CLEVELAND — Imagine having coronavirus, being in the hospital nearly a month, and surviving…only then to face the medical bills. Now, imagine you’re just 19 years old.
“I just was afraid to be sick I guess,” said D’Jeana Roddy. You might remember her from our “Rebound: Northeast Ohio Special Report” earlier this month.
“I wanted it to be anything but COVID-19,” she told us.
She put up a major fight, spent a lot of time in the hospital, and was on a ventilator. She knows it all adds up. “The stay, the food, the care in the ICU….so, it does worry me because I can see a big bill,” she told us.
A new study by health insurers shows “costs, on average, could exceed $30,000” for each ICU patient, and the pandemic costs could reach $556 billion over the next two years.
D’Jeana’s mother Danita had D’Jeana on the Buckeye Health Plan which is a government, medicaid health insurance. “I really didn’t have health issues so, I really didn’t know much about my medical (insurance) because I really didn’t have to go to the doctor for anything,” D’Jeana said.
The thing is, her mom can’t help her through the bills. “I remember talking to my mom and telling her that I love her,” recalled D’Jeana. “It hurts because I really do miss my mom.”
You see, Dania also caught the virus at the same time as D’Jeana, but Danita did not survive.
“Everyone was just fine living life and then all of this happened,” D’Jeana told us.
Now, what will happen with her bills? How much will they cost the teen who’s already paid a devastating price?
“I try to stay positive because that’s the type of person she was, and I know what she would be telling me,” she told us.
D’Jeana has gone though so much in her short life. And as the bills come in, we’ll be there seeing what else is in store for her financially. It’s part of our new series where you can help.
Send us your coronavirus-related medical bills including any hospital stays, treatments, visits to the doctor, and more. Email us at: InvestigatorTips@WEWS.com
We want to see what your costs are and we will follow up.