CORONAVIRUS: Friday 6/12 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

15 weeks into the local COVID-19 outbreak, and one week into “modified Phase 1,” here’s the nightly roundup:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard:

*8,644 people have tested positive, 60 more than yesterday

*571 people have died, unchanged from yesterday

*1,517 people have been hospitalized, 5 more than yesterday

*115,016 people have been tested, 2,263 more than yesterday

One week ago, the cases/deaths were 8,396/566.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them – nation by nation – here.

‘KEEP IT MOVING’ GOING AWAY: Seattle Parks has announced a long list of operational changes, and will now scrap the “Keep It Moving” exhortation in favor of “Keep It Small & Simple.” Also in the announcement: No swimming pools or wading pools this summer.

$1.1 MILLION BILL: Remember Michael Flor, the 70-year-old West Seattle COVID-19 survivor whose homecoming we covered last month?

(May photo courtesy Wendy Hobson)

The Seattle Times, which was first to tell his survival story, reports tonight that Flor got a $1.1 million hospital bill.

COVID CASUALTY: Fauntleroy Church’s Little Pilgrim School is closing, citing the new health regulations/constraints resulting from the pandemic.

TESTING THIS WEEKEND: Free testing Saturday and Sunday in Renton and Federal Way, if you can get there – details here. No appointment required for those – but book ahead if you want to go to the SODO testing site that’s open 10 am-3 pm tomorrow (details here).

FOOD DRIVE TOMORROW: Outside Admiral Church:

Food Drive Saturday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm June 13th. There will be a Food Bank barrel to collect food donations, under a canopy if it is raining, at the Admiral church with attendants to assist with the collection of food: non-perishable and canned food, pet food and cat litter, baking supplies, seasonings and herbs, bagged fresh produce or home grown organic vegetables. 4320 SW Hill Street. The food drives will be from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Saturdays, June 13 and 27, July 11 and 25. Your food donations are needed as the number of people needing food has increased greatly due to the pandemic. Thank you for helping.

HOW DID THE STAY-HOME MONTHS CHANGE YOUR LIFE? The state Health Department suggests you take stock of your new habits – good and not-so-good – now.

GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

mok4315 June 12, 2020 (11:27 pm)

Holy crap. I am really glad he’ll only pay a small fraction, if anything at all, of that bill. Though my mom’s chemo and dad’s open heart got pretty close to that. Is our health care system messed up or what?

bolo June 13, 2020 (12:13 am)

It was worth it!

ScubaFrog June 13, 2020 (6:33 am)

Thankfully most of Mr. Flor’s bill will be paid by his insurance, but our healthcare system is worse than many developing nations’ systems. Just awful. Criminal, frankly.Hugs to the Flor family!!

Plf June 13, 2020 (8:25 am)

Health care finance is strange and convulated and simply bizarre. Difference between costs and charges and then negotiated adjustments with payors. Don’t shoot the providers, i.e. Swedish, the billing/reimbursement system is set up by Center for Medicare and Medicaid and third party Insurance Companies. The cost of the ICU care is expensive but most likely 60 % of the actual charges. Those costs not only include direct costs but overhead, (indirect) ancillary care, supplies, administration, facility costs, bond repayments. Malpractice insurance etc. supply chain.after 40 years in healthcare administration, I continue to be convinced that a one payer system would save us billions of dollars if in no other area but billing. Takes a army of folks to manage that process not only for the facility but on the receiving side (Insurance companies., CMS etc) and process and billing are distinct and different based on the payers involved. Don’t get me started on the administrative components of prior authorizations for even routine careAnd while the vast majority of hospitals are 501c corporations, insurance companies are by nature looking for profit margins for their investors ( that includes any one with a 401k) hospitals, and those who work in healthcare really believe in providing excellent care and being advocates for patients and the community (yes always an exception but mostly). But the financing which is controlled by other entities are profit driven and until the concept of making hug margins is eliminated or significantly reduced, the game of costs, versus charges, adjustments and write offs will continue and your healthcare premium will reflect the profit driven mission of the payer system

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy June 13, 2020 (9:00 am)

Especially in this case it would be interesting to know what the negotiated down price is (the pre-negotiated price between the hospital + docs and Medicare/his private insurance)

john June 13, 2020 (9:55 am)

Indicative of our health care system, the $1.1 million bill probably does not cover the full cost of his treatment. COVID 19 just exposes more problems with our deplorable system. The pandemic will likely bankrupt many including health care providers and hospitals devastated by their suspension of profitable services for such an extended period.

Mj June 13, 2020 (10:12 am)

Another item I fear is what this is going to do to next year’s health care insurance premiums?

John June 13, 2020 (11:04 am)

The context of Michael Flor’s hospitalization reported by Seattle TImes is “He’s Swedish’s longest-hospitalized coronavirus patient, by far.”Mr. Flor’s incredible recovery took two months of critical care hospitalization of the most advanced technical interventions with cost, no concern (as it should be).Let’s all support national healthcare, now.

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