Medical costs

[kfay]

My surgery cost around $125,000 at the Mayo clinic, of which my insurance company paid $122,000 and I paid $60.00. I'm 45 and have a tissue valve which means I will be looking at probably two more surgeries in my lifetime. My insurance company was not involved in my healthcare choices in anyway other than allowing me to go to one of the best institutions in the world to have my surgery. I was allowed to pick the place, the surgeon, and my date.

 

[jax]

my surgery and hospital stay at the cleveland clinic with two trips to icu was around 183,000 i ended up having to pay $300. i already have it paid off. it would have been $1000 but i had been to the er a couple of times prior to going to cleveland clinic. i don't mind paying $1000 compared to $183,000. Just glad i had good insurance or bankruptcy here i come.

 

[olefin]

Final question
Is there pressure from the Insurance C0. for patients to chose mechanical valves, to reduce the need for repeat surgery ?

Insurance companies have no part in the decision. (Or they didn't in my case.) The surgeon and I agreed on a mechanical valve.

My total bill was $85,000 for 20 hospital days due to complications. No cost to me.

Another "Obamacare.....Yikes!"

 

[Lionheart]

With all due respect to my fellow posters. What say we focus on the questions and keep political swipes out of the discussion?
John

 

[Lynlw]

You file bankruptcy! I had to with my late husband waiting on a heart transplant.

You were able to file while he was on the list? I know a few kids and just to get listed they had to show they had enough money that financially they would be able to afford all the follow up care,

 

[Lynlw]

Final question
Is there pressure from the Insurance C0. for patients to chose mechanical valves, to reduce the need for repeat surgery ?

No we never discussed anything like that. Just what Hospital, surgeron we chose to use no details beyond that. (and since my son has had 6 heart surgeries so far, I'm sure IF they could find a way to save money they would have done it to us. )

 

[art]

Thanks for your replies

 

[art]

And now for my last last question
What does Obamacare mean
Just joking I am being the devil's advocate
ART is not my real name my initials are
M.M. My next thread will be PC I hope !!!!!!

 

[Jkm7]

As I live in France and have no medical costs I would like to know what is the cost of OHS in the USA

Quote:
Originally Posted by art
Final question
Is there pressure from the Insurance C0. for patients to chose mechanical valves, to reduce the need for repeat surgery ?

I had two OHS in four years and the total out of pocket for us was $5.00.
Weirdest thing is about a year after my surgery I got a check from a medical organization associated with Mass General, where I had my surgery, for that $5.00. I have no idea why. Didn't seem a large enough sum to bother inquiring.

I have my tissue valve and am grateful my good insurance paid all the bills with absolutely no direct communication betweeen them and me. They did not get involved in my choice of what valve to have.

Art ....... With all respect, there is no such thing as free health care. We pay for it it in taxes, pay it in premiums or pay it out of pocket. For some it is provided through various assistance programs.)

 

[river-wear]

Excellent point, Jkm7 - there's definitely "no free lunch" for anything. Someone is paying.

Art - this site quotes prices; for the Cleveland Clinic they say AVR costs $150,000:
http://healthnet.sqctool.com/ComparisonReport.aspx?page=SQC39Cost_Page

I am expecting mine to cost me $2500 - which is the maximum out-of-pocket expense for my insurance.

 

[wcasey5]

My cost was 30K for the hospital stay, 6K for the surgeon, 5K for something else, it added up to about 45K total, of which I payed $4600, on a total out of pocket of $2500. If you are getting this done in the U.S. make sure you schedule your surgery early in the year so you don't cross a year boundry and have to pay an additional max out of pocket. The only interference I had from the insurance company was for scheduling and approvals. Also, they sent me bills adding up to the entire cost, rather than my portion, as a "test" they said, just to see if I really had the surgery? Apparenty they wanted to test my new valve! The other interferance was that I had to deal with the bill crap while trying to recover, and finding the money to pay the $400-$800 chunks of co-pays. But, its all good now, and I'm glad I got it done when I got it done, my total out of pocket has gone up to 9K per year.

My total family health care costs for that year was around 13K for that year, 2008.

 

[LuckyGuy]

My provider's total cost for replacing two valves was just short of $200k. I have no idea what percentage my health insurance (Blue Cross) actually paid, but it seems to have been enough.

There was no cost to me (I'd burned through my deductible already).

 

[Philip B]

Cost?

Cost?

My bills totaled around $250,000.00 for my AVR surgery. Of that my wife and I were responsible for 20%. While some health insurance was better than none, eating $50,000.00 in hospital bills was financially devastating.

Others are certainly welcome to their own opinions, but I believe our health care system in the United States is broken and needs to be fixed. The government would not need to fix it if the private sector would effectively address the problems. Health care in the U.S. is regarded by medical professionals and insurance executives as a means to get rich.

-Philip

 

[Lynlw]

My bills totaled around $250,000.00 for my AVR surgery. Of that my wife and I were responsible for 20%. While some health insurance was better than none, eating $50,000.00 in hospital bills was financially devastating.

Others are certainly welcome to their own opinions, but I believe our health care system in the United States is broken and needs to be fixed. The government would not need to fix it if the private sector would effectively address the problems. Health care in the U.S. is regarded by medical professionals and insurance executives as a means to get rich.

-Philip

Why was your share so high? Was it out of network or that is just how your plan is?

 

[Lionheart]

Others are certainly welcome to their own opinions, but I believe our health care system in the United States is broken and needs to be fixed. The government would not need to fix it if the private sector would effectively address the problems. Health care in the U.S. is regarded by medical professionals and insurance executives as a means to get rich.

-Philip

....................................................................................................................
After my last post, I can see I don't have the skill or talent to be a moderator.
....................................................................................................................
John

 

[terodac]

Mine for a bentall procedure was right at $280k! I had great insurance I paid right at 3k! for all the extra stuff.

 

[james]

I just looked in to all this today. Being that I work for a large (10,000 person) company I get a fairly good insurance plan that they do not want to mess with. My out of pocket max will be $2000 for the year. This will all be covered. I have to go to providers in the network of this company. I have not found any yet out of the network. So this really great.
Now the other side of this is that I can not lose this insurance ever or I am screwed. I will not be able to start my own company again unless I make a boatload of money because of the problems in finding insurance that would cover me. If I get laid off like over 6000 of my coworkers did last year I would be in trouble when my COBRA (settlement offering of insurance from former employers) runs out in a year.
My understanding is that my employer pays about $6500 per year for our health insurance and we pay just over $5500. That is for my wife and I not including dental or vision. So in the long run we are paying more for the surgery than it costs considering the income lost in my pay and out of pocket. The other side of that is I am sure that my last six months of life will be way more expensive. Unless the youth of today choose to make us soilent green.

 

[Kathy McCain]

Art,

As far as my surgery and insurance. Absolutely NO PRESSURE IN CHOOSING A VALVE, mechanical, or otherwise. It was completely my decision.

 

[coach14]

This post has made me a bit nervous. I work for a large company with excellent benefits, but I am wondering if I am missing something. My cardiologist has done numerous tests, to the tune of about $5k. I have paid $20. Then I got an itemized statement from Johns Hopkins for approx. $35,000 , of which I paid $100. Is there something I am not getting ?????

 

[AgilityDog]

Texas hospital costs for various surgeries:
http://www.txpricepoint.org/

Have fun surfing.