In 1954, doctors successfully transplanted
在1954年 医生们成功地移植了
the first human organ: a kidney,
第一个人类器官：肾脏
taken from a patient’s identical twin.
那是从患者的同卵双胞胎中取出的
Today, around 20,000 kidneys are transplanted every year
现在 每年有大约两万个肾被移植
And based on estimates from one report
基于一篇报告的估测
those transplants cost a total of more than $8 billion
这些移植手术总共花费超过80亿美元
And that’s just for kidneys
这仅仅只是肾脏移植
Factor in the 15,000 other organs transplanted each year,
考虑到每年还有15000例其他器官移植手术
and you’ve got yourself a booming business.
所以这是一个繁荣的产业
为什么美国的器官移植手术如此昂贵？
Hospitals are in the business of saving lives
医院的生意是拯救生命
Keyword here being “business”
在这里的关键词是“生意”
And organ transplants, well,
而器官移植
they’re a pretty great way to add to your bottom line
是一个非常好的增加收入的方式
Katrina A. Bramstedt: Transplant centers are a good revenue center for hospitals.
器官移植中心是一个很好的收入来源
There are some departments in hospitals that don’t make a lot of money.
医院里的一些科室实际上 并不怎么赚钱
That’s absolutely true.
这是完全真实的
I’d be lying if I said, “Nah.”
如果我说不是那我就在撒谎
It’s true,
这是真的
and then there’s other departments in hospitals including transplant
不过医院里其他一些科室 包括器官移植科
that do tend to, yeah, be profitable for hospitals, absolutely.
是更容易赚钱的 没错
Narrator: According to a report published by the consulting firm Milliman,
根据一份Milliman咨询公司发布的报告
the average billed cost for a heart transplant
心脏移植的平均费用
before insurance is an estimated $1.38 million,
在保险赔付前预估是138万美元
and other organs, well, they’re not much cheaper.
其他器官的移植也没有便宜很多
Around half of those costs come from what’s called
其中大约一半的费用都来自于
hospital transplant admission.
所谓医院器官移植的住院费
That includes room and board in the hospital
这里面包括病房和餐食的费用
along with things like nursing care
还有看护的费用
and medication during your stay.
还有住院期间药物治疗的费用
Now, for a heart transplant, which might require something like two weeks of inpatient care,
心脏移植需要大概两周的住院治疗
hospital transplant admission adds up
那住院费加起来
to an average of nearly $900,000 a transplant.
大约平均有90万美元
Some doctors say these prices are so high
有些医生说这些价格太高了
in part because the hospital’s trying to make money.
有一部分是因为医院想要赚钱
Here’s the dichotomy between hospital interests
这就是医院的利益与我们作为医生
and our interests as doctors and patient advocates.
作为患者利益维护者之间的利益分歧
Narrator: That’s Dr. Preben Brandenhoff.
以上是Preben Brandenhoff医生
He’s a cardiothoracic surgeon
他是一名心胸外科医生
who specializes in heart and lung transplants.
擅长心脏和肺的移植
Brandenhoff: The hospital, they just want to make money to run the hospital.
医院只想要赚钱来运营医院
If you want to be really stone-cold,
如果你想要听更冷血的话
they’re not into taking care of patients.
他们并不关心病人
Narrator: But Dr. Brandenhoff says there’s a reason
但是Brandenhoff医生说
why transplants are so much more expensive than other procedures.
移植器官的费用比其他手术高很多是有原因的
Take heart bypass surgery for example.
用心脏搭桥手术举例来说
It can cost up to $130,000,
它需要花费13万美金
but that’s just a fraction of the cost of a heart transplant.
但这只是心脏移植手术费用的一小部分
To understand why,
如果要理解背后的原因
just consider what it takes to transplant an organ.
想一想移植器官需要花费什么
If the organ donor is deceased,
如果器官捐赠者死亡了
there’s the expensive medication to keep the organs healthy,
那需要昂贵的药物让器官保持健康状态
then there’s the charted flights
然后还需要包机
to get the organs where they need to go.
送器官到需要的地方
Brandenhoff: If it is one of these where I go to Hawaii and get the lungs
如果情况是 我在夏威夷拿到的肺
because from the time I have the lungs out and ready to go,
那么从我拿出肺并且把它准备好
it’ll be five hours going back to the mainland.
到把它送到北美大陆上需要五个小时
Narrator: And then there’s all the trained personnel.
还需要很多训练有素的员工
Bramstedt: So you may have 10 surgeons in an operating room working,
可能会有十个外科医生在手术室工作
so it’s huge.
是庞大的团队
Narrator: And each of those surgeons is making a lot of money.
每一个外科医生的工资都很高
According to Salary.com,
根据Sarary.com
the average base salary for a heart transplant surgeon is
心脏移植手术外科医生的平均底薪
over $600,000 a year compared to, say,
是60万美金一年 相对比而言
a trauma surgeon who makes under $400,000 a year.
创伤外科医生的工资是不到40万美金一年
And finally, there’s even more expensive medication to help the body accept the new organ.
最后 患者接受新器官所需的药物费用更高
Bramstedt: It can cost somebody a couple thousand dollars a month if they don’t have insurance.
如果没有保险的话 那一个月会花费上千美金
Narrator: So by the time it’s all tallied up,
所以当计算费用的时候
a seven-figure transplant isn’t all that surprising,
七位数的移植账单也不是那么让人惊讶
even though the organ might come for free.
即使器官可能是免费捐赠的
And when you consider what you get for it, you know, life,
但考虑到你得到的是什么 是生命
it might even be a pretty good deal.
所以这可能也是一个不错的交易