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Hospital Night Costs $3,000: "The Cows Are Warmer Than I Am"

From the BBN segment “Americans Struggle to Pay Rising Medical Costs”, cut down to under a minute.

On air: Hank Ledger · Published Friday, October 23 at 11:27 AM ET

The full story and the real reporting behind it (The New York Times) →

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Transcript of the segment

What BBN said on air. The facts are in the original report: The New York Times.

Hank LedgerRoughly one in three working-age Americans with private health insurance say they are paying off medical bills.
Hank LedgerSo they pay for insurance, and then they pay for the thing the insurance was for.
Hank LedgerWendell Achterberg is a dairy farmer in Wisconsin, he has coverage, and he joins us now. Wendell, you're insured and you still got a bill.
Hank LedgerHow does that work?
Wendell AchterbergFor the record, I don't fully know. I pay every month, and then I get a bill that says I owe more.
Wendell AchterbergFor the record, the bill is three pages long.
Hank LedgerHealthcare Brew says hospital care was the most common source, sixty-four percent of those with medical debt. Was that you?
Wendell AchterbergYes. One night. For the record, line item fourteen is a box of tissues, and I didn't cry until I saw line item fifteen.
Hank LedgerExperts cited by the American Dental Association News say one night in a hospital can cost over three thousand dollars.
Hank LedgerSo did you eat the tissues too?
Wendell AchterbergNo. But I did cut back on heat. The survey says thirty percent of people cut food, heat or rent, and I'm in that thirty.
Wendell AchterbergThe cows are warmer than I am.
Hank LedgerThirty percent cut back on food, heat or rent. That's the treatment plan after the treatment.
Wendell AchterbergFor the record, Sara Collins of the Commonwealth Fund says when insured people owe thousands, coverage is falling short of its most basic purpose. She's right.
Wendell AchterbergI'd put that on page four of the bill, but there's no room.
Hank LedgerWendell, thank you. And I have insurance too. I just don't open the envelopes anymore.

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