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The hospital bill of 100,000 pesos a day of a writer sick with coronavirus

2020-10-27T22:56:53.205Z


The Mexican insurance sector has paid up to 21 million pesos, more than a million dollars, for a single patient


Sandro Cohen in a December 2019 photo provided by his family Courtesy

Sandro Cohen (New Jersey, 1953) was admitted to a private hospital on the night of October 13 with symptoms of pneumonia.

Shortly after, the doctors confirmed that it was a case of covid-19 that was getting worse until he had to be intubated.

The naturalized Mexican writer and academic was covered by major medical expenses insurance with coverage for up to one million pesos (about $ 47,000) that covered his hospital expenses.

Until his policy became insufficient.

"The hospital sent me the bill for 100,000 pesos a day (about $ 4,700) plus the fees of the doctors," says Josefina Estrada, Cohen's wife, by phone.

"The insurance also communicated and they told me that the coverage was no longer enough," he details.

The coronavirus crisis in Mexico has not only claimed the lives of more than 88,000 people, but has also hit the finances of patients who do not have access to public health.

According to figures from the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS), the average cost of hospitalization for each infected person is one million pesos and the most expensive case being 21.4 million pesos (just over one million pesos). Dollars).

Depending on the type of policy that is available and the amount that the insured has paid, it is the amount that the insurance company covers, which in Cohen's case peaked four days ago.

With a 40-year career as a full-time professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Cohen and his family have launched a donation campaign on social networks, given the impossibility of continuing to pay for treatment at the ABC hospital, in the west from Mexico City.

"In his health they have recommended that we not transfer him, but there is a closure on all sides," says Estrada, who is an academic at UNAM.

Known by his friends and students as "a poet on a bicycle" for his love of urban cycling and racing, Cohen has published a dozen books of stories and novels, as well as several academic works aimed at the area of ​​communication.

"In the world of culture, nobody receives an amount to be able to pay this bill," says his partner, who says that he has pledged his car bill and is considering a payment plan to cover hospital expenses.

Estrada rejects that in his condition he is transferred to a public health center.

According to the insurance sector, of the more than 800,000 infected by covid-19, only 1.53% have contracted medical insurance to access private health services.

The cost in these hospitals varies depending on the health status of the patients.

On average the insurance covers about 385,000 pesos (just over $ 18,000), but when a patient has to be intubated, the figure rises to 4 million pesos (about $ 190,000) per patient.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-10-27

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