The cost of caring for Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan — the first patient diagnosed with the disease in the U.S. — may reach $500,000, according to a Bloomberg report.
Mr. Duncan was admitted at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas on Sept. 26, where he was in critical condition until he died this morning at 7:51 a.m.
While in critical condition, he received kidney dialysis, and he was also given an investigational antiviral drug called brincidofovir as part of his treatment.
Along with the cost of Mr. Duncan's medical treatment, the hospital also incurred costs for additional security and for the disposal of waste that was contaminated with Ebola, according to the report.
Gerard Anderson, a health policy professor at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said it will cost the hospital approximately $18,000 to $24,000 a day to care for Mr. Duncan. Accounting for direct and indirect costs, Dan Mendelson, CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Avalere Health, believes Mr. Duncan's bill may be up to $500,000.
Receiving treatment in Dallas is another factor that could lead to a higher than average medical bill for Mr. Duncan, as healthcare costs are higher in Dallas than in most of the country. In 2010, Medicare reimbursements per enrollee in Dallas were $11,484, which placed the city within the 90th percentile for costs in the U.S, according to the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
Texas Health Presbyterian will likely never collect any money for Mr. Duncan's treatment, as he came to the U.S. from Liberia on a tourist visa and had no health insurance, according to the report.
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