Lamar Odom Health Update: Hospital Bills Mounting, Still Suffering From Memory Loss, Often Forgets His Own Name


Lamar Odom’s hospital care has continued over two months after he was found unconscious at Dennis Hof’s Love Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. Although family members were hoping the former basketball star would be transferred to a rehabilitation center in time for Christmas, that hasn’t happened, and he remains under medical watch at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood, California.

Lamar Odom was hospitalized on October 13 and deemed to be in a coma as he arrived at the Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. A short time later, his family, including wife Khloe Kardashian, children Lamar Odom Jr. and Destiny Odom, and ex-girlfriend Liza Morales, arrived in Sin City to be with him as he recovered. Then, once Lamar Odom woke up fro his coma, he was transferred to Los Angeles via medical helicopter.

Although Lamar Odom has made positive progress in the months since his drug overdose, his hospital bills have continued to mount. According to a new report, his total cost could be “in the millions.”

According to a December 30 report by the Christian Post, an expert recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight, revealing Lamar Odom’s hospital bills may become hard to pay, despite any insurance and the former athlete’s substantial net worth. The site also revealed that it was unclear whether or not Kardashian was helping with the costs.

“Just your basic hospital stay usually runs about $10,000 a night,” healthcare costs expert Shana Alex Charles explained to ET Online. “Cedars-Sinai is not basic care, and [Lamar Odom’s] kind of incident is not basic, so you can just assume that it’s going to be much higher than that, maybe even as high as $30,000 to $50,000 per night, which adds up very quickly.”

She continued, “I’ve lived in Los Angeles for many years and was told by many people that they just don’t need insurance because they can afford any healthcare that they need to get. Well, a million to two million dollars — even to wealthy people — starts to be a big number that’s hard to pay.”

While it remains unknown what Kardashian may have paid thus far, Charles claimed she would likely be responsible for a portion of the bills due to the fact that she and Lamar Odom are still married. In December 2013, Kardashian filed for divorce amid rumors of cheating and drug use. However, since a judge hadn’t yet signed off on the finalization of their divorce when Lamar Odom was hospitalized, Kardashian was left in charge of making key medical decisions for Lamar Odom and is now expected to pay at least a percentage of his medical debt.

In the same Entertainment Tonight report, it was noted that Lamar Odom continues to suffer from slurred speech and can barely walk on his own. It was also revealed that Lamar Odom has some memory loss and often forgets people’s names — even his own.

Although Kardashian has been at Lamar Odom’s side on and off since he was hospitalized, a recent report by Radar Online claimed she was hoping to distance herself from her soon-to-be ex-husband as time goes on. While Kardashian remains supportive of Lamar Odom and his recovery, a source revealed the following earlier this week.

“It’s a delicate situation, because [Lamar Odom]’s so sensitive and there’s no easy way for Khloe to tell him she’s not coming back [as his wife]. She’s finding the whole strain of running his finances and medical planning way too much to bear, since so much of her own life has had to go on hold.”

[Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images]

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