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"This is how expensive it is to attempt suicide." The hospital bill going viral.

 

Content warning: This post discusses suicide and will be disturbing for many readers. 

When 21-year-old transgender man Oliver Jordan attempted suicide in the United States last year, he was hospitalised for one week.

Then the legal assistant received a hospital bill he’s calling “theft”.

The bill, for $93,000 American dollars ($130,000 AUD), covered medical and psychiatric services for only eight days.

Posting the image to Twitter, the man wrote: “This is how expensive it is to attempt suicide in the US.”

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He added that while he had insurance, the bill would be life-altering if he didn’t.

Speaking to The New York Post, the Oklahoma man said there was still a gap fee of $2,850.

“For someone who couldn’t afford insurance, this would be utterly catastrophic,” he told them.

“Receiving bills and notices for something that will likely take me years to pay off is… disheartening… It leaves a hopeless feeling,” he added.

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Other Twitter users continued to share their experiences with debt after hospitalisation in the United States.

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Others, including Oliver himself, expressed complete disappointment with the American health system.

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While insurance covered most of Jordan’s medical bills following his hospitalisation, it does not cover his transgender surgery.

In order to have the surgery, he has started a GoFundMe to raise $6000.

“I’ve been out as transgender for over four years now, I’ve been on testosterone (hormone replacement therapy) for over three years, and I’m hoping to have top surgery as soon as possible. The largest point of my dysphoria is my chest. Binding helps, but it’s caused me to break ribs and miss out on so many things I enjoy due to the pain, the decreased lung capacity, and shortness of breath,” he wrote on the page.

“To be able to not wear a binder would be my greatest dream. I recently had a change in insurance and it no longer covers my top surgery at all, so I’m needing to raise the full amount. Any donations are HIGHLY appreciated, anything will help! Anything gets me closer to my goal of finally being comfortable in my own skin,” he added.

You can donate to Jordan’s top surgery on Go Fund Me.

If you, or a young person you know, is struggling with symptoms of mental illness please contact your local headspace centre here or chat to them online, here. If you are over the age of 25 and suffering from symptoms of mental illness please contact your local GP for a Mental Health Assessment Plan or call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.