Now that Evan has been home for a bit, the medical bills are starting to trickle in. Since my blog is being used as an educational piece for some people, I wanted to lay all the numbers out there for people to see just how much healthcare for a preemie costs. In the preemie book I had, they say you estimate about $1,000 a day...um..not even close in our case!
- The final bill from UMC was $291,708.45
- The final bill from Sierra Vista Hospital was $41,401.47
I added the daily amounts to past posts with a running total of everything. By the time Evan was discharged on Day 67 the running total was $368,096.54. That adds in the AirEvac services, Southwest Ambulance, and the intial bills on his birthday from the SV Hospital.
That amount is sort of mind-boggling. Now is the nightmare of navigating the insurance game. We have Evan covered under both of our insurances, so we're not sure if that will make things harder or easier on us. This amount certainly isn't the last of his medical bills. We have the trips to the pulmonary specialists in Tucson, the normal well-baby visits locally, and his home oxygen services.
When I think of the other family circumstances we encountered at UMC, our case is mild. I think of baby Olivia who has been in the NICU for 9 months or the families of twins and triplets where those families could potentially hit over a million dollars in bills. When you anticipate the birth of child, this isn't even in the realm of one's imagination.
One of Evan's UMC nurses had asked me about the whole preemie birth experience (she was not a mother herself) and it was hard for me to put into words. As the mother of a preemie, you don't get to experience all the joy that comes with giving birth. You really feel like you get the short end of the stick. You go through the ups and downs and the what-ifs. You blame yourself and think back to what I had done wrong during the pregnancy to bring this upon myself. From day one you are in hyper-drive; there were some days I would just forget to eat. It's hard to explain when you are discharged from the hospital still in pain from surgery, but you go home empty-handed since your baby is in a hospital 80 miles away.
We are blessed that Evan has turned out so well. He won't be without some lung problems along the way early on, but he's expected to be just fine as he gets older. He's doing great compared to the preemie growth charts. We so appreciate all the gifts, cards, e-mails, well-wishes, blog comments and hand-me-down clothes (Debbie, you are a saint for parting with all those clothes...I can't thank you enough).
-----------
Chronological age: 3 months 0 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 3 weeks and 0 days
-----------
No comments:
Post a Comment