Astronomical $55,000 bill for appendicitis operation goes viral after it is posted online by patient outraged at cost of U.S. healthcare



The bill from Sutter General Hospital included $4,500 for anesthesia



The patient was also charged $7,500 for a two-hour stay in a recovery room



A California man received a hospital bill following a straightforward appendicitis operation for so much money that it was surprising it didn’t make him unwell again.



The 20-year-old was so shocked that the operation requiring just one overnight stay at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento came to a whopping $55,000 (£33,000), that he posted scans of the bill on social media site Reddit.



User Zcypher wrote: ‘I never truly understood how much healthcare in the US costs until I got appendicitis in October. Thought other people should see this to get a real idea of how much an unpreventable illness costs in the US.



Hard to stomach: The $55,000 bill lfor an appendicitis operation eft Reddit user Zcypher in shock

Fortunately, his insurance company footed $43,000 of the bill, but he has been left with $11,000 to pay, which he said ‘is still a ton at this time in my life’.



He described the costs of the services he received as ‘outrageous’, explaining that the recovery room he spent two hours in cost $7,500, the room and board nearly $5,000 and that they apparently used $4,500 worth of anesthesia on him.



According to Healthcare Blue Book, a fair price for the whole procedure would have been $10,091, with anesthesia costing just $724.



The bill showed the breakdown in costs, which included $7,500 for time spent in a recovery room

The site, which is designed to help users look up the fair market cash price for thousands of medical procedures, recommends that patients shop for the best possible price.



It explains: ‘The Blue Book price is based on the typical fee that providers in your area accept as payment from insurance companies. This is the price you should have to pay, even if your provider charges more. You can use this price to negotiate with your provider or shop for an in-network provider that charges a Fair Price.’



The NHS website describes the procedure to remove the appendix, a small tube near the colon, as ‘one of the most common operations, and its success rate is excellent’.



A Sutter General spokesman told ABC News that billing is complicated and that it has advisers on hand to help patients comprehend them.

Luckily, Zcypher's insurance company paid most of the bill Sutter General Hospital admitted that its billing system is complicated



