OMG!!! I just found out how much my surgery cost.
By mentalward
@mentalward (14690)
United States
September 26, 2010 12:10pm CST
I was quite floored by this. I received a breakdown of expenses paid for by our health insurance company for the surgery I just had done on my neck.
I'm not sure just what expenses are included in this amount but it's quite a lot more than what I had heard it would be.
The total amount billed to my insurance company, from Loudoun Hospital Center, where I had the surgery, was $22,384.25! 
I was only in the hospital overnight! 
Before my surgery, I was told that the hospital fee would be around $8,100.00. Maybe this bill reflects the surgeon's fee and anesthesiologist's fee as well.
Man! That's a LOT! The amount our insurance is not covering is $1,772.56. Thankfully, I have Medicare Part A which covers hospitalization. They don't pay it all but they will pay 80% of the $1,772.56.
Good grief! I've only known one other person who had surgery more expensive than mine, well, that I know of, anyway. My stepfather. He had surgery to put a shunt in his heart and that came to over $80,000.00.
I'm sure there are loads of people out there who've had more expensive surgeries but this is the most expensive that I've had. Even my second baby, who was born via C-section, after which I developed complications that forced me to stay in the hospital for a week wasn't even near this expensive!
I am sooooooooooo thankful that I have health insurance. It really makes me feel very bad for those who don't have it because they don't get it through work and can't afford the premiums on their own. (Our premiums are around $400.00 per month.)
Do you have health insurance? If you don't, what is the most you've had to pay for any medical procedure? Do you think that hospitals are charging too much for their services? I do!
I was only in the hospital overnight!
Before my surgery, I was told that the hospital fee would be around $8,100.00. Maybe this bill reflects the surgeon's fee and anesthesiologist's fee as well.
Man! That's a LOT! The amount our insurance is not covering is $1,772.56. Thankfully, I have Medicare Part A which covers hospitalization. They don't pay it all but they will pay 80% of the $1,772.56.
Good grief! I've only known one other person who had surgery more expensive than mine, well, that I know of, anyway. My stepfather. He had surgery to put a shunt in his heart and that came to over $80,000.00.
I'm sure there are loads of people out there who've had more expensive surgeries but this is the most expensive that I've had. Even my second baby, who was born via C-section, after which I developed complications that forced me to stay in the hospital for a week wasn't even near this expensive!
I am sooooooooooo thankful that I have health insurance. It really makes me feel very bad for those who don't have it because they don't get it through work and can't afford the premiums on their own. (Our premiums are around $400.00 per month.)
Do you have health insurance? If you don't, what is the most you've had to pay for any medical procedure? Do you think that hospitals are charging too much for their services? I do!8 people like this
24 responses
@mickizzy (130)
•
27 Sep 10
what a total con, i'm so glad i live in UK
i watched the Michael Moores film about health insurance in the USA and he's a US citizen and even he says its a con run by the gov and ins companies
a lot of ppl skip over the border to Canada and get free health care if you can find a Canadian friend
what would happen if you can't cover the bill?
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
29 Sep 10
If you can't pay, they'll sue you and place a lien on your wages and/or any property you may own. One way or another, they'll get their money.
Hospitals here in the US used to be there to help, now they're only for profit. It's very sad.
@IoanaBI (494)
• Romania
26 Sep 10
Hello Mentalward! I have a medical insurance,and is payd by my employer. I do not know how much have to pay people who are receiving care and don't have a medical insurance, bat i know that a friend of mine paid for ocuping a bed in hospital for 1 night as much as a 5star hotel.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
That wouldn't be too bad if it was as nice as staying at a 5 star hotel. 
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
26 Sep 10
$22,384.25! HOLY COW! Are you serious? That is nuts.
Yes. I have medical insurance (it cost me nearly $500 a month, but it's totally worth it). I think that the price of medical care in this country is just nuts.
@rogue13xmen13 (14402)
• United States
28 Sep 10
And people wonder why many other people can't afford health care?
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
Yeah, it's nuts all right. I had a 4-hour surgery on my spine (in my neck) and was in the hospital a grand total of 32 hours. Imagine if I had to stay longer! I don't see how they can expect people to pay when they can't afford health insurance premiums that are never cheap, no matter what kind of insurance it is. So many people fall between those who can afford insurance and those qualifying for Medical Assistance or Medicaid. My youngest son is one. His job pays barely enough for him to live on (with a roommate... he couldn't afford rent on his own) and his job doesn't give medical insurance to their employees. I feel so bad for them!
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
29 Sep 10
Someone responded to this discussion by saying that there is no reason why everyone can't afford health insurance. I guess he is blinded to all those people who make minimum wage. It's impossible to support just yourself on minimum wage let alone support a family. And, there are a lot more people making minimum wage these days because of the recession. I've known executives who were desperate for ANY job, even flipping burgers at McDonald's. If the employers who pay minimum wage don't supply health insurance (most don't), there's no way the employees could afford it on their own.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
26 Sep 10
WOW!! That's a LOT of money 
but you are worth it!
I think there is a lot of waste in medicine and prices would come down a lot if we could get some decent tort reform that protected everyone but prevented a lot of frivolous lawsuits, etc.
I do have insurance, which was good when I had my appendix out last year. I only had to pay out my deductible, which was $1500 and the insurance paid the rest of it. I think it was somewhere around $10,000 and that included 3 days in the hospital. I would not want to be without insurance, although the price just increased. Still, I'm only paying $219 a month with a $1500 deductible and at my age I think that's pretty good!
but you are worth it!
I think there is a lot of waste in medicine and prices would come down a lot if we could get some decent tort reform that protected everyone but prevented a lot of frivolous lawsuits, etc.
I do have insurance, which was good when I had my appendix out last year. I only had to pay out my deductible, which was $1500 and the insurance paid the rest of it. I think it was somewhere around $10,000 and that included 3 days in the hospital. I would not want to be without insurance, although the price just increased. Still, I'm only paying $219 a month with a $1500 deductible and at my age I think that's pretty good!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
Yeah, I have to agree that you do have pretty good insurance. What we have now is better than what we had with my husband's old employer but it's still not great. They pay 90% after the deductible but the deductible is lower, only $250.00 for each of us. I think I'd rather have a higher deductible if they'd pay 100%.
One thing we received recently was about the new health reform bill and how it affected our insurance, at least in one respect. We now have no cap on how much they'll pay. There is no lifetime maximum.
We did have a maximum and my husband was concerned about it since he also needs surgery on his spine and it looks like I may have even more surgery on my spine (lumbar) in the future because my big toe on my left foot is now numb. I asked the surgeon about it and he said that what he did should have in no way affected my lower extremeties and that this is most likely an incredible coincidence. He wants me to let him know if anything else starts going numb. I sure hope not because I'm so fed up with surgery! I hope I never have another one as long as I live.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I can imagine how you felt when that toe went numb--I avoid surgery or even seeing a doctor whenever possible! But keep atop of it and if it needs done, please do it because if the insurance reform goes into effect with all its crap, you may not be able to have it done-but who knows, since hardly anybody knows what the hell is in that monstrosity?! 
Good luck with it, I hope it's a big fat NOTHING!!! 
Good luck with it, I hope it's a big fat NOTHING!!! 
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
27 Sep 10
I used to work for a health fund and I had insurance there for years because I was charged staff rates! When I left my job because I decided to stay at home with my baby I had to cancel our health insurance because we could no longer afford it. For top hospital it would cost us over $2500 a year! We rely on public hospitals now and we have only ancillary insurance which covers optical, dental etc. which is good because my daughter needs braces on her teeth! I had my C section in a public hospital with the same doctor all the way through and shared a room with a lady who had private health insurance. We kept in touch and she told me later she received a ‘gap’ bill of $1500 whereas I paid nothing and was treated exactly the same as her! It is not very just in our country! I’m glad for you though that you will have most of your costs covered, at least that is one less thing to worry about while you are recovering. It is amazing how much surgeries cost…Take care of yourself…
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
27 Sep 10
My medical ins used to be pretty good - the best I ever had was Regence BS, I think my copays for anything were like $5, same for prescriptions. If I had ever been hospitalized, I had no copay if I was admitted, for ER with no admit, it was like $50. Of course that was years ago, I think I was probably 20 or 21 at the time and I was healthy, I don't think I even used the ins much.
We used to pay about $100 a month for our ins, for a family of 5. We now only have to cover 3 (two of the kids are off it now, they are too old) but I think it is still averaging out to the same. Costs went up and the coverage isn't good like it was.
At least our dental is good.... it's 100/90 up to a plan max per person each year, so unless we go over someone's plan max, the out of pocket for that is little to nothing. Costwise for the ins it's very reasonable, if I remember correctly it only costs like $2 more per pay period for this coverage than it was for the 80/50 plan which would increase out of pocket costs significantly.
The only thing I don't like about vision plans is that they don't cover lasik or other one-time options for vision correction, which would be the best choice, they'd never have to pay out for glasses or contacts again for a lot of people and it would save them money in the long run.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
We pay around $400.00 a month for our insurance premiums. That's about $4,800.00 a year, just to keep our insurance coverage that doesn't even pay 100%. It works for me, though, since I'm on six medications I take every day and have so many different specialists I have to see, also for the occasional surgery. I say occasional because my surgical history averages out to one surgery every two years of my entire life. 
It's good to have optical and dental insurance if you can afford it because those things can sure add up, especially if you have kids. We have both, too, and I'm very glad about that, even though my kids are grown and on their own and are not covered by our insurance. My own eyeglasses cost almost $400.00 and, so far this year, my husband and I have had over $10,000.00 worth of dental work done. Thank goodness for that ancillary insurance, huh?
It's good to have optical and dental insurance if you can afford it because those things can sure add up, especially if you have kids. We have both, too, and I'm very glad about that, even though my kids are grown and on their own and are not covered by our insurance. My own eyeglasses cost almost $400.00 and, so far this year, my husband and I have had over $10,000.00 worth of dental work done. Thank goodness for that ancillary insurance, huh? 1 person likes this
@RossBoyy (161)
• United States
27 Sep 10
My god, you best get moylotting quite a bit on here if you wish to get that money back haha.
Only joking, but its crazy how in the US (im just guessing thats where you from) That you have to pay for your health care. Where I live in the UK we pay nothing for our health care as it just comes out of our taxes.
I have had many an opertation or surgey as you might all it and never had to pay. We only have to pay for the dentist over here.
Well I hope the surgey went okay.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
26 Sep 10
It is crazy isn't it. I know what the bill shock is. When my son had his surgery, it was $300,000! I about flipped. With the insurance discounts, because they are a provider they only had to pay 178,000. That is alot too, but they got almost a 50% discount. If they can give insurance that big of one, the little guys should not have to pay such a big price either.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I remember when that was the other way around. I had a procedure done at a hospital once and had no insurance. I received a bill for around $260.00. I called the hospital and told them I had no insurance and needed to make payments. They told me that, since I had no insurance, that all I had to pay was $60.00. I thought that was so wrong but eagerly paid it in case they made a mistake. LOL
If people would stop suing doctors for every tiny thing that goes wrong, they wouldn't need so much malpractice insurance so their fees would be lower. As for the hospitals, it really kills me to know that they are no longer non-profit organizations. They're all for making a profit and that's why they charge so much. I can't wait to see what they charged me for the Tylenol I asked for while I was there. I bet it's not under $5.00.
It's disgusting. I heard that France has the best health care system in the world. They don't pay for health care like we do. Of course, they pay higher taxes but I didn't hear a single person complaining about it on a special I saw. We should all move to France. 
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
12 Dec 10
Hello there and... good GOD ! What's with those prices ???
I was thinking about selling the house to pay for an operation with that price - or get a credit ?!?.
No the hospitals are definitely far to expensive and i don't have a private insurance as i am not working at the moment and even if i still was, i had a lame account there, only paid for some analysis.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jan 11
Good grief! I just saw how many comments I haven't responded to! My bad! Sorry.
Anyway, here I am... finally. I agree that hospitals are far too expensive. I was only in the hospital just about 30 hours and that amount they charged does seem incredibly excessive. I don't know how much of it is the surgeon's fee and how much is the hospital's. The surgeon is extremely good and this was very delicate surgery so I can almost understand his fee but the hospitals definitely overcharge for everything.
Luckily, I just found out that I owe just over $500.00. My insurance is paying the rest. WHEW!!!
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
26 Sep 10
yes i do. a while back they said at the cancer center here that they would not charge me anything for my mri. because i told them i cant afford whet my insurance wont pay. but i do know, they charge you stupid expenses like with my hubby. they charged 20 dollars just for swabs! anyway, when i had cancer back in 2000, the blue cross blue sheild paid 118,000 dollars for all the surgery treatment and all. we paid 314. bucks, then they finished covering it. i dont know why. maybe something special because of the cancer. 
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
26 Sep 10
The cost of medical care is ridiculous. My husband suffered a stroke in 2009 when he was 64 and not eligible for Medicare. As a result of the stroke, he fell & hit his head on the sidewalk and sustained a traumatic brain injury. He had to have a blood clot removed from his brain and the cost for the surgery and 12 days in intensive care was $300,000. That didn't include the $25,000 doctor bill. He spent another five months in various hospitals including a rehab facility and at the end of the day, excluding out patient therapy the bill was $525,000. Thank God we had catastrophic health care coverage and the total that we had to pay was $5,000. Initially our insurance company wasn't going to pay for his hospitalization because the paramedics took him to an out of network hospital but I filed a grievance with the insurance commissioner and won! If they hadn't paid, it would have wiped out everything that we spent our lives working for. The high cost of medical care is a national disgrace and quite frankly, the recent health care reform didn't do a thing to change the situation.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I am SO glad to hear that you filed that grievance and won. I can't imagine how hard it would be for anyone to owe that much money with no insurance but I'm sure there are some going through that very thing.
One positive thing the reform did do was to eliminate caps that most insurance plans had. They now can no longer tell you they'll only pay up to a certain lifetime amount. They also cannot raise their rates because of this.
I know this because I received a letter about it from our insurance company, specifically stating that this change came about as a result of the health care reform. I'm not sure but I think that eliminates the need for the extra catastrophic health care coverage.
I totally agree that our health care system is a national disgrace.
@crysontherocks77 (1273)
• United States
26 Sep 10
wow that's crazy. I know when my sister was taken to the hospital a few years ago and the ambulance alone was $500
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I know ambulances are outragous these days. It's probably because of the extra malpractice insurance they have to carry because of people suing them for everything under the sun.
I have a friend, well, I DID have a friend, who would sue anybody over any stupid reason. He used to brag that he could live off of what he gets in these lawsuits. He couldn't see how his doing that, and all the others like him, are who have raised the cost of these things for everyone else.
Something's gotta give and soon!
@vandana7 (100617)
• India
26 Sep 10
Hi Mentalward, I am from India, and belong to middle class. We have to purchase health insurance as the government does not have anything like Medicare, whichever parts. :) That is a really huge bill. But dont they give you an estimate before they start? Out here, they do.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
26 Sep 10
Hi vandana. The only amount they told me about was the $8,100.00 for the hospital fee. I went to the hospital two days before the surgery to have some testing done and that's when they told me about this amount. I figured that the surgeon's fee would be separate and, from all my other surgeries the anesthesiologist's fee was also separate.
So, if the hospital fee really was $8,100.00, that means that the surgeon charged a lot more than the hospital did because anesthesiologists don't charge more than the hospital fee, not usually anyway.
I'm sure I'll receive an itemized bill eventually. It just seems like an awful lot of money for one surgery and one night in the hospital. Maybe it's so much because it was spinal surgery.
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
5 Jan 11
wow, that must cost a fortune for that surgery you just had done. Somehow, you can negotiate with the doctor or the hospital administrators something like that? Or you can reflect your financial situation, and they might consider reduce the bill to half of what you owe. By the way, how much would your insurance willing to help you out though.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jan 11
I just recently found out that I'm going to end up owing just over $500.00. I have insurance through my husband's insurance plus I'm on Medicare so, fortunately, they paid almost all of that.
So far, though, I haven't received the final bill. Maybe the hospital is dropping that $500.00 but I kinda doubt they'd let that much go. I have a feeling I'll receive a bill for the balance soon.
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
26 Sep 10
Wow! I can buy a new car for that amount of cash. I guess I'm lucky to have insurance. Good thing you don't have to pay that much!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
27 Sep 10
Yeah, really! If I had to pay all that, they'd have to accept payments... small payments or sue me and they wouldn't get much out of someone on disability, that's for sure.
Now that I think about it, that is just a little less than what I paid for my SUV. The first house I ever bought was less than that! Well, it was a "handy WOMAN special", it cost $18,900.00.
Yeah, anyone who has insurance these days is very lucky.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
27 Sep 10
It's outrageous, and I wonder how much of it is so high because insurance will pay for it, and how much of it is because of malpractice insurance, and how much is the real, actual cost of the surgery.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
15 Nov 10
hi marti. that was really a big amount for that surgery. and when i told this to my wife, she was also surprised about it. but then, it's good that you have personal health insurance. unlike me, i was not able to get insurance for me and for the rest of the family. that is one problem why we are suffering, when zayzay's problem came. but then again, it's good that there came this good samaritan tv network, the program, that is now helping us with his condition and the surgery we are still waiting to be done on him.
i just wish i have more money to spent, more extra income, so i could start looking for a good insurance company for the whole family. so we not get troubled again when times like this come again to us. well, i just hope there won't be another one again to come.
i will keep you updated with the surgery proceedings, along the way.
take care, dear auntie marti. we love you...
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
29 Sep 10
my dads aortic dissection where they had to go in and replace his aorta with a plastic type material it cost a million or two.. thank god his insurance covered all of it.. i guess it was one perk of being poor as hell.. but omg he shouldnt have even lived to see the surgery so the whole thing was unreal
@gdesjardin (1918)
• United States
27 Sep 10
I think if I saw that bill I would be back in the hospital with a heart attack!!! That is really a very large amount for a hospital bill. I know normally they bill seperate for the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. That is a big difference from the 8100 estimate to over 22,000. I know you must be grateful that you have insurance...I know I would be. We have a pretty good insurance now, but our premiums are high as well.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
27 Sep 10
How much do you think that doctor has to learn to work on your neck without killing you? How many years of education and how much do you think the education costs? How much did it cost to pay his wages, and the wages of the nurses? The much do the cooks that prepare your meal, who are unionized, cost? How much is that bed with all the motors and adjustments on it, cost? How much does it cost to have a doctor on standby while you are sleeping in your hospital room cost, just in case you need him? Or the nurses? How about the medications?
And hospitals have a lot of expenses you don't realize. For example, a hospital can't buy Aspirin in bulk you can at the store. They can't buy the economy size bottle with 500 tablets. They have to buy individually wrapped pills, and only an expensive registered nurse can administer the Aspirin to a patient. This is by law, and it's expensive.
How about climate control. Heating and cooling in a hospital, is not like in a warehouse or office building. No, because if they just had a ventilation system, then germs and illness would be passed from room to room through the air ducts. Instead they have massively expensive filters and electronically closed systems, that can kill air borne illness, or even close off sections of the building if they know they have highly contagious people there.
Expensive is a the nature of modern medicine. If we didn't pay for it, we wouldn't have it. Your stepfather would just die, like they did back in the 60s.
Everyone should have health insurance. Minimal coverage is not that expensive.
