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Bronx Man Gets $40 Million Hospital Bill, Nearly Has Asthma Attack
Alex Rodriquez, of the Bronx, keeps an inhaler for emergencies and last week, he needed it.
The 28-year-old unemployed, ex-doorman says doctors at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital cured him of pneumonia. But last week when he received a bill in the mail for the hospital's services, he felt ill again.
"I almost had an asthma attack," Rodriquez told PIX 11 News. The bill was for $44,776,587.
"When i saw 44 million, I thought it had to be a mistake," said Rodriquez.
Alex said he is unemployed and doesn't have insurance so he expected a hefty bill. The hospital estimated he would have to pay $40,000 in installments and the first bill was only supposed to be for a couple of hundred.
"The union took away my insurance then I got sick," he said.
When he saw the bill, he immediately called the billing firm, PHY services, and got an automated message that said the invoice was a mistake. And that the computer accidentally swapped the invoice number with the "amount due."
Rodriquez spoke with a customer representative who said they had received hundreds of calls. PHY services told him they would send a new bill and an apology letter.
"People make mistakes, system errors, computer errors. Someone should check the bill," said Rodriquez.