Holy Expensive Surgery Batman!

[auntiemel 275]

I just looked at my insurance claim (yes I'm very lucky to have insurance) and the grand total for surgery done at Evergreen Hospital including anesthesia and pain meds was .... Drumroll please.....

$24,787.50

[Rovobay 920]

did that include a night at the hospital? I was around 28k I think, with a night in the hospital.

[mbrinmn 105]

_{Just curious...}

_{What type of portion do you have to pay. Do you have an 80/20 type plan? I looked into costs around here in the Minneapolis area and I was told it would be between 20K-27K. But the problem is that my insurance would not cover anything because didn't have a single co-morbidity. So I went to Mexico and had it done.}

_{I'm so amazed at what the U.S. charges for medical products and services!!!! It makes me very disappointed with the U.S. that I could go to Mexico, get top notch, exceptional, way-beyond-any-expectation medical care, plus all my meds, two nights hospital, and three nights hotel, and transportation to and from airport with absolutely no waiting at the border (because of the medical lane)...all for $4300. Oh, they threw in a nice little driving/shopping tour of Tijuana too. Not as bad as everyone says. Although I'd never vacation there.}

_{And I went to a couple Mexican pharmacies where you can get almost anything over the counter from U.S. and International manufacturers like Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Bayer, GlaxoKlineSmith, BristolMyersSquibb, etc. I got 20 tubes of retinol cream for $4 each. I gave them out as souvenirs to my friends...since most are over 50 and some into their 60s. $80 is what my sister pays for it with a prescription from her dermatologist.}

_{Okay...sorry, didn't mean to hi-jack your post. I'll get off my soap box now.}

_{Congrats, you're doing really well in your first week. 16 pounds is awesome!!}

[bellabill 253]

_{Just curious...}

_{What type of portion do you have to pay. Do you have an 80/20 type plan? I looked into costs around here in the Minneapolis area and I was told it would be between 20K-27K. But the problem is that my insurance would not cover anything because didn't have a single co-morbidity. So I went to Mexico and had it done.}

_{I'm so amazed at what the U.S. charges for medical products and services!!!! It makes me very disappointed with the U.S. that I could go to Mexico, get top notch, exceptional, way-beyond-any-expectation medical care, plus all my meds, two nights hospital, and three nights hotel, and transportation to and from airport with absolutely no waiting at the border (because of the medical lane)...all for $4300. Oh, they threw in a nice little driving/shopping tour of Tijuana too. Not as bad as everyone says. Although I'd never vacation there.}

_{And I went to a couple Mexican pharmacies where you can get almost anything over the counter from U.S. and International manufacturers like Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Bayer, GlaxoKlineSmith, BristolMyersSquibb, etc. I got 20 tubes of retinol cream for $4 each. I gave them out as souvenirs to my friends...since most are over 50 and some into their 60s. $80 is what my sister pays for it with a prescription from her dermatologist.}

_{Okay...sorry, didn't mean to hi-jack your post. I'll get off my soap box now.}

_{Congrats, you're doing really well in your first week. 16 pounds is awesome!!}

[bellabill 253]

_{Just curious...}

_{What type of portion do you have to pay. Do you have an 80/20 type plan? I looked into costs around here in the Minneapolis area and I was told it would be between 20K-27K. But the problem is that my insurance would not cover anything because didn't have a single co-morbidity. So I went to Mexico and had it done.}

_{I'm so amazed at what the U.S. charges for medical products and services!!!! It makes me very disappointed with the U.S. that I could go to Mexico, get top notch, exceptional, way-beyond-any-expectation medical care, plus all my meds, two nights hospital, and three nights hotel, and transportation to and from airport with absolutely no waiting at the border (because of the medical lane)...all for $4300. Oh, they threw in a nice little driving/shopping tour of Tijuana too. Not as bad as everyone says. Although I'd never vacation there.}

_{And I went to a couple Mexican pharmacies where you can get almost anything over the counter from U.S. and International manufacturers like Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, Bayer, GlaxoKlineSmith, BristolMyersSquibb, etc. I got 20 tubes of retinol cream for $4 each. I gave them out as souvenirs to my friends...since most are over 50 and some into their 60s. $80 is what my sister pays for it with a prescription from her dermatologist.}

_{Okay...sorry, didn't mean to hi-jack your post. I'll get off my soap box now.}

_{Congrats, you're doing really well in your first week. 16 pounds is awesome!!}

Wow it looks like a vacation to Mexico one of these days to get retinol plus more! I work in a hospital and yup I know the cost is incredible!

Good luck on your journey!

[auntiemel 275]

I have an EPO that I pay more through my employer but it should cover 100% since I met my deductible this year.

[auntiemel 275]

did that include a night at the hospital? I was around 28k I think, with a night in the hospital.

Yes, it included a night in the hospital.

[ibabble 2]

I am in Oregon and my bill is right around $25k. That is for everything. Thank goodness for double coverage donut is paid for 100%. Love my doc and feel that they have gone above and beyond to keep me healthy. That being said... $25k vs. $4500. Yikes.

[ibabble 2]

DYAC. Not donut. It was paid 100%.

[butterfyeffect 257]

Hospitals charge insurance companies way more than the actual cost of the procedure, to help subsidize the care that they provide for people who can't or won't pay their bills.

I know this because I paid my surgeon $10,500 cash to have my surgery in a US hospital, and that included everything from my pre-op consultation, pre-op blood work and imaging, my surgery itself including anesthesia, two nights in the hospital, post-op blood work and imaging, and post-op visits to my surgeon's office. The only thing I had to pay for outside of that fee was the prescriptions I picked up on the way home from the hospital. And you know if he's offering this deal, he's making a healthy profit on it himself.

So that extra $15k that your insurance company paid? Probably paying for someone's 1am ER visit for a sore throat, cough, chronic back pain, or any other ailment that could be taken care of with a routine visit to their doctor, except that they don't have one and know that if they go to the ER, they have to get taken care of for "free". (sorry, ER nurse talking. Can you tell?)

[Forsythia 882]

I just looked at my insurance claim (yes I'm very lucky to have insurance) and the grand total for surgery done at Evergreen Hospital including anesthesia and pain meds was .... Drumroll please.....

$24,787.50

Double this and you have what it cost at Northwestern Memorial hospital in Chicago. I ended up owing $1800 OOP after insurance..

[auntiemel 275]

Wait I see new charges for the docs! It says 20,000 for each of them? Crazy?!?!!