Roosa Rahkonen was horrified when an invoice for a four-hour hospital visit in the United States landed in her email.
Roosa Rahkonen makes content for social media about mental health topics and her everyday life in New York. Roosa Rahkonen
Welfare influencer Roosa Rahkonen is studying a master’s degree in journalism in New York.
He published a video on his Instagram website, where he tells about the recent hospital visit and its expenses.
– I woke up in the night feeling terrible. My arms and legs were completely numb. I collapsed on the floor, Rahkonen says in the video.
– I called the school’s emergency number. The professional advised to go to the hospital and I ordered a taxi.
Rahkonen spent four hours in the hospital. He was put on a drip and various blood tests were done.
– I got a slip to fill out. I asked the nurse how much a trip to the hospital costs. He checked my insurance and said that this probably won’t cost me anything, Rahkonen says.
Rahkonen has obtained insurance through his university, which costs $400 a month. The insurance should therefore cover most of the healthcare costs.
In the end, nothing serious was found in Rahkos and he was able to return home.
“Minor” panic
Although Rahkonen was frightened by the trip to the hospital, after a week he didn’t think about the whole thing anymore. Until a new message appeared in the email.
– I received an email saying that I have new invoices. That is my expression when I opened the email and saw that the four-hour trip to the hospital cost me a total of 8,500 dollars, Rahkonen says.
– A “small-scale” panic arose from this.
However, the email revealed that Rahkonen’s insurance covers $8,000 of the costs. So there was 500 dollars left for him to pay himself.
– So it was a huge relief. But $500 is also a big amount and it broke my budget, Rahkonen says.
If you don’t see the post, view it from here.
– I still wouldn’t do anything differently. I thought there was something terribly wrong with me and the professionals advised me to go to the hospital.
Rahkonen says that he now understands why so many Americans say they only go to the hospital when “the head is in the armpit”.
– I hope that there will never be the same situation in Finland.
In the publication’s caption, Rahkonen also thinks about how many Americans have problems with hospital bills if they can’t afford insurance.
– It feels so painful to think that one’s health can depend on wealth. Living in New York has been eye-opening in so many ways, says Rahkonen.