Paying $70,000 for the shittiest food I’ve ever eaten

Written by Katy Maiolatesi / Illustration by Kirun Kunju

Back in 2022 I stayed in NY Presbyterian hospital for three nights as I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Not long afterward, the hospital wrote me a letter stating my insurance would not pay for my stay because I was “able to move around on my own” and "swallow pills without assistance."

Bitch, what? You just told me I have MS and now I have to pay $70,000 for the shittiest food I’ve ever eaten? No. I as a middle-class American do not have that kind of money lying around. Therefore, I took a page out of my father’s book and wrote a strongly-worded letter to those thieves.

Here is a first draft excerpt: I am writing (with a weakened right hand) to notify you that I do not accept your assessment of my hospital stay from August 15 - 17, 2022. You rejected my coverage stating I was “alert and able to swallow pills,” however I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while I was a patient there and I never once took a pill. Also while I was there one of the nurses said I was responsible for throwing away my own food trays, which is a ridiculous thing to say to a hospital patient. I will not be paying this bill in full. This country’s healthcare system is fucked.

I cleaned this letter up a little before I sent it, but my initial ramblings were very cathartic. I was also unaware that while at the hospital you should ask for an itemized receipt like you’re a goddamned ConEd utility bill and they will often be like, “oh my bad, we initially overcharged, whoopsie daisy!” I also learned that the hospital and your insurance company will do a little “not it” dance for months on who should pay the bill. I took matters into my own hands anyway, because I was not paying that lofty amount for 2:30 a.m. ET MRIs and pre-packaged processed applesauce.

Eventually, Cigna covered most of my stay and I got away with paying a few hundred dollars out of pocket. But as a previous naive, relatively healthy person, I went on a damn rampage.

This was written by Katy Maiolatesi (@kmaiolatesi) and illustrated by Kirun Kunju (@kirunkunju)