Woman Says Hospital Charged $341 Fee to Confirm Her Child Had Died

Commenters were angry after a woman claimed a hospital charged her $341 to confirm her daughter was deceased.

The woman, known as @whenlifegivesyoulindzes, posted about the situation on TikTok on June 30 where it received more than 3.6 million views and 5,200 comments. The video can be found here.

Cost of Death in America

While an estimated 70 percent of Americans say they prefer to die at home, only 25 percent of them are actually able to, according to an analysis conducted by Arcadia Healthcare Solutions.

For those that die in the hospital, hospital bills can quickly rack up, averaging about $32,379 in an individual's last month of life.

Individuals who died at home spent on average $4,750 in the last month of life, comparatively.

'Discharge Day Management'

In the viral video, the woman responded to another TikToker's video commenting on how when an American parent loses a child in the hospital they are immediately bombarded with medical bills.

"I lost a daughter in America and this is the bill that they sent me after she died," the woman said as she showed a screenshot of an alleged hospital bill. "Hospital discharge day management, less than 30 minutes and if you see it was over $300."

She said that her daughter was not discharged from the hospital but rather died there but was told the charge was to have the doctor come to her bedside and confirm a time of death by checking her heartbeat.

"And we already knew she had passed so," the woman said. "You would think after spending $2 million on her medical expenses that the death would be free but guess not."

Viewer Reactions

More than 5,200 users commented on the video, many criticizing the healthcare system in America.

"America's medical system is completely broken and nobody knows how bad it truly is until living somewhere else," one user commented.

"As a healthcare worker in America—I really want to know where the $$$ goes," another user commented. "Not to us workers for sure. So ridiculous that they charge that much."

"Free? You funny, this is America, if they could tax oxygen they would," another commented.

"My daughter bill after she passed was $67k," another user commented.

"Death is one of the most expensive things in the US," another user commented.

"Don't even get me started on funeral expenses and corporate funeral homes," another wrote.

Newsweek reached out to u/whenlifegivesyoulindzes for comment.

Other Viral Posts

In a viral Reddit post in the popular "Am I The A**hole" forum, commenters praised a person for refusing to cover the medical bills after their landlord's child climbed into the dryer while they were using it.

In July, a man was charged nearly $250,000 after being treated for a rattlesnake bite and another went viral after sharing their nearly $100,000 charge for a helicopter ride to the hospital.