paramedics are carrying patients with novel coronavirus infections to the emergency room of a hospital in California, USA. [로이터=연합뉴스]

In the United States, the story of a woman who suffered a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and died after receiving a bill for treatment costs worth 1.5 billion won was reported through local media.

On the 8th (local time), the Los Angeles Times (LAT) of the United States introduced the case of a 51-year-old woman Patricia Mason, saying, “Her Corona 19 treatment cost more than 1 million dollars.”

Mason, based in Backerville, California, visited the hospital’s emergency room last March. Mason had severe fever and cough symptoms, and was taken to another hospital.

The physician told Mason’s husband that “there is less than 30% of her chances of living,” and Mason relied on a ventilator to receive treatment for a month.

Afterwards, Mason’s bill for medical treatment had an amount that was overpassed by 1.33 million dollars (about 1.383 million won). It included the cost of medicine, respiratory treatment, and hospitalization.

Mason’s husband, who works for a pharmaceutical company, had work insurance. Mason was relieved to hear that many insurance companies were exempt from co-payments in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, Mason received a warning letter from a debt collection company in July of last year. The letter says that Mason has a co-pay worth of $42,000 (about 46.8 million won).

Mason told the local media, “We don’t have 42,000 dollars of extra money. We were lucky to have survived, but the reality is that we don’t have money.”

The LAT reported that “the Mason family has a 0% chance of repaying this money. “Corona 19 not only attacks the patient’s body, it can damage bank accounts.”

Reporter Na Unchae [email protected]