$47,724.12

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$34,217 providing he didn't receive any aspirin.

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Laughing.. my.. bunns.. off... Then it would be closer to 100k?

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I'd expect the emergency room visit, 8 days at the hospital, a couple cardiograms, and simple checkups and meds at $20,000

But I get the feeling that you're being wheeled through MRIs and goodness knows what else. Which can up the costs insanely and no way to predict that if you won't say what happens.

Still maybe you just had the basic stuff and were shocked at the price. So I'll go with my base figure and add some random fees in for $21,534

Good. I'm getting a boatload of guesses and I appreciate it. Its always a surprise to me what's going to show up. Its not like consumers ever have a real chance to compare costs at various hospitals. I'm going to hold off one more day but I'll post who the winner is and what the final fee was. I've got a little bit of breakdown I can give you too.

$2 Bob!

I'll say $28,324

It is kind of funny because it shows that no one has a bloody clue about the cost of health care and it really depends on who is asking , where you live and what hospital you go to- there is no standard and no one shops for the best deal ( so much for the wisdom of the free market). Well, one night in the hospital for minor surgery cost $8,000. here in Maine ( I loved the $250. charge for "miscellaneous" after charging for every Q tip). That was several years ago so I'll guess $72,000.

I think that's exactly the point. I'd like to think I'm a good consumer, but how can you plan for exactly what health problem is going to hit you? My recent stuff came out of no where. I tend to think costs are lower in KY than certain other areas because the cost of living is lower, particuliarly in housing compared to the Chicago suburbs where I used to live.

and the winner is.................

Sunnyside!

The total was $21,851.70. (his entry was $ 21,534-C L O S E !)

Sunnyside, I'd like to know if you actually know about this stuff or whether it was just a good guess because you were REALLY close. (although it sounded like you were pricing a car ) They did fairly standardized tests for clots, one cardiogram, one ekg, one ct scan and one doppler ultrasound. Treatment consists of bed rest and initially two shots of Heparin (because dose doesn't fit in the syringe) in the waist area every 12 hours, and then later they add an oral dose of coumadin. (both blood thinners). The patient had a couple of routine cholesterol drugs and did receive 2 baby aspirin (yes, there was aspirin! ) Also blood tests everyday to check thinness and blood and some initial screenings. Oxygen (no, not the cable channel)

Like I said, I think the cost of living is lower here. So I tend to think this may be lower than other areas of the country.

I don't have an entire breakdown, but here is how the charges were separated:

Semi-private room (ha, private my ass) 740 per day = $ 5920.00
Emergency Room = $ 1167.10
Lab/Pathology = $ 4576.60
Cardiopulmonary = $ 1793.70
Medical Imaging = $ 2367.00
Respiratory Care = $ 1419.30
Drugs/Pharmacy = $ 3664.40
Peri Vas Lab = $ 723.70
Transfusion/IV = $ 86.20
Medical Supplies = $ 133.70

Total =$ 21851.70

Congrats to Sunnyside, the wise man of medical bills I'll transfer your 1000. Second place was Lucid since so many went over. Forest and Craigers were over but in the ballpark.

By the way, nobody should worry about me paying this whole bill. I've got good insurance (which is better than my old insurance) and the insurance company will "negotiate" a different price and pay quite a bit of it and then I'll get a bill for my share.

I wasn't shocked by this, but I'm telling you, it is hard to predict. A year and a half ago, a bill for an appendectomy came and was $49,700 and that was only 2 days as an inpatient (coming through the ER), but the procedure was done arthroscopically which is less intrusive and doesn't leave the famous scar you usually get from this and you recover quick.

Three months ago, there was a bill for surgery to correct a bowel blockage (that was caused by scar issue that developed from the appendectomy). This was a real surgery of gutting open the waist area and going into the bowel. This was also initially through the ER and it required a seven day stay but came to "only" $ 22644.52.

This was all done on the same patient and done at the same hospital.

Thanks everybody for making a guess and I hope Sunnyside can explain his rational.