Who Will Pay Ebola Patients' Medical Bills in the U.S.?

THE NATIONAL JOURNAL   By Maria Koren           Nov. 24, 2014

...Nine people have been treated for the virus in the U.S. since August. Seven recovered. The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, which treated one of them, estimates treatment for patients diagnosed with Ebola costs $50,000 a day. Officials at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which cared for two patients, put the daily cost at $30,000, and the totalat $1.16 million for a single patient. Most patients have been hospitalized for more than two weeks.

The U.S. has shown it can beat Ebola. But who will pay for the expensive care it takes to do it?

It's a tough question, and one that the people holding the bills seem reluctant to answer. Hospitals that have treated patients in Georgia, Nebraska, New York, and Texas did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the governors' offices of these states. NIH was forthcothcoming about cost of care, but the feds pick up the tab for treatment there.

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http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/who-will-pay-ebola-patients-medical-bills-in-the-u-s-20141124

See earlier posting: Senators Markey andf Portman introduce legislaton to fund Ebola treatment hubs 

http://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-and-portman-introduce-legislation-to-fund-domestic-ebola-treatment-hubs