The High Cost of Keeping Bobbi Kristina Brown Alive: TheWrap Instigates

As Bobbi Kristina Brown fights for her life after being found face-down and unresponsive in her bathtub on Jan. 31, the ongoing struggle is clearly taking an emotional toll on her family. It is also likely taking a growing financial toll.

Brown, the 22-year-old daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston, was rushed to North Fulton Hospital in Roswell, Georgia on Jan. 31. She was later moved to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and reportedly transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility at the end of March. As time goes on, the bill for her health care ticks up.

But just how much is Brown’s treatment costing? TheWrap spoke to Paul Hughes-Cromwick, senior health economist at the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at the Altarum Institute, which seeks to solve complex systems problems to improve human health, to determine the financial cost.

Also Read: Bobbi Kristina Brown Is 'Not Progressing at All,' Cissy Houston Says

Determining the cost of Brown’s hospital stay is tricky, Hughes-Cromwick noted, because it’s impossible to determine how much her health insurance plan might cover.

While “a hospital might have a rate on a regular day of $1,000 or $2,000,” Hughes-Crowmick said, the cost was likely much higher in Brown’s case. Reuters reported that Brown was kept on a ventilator until late February. According to the National Institutes of Health,ventilator care generally runs about $6,700 to $10,800 for the first day, decreasing from there.

Typically an insurance company will reach an agreement with the hospital about the charges for such treatment. However, Hughes-Cromwick said, that might not apply in Brown’s situation.

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“It could be the case where they have to pay full charges just because they’re famous and they’re supposed to have a lot of money,” Hughes-Cromwick said. “And maybe they don’t have an insurance plan that has done this kind of negotiating with the provider.”

Based on Hughes-Cromwick’s assessment, a 60-day hospital stay would start somewhere between and $60,000 and $120,000. 

The cost of Brown’s stay in the rehabilitation facility is clearer. Admittance in a rehab location, Hughes-Cromwick noted, entails “very high costs — as much as a couple thousand dollars or more per day.”

Ballparking on that estimate, Brown’s stay at the rehabilitation facility so far could conceivably have a price tag in the $165,000 range after about 11 weeks, and counting. 

Also Read: 'Whitney & Bobbi Kristina' Author Says Police 'Botched' Investigation Into Brown's Near-Drowning

If Brown’s condition continues along its bleak path — her grandmother Cissy Houston has previously said there has been a dire lack of improvement in her condition — and she requires long-term care, more bills will follow.

According to Hughes-Cromwick, around-the-clock care for someone at home can run “about $100,000 a year.” And that’s just for starters. Add in an on-call nurse, respiratory technicians, a nurse to manage the tracheotomy tube and other health-care needs, and the cost balloons.

Also Read: Bobby Brown 'Clearly in Denial' About Bobbi Kristina Brown's Condition, Expert Says

“Next thing you know you can go from that $100,000 to $150,000 area to $200,000 or $250,000, plus therapists that have to be added in,” Hughes-Cromwick said. “I can easily see this mounting to $200,000 or $250,000 a year.”