One day, your body starts aching. You begin to cough and can’t catch your breath. You have just returned from an overseas trip. You think you have the Coronavirus.

You do exactly what you are supposed to do. Reach out to your primary healthcare provider. The doctor tells you to go to a local hospital and get tested. So you get tested.

You are then hit with medical bills that exceed $6,000.

Sounds like a bad dream, right?

After receiving a test at AdventHealth, DeLand, a Volusia County resident, shared her medical bills with The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Due to the stigma associated with Coronavirus, the woman requested that her name be kept private. AdventHealth officials declined to comment on the newspaper’s request.

The woman said she didn’t know that testing would be so expensive. According to everything she read, she believed that the test was free. The ER visit and a series of unrelated tests she received led to a bill she is still trying to understand how to pay.

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After undergoing coronavirus testing, a DeLand woman aged 23 received her initial bill from AdventHealth DeLand.

The 23-year-old DeLand woman said she felt fine after returning from Spain on March 17. After teaching English abroad, she returned to the United States after coronavirus cases began rising in Europe.

She said she had a headache and a fever the day she returned from Spain. After her fever had spiked, she called her family doctor on March 19, and they diagnosed her with a mild cough. She also began experiencing chest irritation.

AdventHealth DeLand was recommended to her. This was before coronavirus testing expanded throughout the state. The only option for testing was through the Florida Department of Health or local hospitals.

She said she was directed straight to the entrance for those who believed they might have COVID-19 when she arrived. The hospital staff performed various tests on her, including one for the flu and one for strep. A chest X-ray was also performed.

AdventHealth

The woman explained that she had only gone for the coronavirus test and that they did tests she didn’t request. They didn’t ask me questions about them or whether I wanted them. They said that they would do this, that, and this. I should have stated that I wouldn’t say I liked the other stuff. It was just something I felt had to be done.

The staff should have told her what it would cost or how much she would have to pay.

She said, “I assumed it would most likely be free because coronavirus testing was free.”

She was sent an invoice for $4,356.28 after her initial visit. She was charged for IV therapy, laboratory services, pharmacy, and emergency center fees. Because the bill did not include it, it is unclear if she was accused of coronavirus testing.

Three weeks later, she received a second bill for $1969 for ER physician services.

She said that she and her dad were frustrated. “Disbelief that coronavirus testing should be free, but it’s misleading that you go to the hospital and get tested. No one warns you or asks if it will cost you hundreds of thousands.”

AdventHealth was asked by The News-Journal why patients were receiving tests they did not request and why patients needed to be informed about the cost of the tests before they were performed. A spokesman JeffGrainger asked for the patient’s name, which The News-Journal gave him along with consent from the woman.

In the past two weeks, the newspaper made multiple unsuccessful attempts to obtain additional information from AdventHealth.

According to the woman, her father tried numerous times to contact AdventHealth to inquire about her bills.

She said Wednesday that Mike, AdventHealth’s customer service director, called her twice to get me to pay the bill. “He claimed that the coronavirus charge wasn’t on my bill, even though I only requested it at the hospital. I was not given a choice about the treatment I received.”

She said she must pay $871 of the first and second bills totaling $2,840. She claimed she had Spanish health insurance through her employer. However, the policy is no longer valid in the United States.

She stated that she was asking the hospital to review the charges and remove them.

She was even more frustrated when her coronavirus testing came back three days later.

Her 56-year-old mother and her 20-year-old brother, with whom she lived with her 64-year-old father, were tested at the Florida Department of Health office in Daytona Beach. They did not have to pay for the test, and they didn’t receive additional testing.

Holly Smith, the spokeswoman of the Volusia County FDOH office, said that “when the Department of Health conducts a testing, it is part of an epidemiological investigation.” This includes taking a history. It has no additional tests or exams and is free to the patient.

The mother of the woman tested positive for the virus. Although her brother was negative for the virus, they believe he may have contracted it while studying in London. Her father was not tested for the virus.

The woman believes she is fortunate, except for AdventHealth’s bill. She was able to stay at home throughout her illness. Her fever lasted only 24 hours. After being tested, she had only a slight cough and chest irritation for 12 days.

She said, “I feel fortunate, I suppose.” “It’s a very new virus, and they don’t know why some people are more affected than others.”

Her mother, however, had worse symptoms. She had a mild fever, cough, and fatigue for four days. Her symptoms lasted longer than those of her daughters.

She stated earlier that she was more concerned about her mom’s health since she had a positive test. “Mostly, I am worried about my parents.”

She advised others to verify the cost of testing at the beginning.

“I appreciated their thoroughness, but I didn’t anticipate how much it would cost.”