Shocking Cost of Medical Treatment

As you know, I have been talking about my father-in-law's open heart surgery since last week.  My wife got a call to top-up the deposit.  My father-in-law had some post-operation issues.  The heart rate was not stable and keep increasing.  So he has to have temporary pacing.  Now he needs to have a pacemaker with implantable cardioverter device (ICD).  This little gadget cost $21,000!!  We were shocked by the price.  This does not include the surgery fee of $4,900. 

 The cost of his hospitalisation for Open heart surgery to date is $40,000!  Luckily, there is Medishield which will pay for a portion of all the bills. 

We also requested to understand pacemaker better and talk to the cardiologist.  The cardiologist agreed that he can implant a lower cost model.  He says it is just older model but functionally does the two most important tasks - keep the patient alive and "wake up" the heart if it "forgets" to beat.  The cost of the device is between $10,000 and $12,000.  So the total cost is now between $15,000 and $17,000 for the pacemaker cum ICD.

So far, the cost incurred is at least $55,000.  The bill is not final yet.  If my FIL decides on $21,000 model, then the cost will $66,000 and up!  He has not discharge yet and the cost can continue to escalate.  It is expensive to have medical treatment in Singapore, our home.