Today, around 20,000 kidneys are transplanted every year.

如今，每年有近兩萬顆腎臟被移植。

And based on estimates from one report, those transplants cost a total of more than $8 billion, and that's just for kidneys.

一份報告統計，這些移植費用高達八十億美元，這還只是腎臟移植。

Factor in the 15,000 other organs transplanted each year, and you've got yourself a booming business.

加上還有一萬五千個其他器官的移植，生意十分「興隆」。

Hospitals are in the business of saving lives.

醫院做的是救人的生意，

Keyword here being "business,"

重點在於「生意」。

and organ transplants, well, they're a pretty great way to add to your bottom line.

而器官移植就是增加利潤很好的方法。

Transplant centers are a

「器官移植中心是

good revenue center for hospitals. There are some

醫院們很好的收入來源。有些醫院的

departments in hospitals that don't make a lot of money.

部門根本賺不了多少錢。

That's absolutely true.

這是真的。

I'd be lying if I said, "Nah." It's true,

如果我否認，那就是在說謊了！這是真的！

and then there's other departments in hospitals

醫院的某些部門，

including transplant that do tend to, yeah, be profitable for hospitals, absolutely.

包含移植部門，對醫院們來說，嗯，對的，絕對是有利可圖的。」

According to a report

Milliman 顧問公司

published by the consulting firm Milliman,

公開的一份報告指出

the average billed cost for a heart transplant

心臟移植手術的費用，

before insurance is an estimated $1.38 million,

不含保險約為 138 萬美金。

and other organs, well, they're not much cheaper.

其他器官的移植費用，嗯，也便宜不到哪去。

Around half of those costs come from what's called hospital transplant admission.

將近一半的金額是來自於移植住院的費用。

That includes room and board in the hospital

包含了住院期間的食宿、

along with things like nursing care

護理照顧

and medication during your stay.

以及藥物治療。

Now, for a heart transplant, which might require

拿心臟移植來說，可能需要大約

something like two weeks of inpatient care,

兩週的住院護理，

hospital transplant admission adds up

一次移植手術住院的費用平均

to an average of nearly $900,000 a transplant.

高達近九十萬美金。

Some doctors say these prices are so high

有些醫生認為這些費用過於昂貴，

in part because the hospital's trying to make money.

一部分原因是因為醫院想要賺錢。

Here's the dichotomy between

「這就是醫院利益和

hospital interests and our interests as doctors and patient advocates.

醫生及病人利益間的二分法則。」

That's Dr. Preben Brandenhoff.

這位是 Preben Brandenhoff 醫生。

He's a surgeon who specializes in heart and lung transplants.

他是一名心臟胸腔外科醫生，專精於心臟及肺臟移植。

The hospital, they just want to make money to run the hospital.

「醫院只想著賺錢來經營醫院，

If you want to be really stone-cold,

如果要狠下心來，

they're not into taking care of patients.

醫院不會照顧病人。」

But Dr. Brandenhoff says there's a reason

然而 Brandenhoff 醫生認為

why transplants are so much more expensive than other procedures.

移植手術比其他醫療程序還要昂貴是有原因的。

Take heart bypass surgery for example.

以心臟繞道手術為例。

It can cost up to $130,000,

費用高達十三萬美金，

but that's just a fraction of the cost of a heart transplant.

但這只是心臟移植費用的一小部分。

To understand why, just consider what it takes to transplant an organ.

要理解原因，先來看看移植器官的需求。

If the organ donor is deceased,

如果器官捐贈者已經死亡，

there's the expensive medication

就需要昂貴的藥物

to keep the organs healthy,

來維持器官的健康，

then there's the charted flights

然後需要包機，

to get the organs where they need to go.

把器官送達所需的地方。

If it is one of these

「如果是這樣的話，

where I go to Hawaii and get the lungs

我會去夏威夷拿取肺臟，

because from the time I have the lungs out

因為從把肺臟取出準備出發後，

and ready to go, it'll be five hours going back to the mainland.

得花五個小時才能回到美國本土。」

And then there's all the trained personnel.

還需要訓練有素的專業人員。

So you may have 10 surgeons

「大約會有十位外科醫生

in an operating room working, so it's huge.

在手術室裡進行手術，所以團隊是很龐大的。」

And each of those surgeons is making a lot of money.

而每位外科醫生都賺很多錢。

According to Salary.com, the average base salary

Salary.com 網站指出，

for a heart transplant surgeon is

心臟移植外科醫生的平均基本年薪

over $600,000 a year compared to, say, a trauma surgeon who makes under $400,000 a year.

超過六十萬美金，相較之下，創傷外科醫生平均基本年薪低於四十萬美金。

And finally, there's even more expensive medication

最後，還需要更昂貴藥物

to help the body accept the new organ.

來幫助身體接受新的器官。

It can cost somebody a couple thousand dollars

「沒有保險的話，一個月

a month if they don't have insurance.

要花上好幾千美金。」

So by the time it's all tallied up,

所以，當這些加起來時，

a seven-figure transplant isn't all that surprising,

七位數費用的移植手術就不那麼讓人驚訝了，

even though the organ might come for free.

即使移植的器官可能是免費的。

And when you consider what you get for it,

但是當你獲得重生後，

you know, life, it might even be a pretty good deal.

這聽起來似乎就是個挺不錯的交易。