Is $9 million hospital charge a record?

Is $9 million hospital charge a record?

By Brittany Davis and Carol Gentry
07/26/11 © Health News Florida
Tampa General Hospital has filed a $9.2 million claim against the estate of a woman who died after spending five years in the hospital, according to Hillsborough County court documents.
In court documents, that's how much the hospital says is owed for the care of Tameka Jaqway Campbell. She died at age 29 two years ago of progressive demyelinating neuropathy, which occurs when the immune cells attack the body’s nerves.
It’s unclear whether the $9.2 million in hospital charges is a record. Health News Florida checked with the American Hospital Association, the Health Care Financial Management Association, and numerous others. No one knew anyone who keeps track.
"That would have to be the biggest bill I've heard of," said Alan Levine, a division president at the Naples-based hospital chain Health Management Associates.
"I've seen more than $1 million," he said. "But not 9 million."
Fort Myers hospital consultant Peter Young said, "A bill that large may well be in a league of its own and a Guinness Book of records bill!"
Could be. An online search at the Guinness Book of World Records offers no category for "largest hospital bill." Of course, Guinness is based in Britain, which has National Health Insurance. There, hospitals don't send whopping bills to patients or their survivors.
 
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