Guess how much my surgeon's office wanted to charge my insurance?

[kordie 41]

$42,000 for my surgery!!!!!!!! My insurance had contracted about $12,000 which makes a heck of a lot more sense! How can hospitals get away with charging so much? Just one of the many things wrong with medical care in this country!

[Matt Z 4,140]

2 hours ago, kordie said:

$42,000 for my surgery!!!!!!!! My insurance had contracted about $12,000 which makes a heck of a lot more sense! How can hospitals get away with charging so much? Just one of the many things wrong with medical care in this country!

You should ask for an itemized list so you can see the cost breakdown.

[Bryn910 519]

Just now, Matt Z said:

You should ask for an itemized list so you can see the cost breakdown.

This

i have had multiple surgeries and have had to fight with hospitals to get things removed from surgical list.

i fought a darn band-aid! They charged me $1.28 for 1 band aid...there wasn’t a band aid on my body. They also charged me $5,000 for the anesthesiologist fee because he was out of network. I told them they had weeks to get me a doctor that was in network and they proceeded to tell me the doc that was suppose to be working with me had an emergency and couldn’t come. Well...that isn’t my fault! And they took off the charges. Hospitals can afford to dismiss charges; they over charge everyday.

[YeahOkay31 652]

Mine was $45,000 (I paid $300), but that was the whole enchilada. Room, meds, operation, anesthesia. Are you sure it was 45,000 just for surgery?

[Matt Z 4,140]

I went to the ER for chest pain one night a ways back, was there for 7-8 hours. I saw the doctor once, for less than 5 mins, the rest of the time I saw only nurses. The doctor has the balls to charge me somewhere in the order of 1000 an hour. I fought the hell out of it, and won, and the whole team was actually scamming insurance and they were all put under review. There were 20 beds, and this doc was charging each bed at the same rate. To think, 19 of those folks didn't fight their costs and paid these ass-hats what had to have been hundreds of thousands of dollars, for no actual work.

Always get the full itemized list, always review it and always contest anything that looks off.

[nibble 201]

My hospital has in print the cost for self-pay -- $22,000, which must be paid in full before the surgery will be scheduled. It's good to know that upfront for those without insurance.

[labwalker 1,177]

My surgery (including all of the pre-op visits with the nutritionist, etc.) was well over $35,000. Insurance covered all but a few thousand dollars. It was outrageous! But I am sure they negotiate deeply discounted rate. My doctor spent an extra 15 minutes working to get my band placed. The insurance company went crazy over the additional charges for the additional time they were billed for doctors and operating room... they actually expected the doctor to get pre approval!!

[Frustr8 7,886]

My local hospital charged me for a special diet and I was NPO, the little plastic wahbasin with goodies like toothpaste etc, $15 the first time, $20 the second then I got smart and refused it, told them I'd get up and wash myself in the bathroom. My son was in a room with only a washbasin as plumbing, of course I. asked why , I'm a snoopy broad. "This is cardiac stepdown, we expect everyone to be cathaterized"! Hmmmm? I was billed for consults with an hospitalist who never darkened my door. How do I know? All my personal doctors were male, this one had first name of Amy-Jo. My late husband the Late Lamented had a note notarized in his wallet wallet stating he DID NOT wish to be an organ donor, this is because in my state if you DO they make a note on your drivers licence that you do. When we showed them his ID it was supposed to be also scanned into the systems. I am standing there holding his cold dead hand and I get a call from Lifeline Organ Donation in Columbus and this woman did not want to take no for an answer. Now many,people do choose organ donation, I respect them for that but they should also respect the opposing view. What would they have wanted? He had glaucoma, had laser surgeirs, scratch corneas, kidneys were shot, he had hereditary kidney disease which finally killed him, scratch kidneys, had rheumatic fever as child and rheumatoid arthritis , scrach joints, bones and heart, smoked off and on for years, scratch lungs, had diabetes and NASH, scratch pancreas, scratch liver. early stages of demetia, scratch brain, WTF left? Lady says" if you would let us, he would live on!" No I said I'm holding his cold dead hand, he's been dead for over a half hour before hospital even admitted it, and he DIDN T WANT IT, Now Goodbye, and I dont appreciate you calling me on my personal cellphone, which I keep only for emergencies, don't give the number out and you are not that,only an hinderance to my mourning and calling my mortician So that's the way the picture hangs!.

[Trixie82 73]

That's pretty much standard. I haven't seen the hospital charges for my bypass. When I had lithotripsy done for kidney stones they charged $37,000. They don't even make any incisions for that. They use shockwaves to break them up.

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[TakingABreak 2,733]

10 hours ago, kordie said:

$42,000 for my surgery!!!!!!!! My insurance had contracted about $12,000 which makes a heck of a lot more sense! How can hospitals get away with charging so much? Just one of the many things wrong with medical care in this country!

My whole bill was $82k......

[soph504 47]

This reminds me of the story about a hospital bill for giving birth where the husband was charged $20 to hold HIS baby 😂

[Frustr8 7,886]

He should be glad they didn't tack on another charge for a fresh blanket so they could put Junior in the nursery with the other babies. FYI I went through a certain hospital program in Columbus Ohio not once but twice, imagine how much money United Healthcare, Medicare and Medicaid paid that poorly motivated sack of surgical protoplasm and his office staff and he still refused to perform my surgery. Talk about undeserved wealth, even paid said Center of Disexcellance $200 for nutritional classes for pre and post surgery. Did they offer to return my money for failure to,provide? Of course not, anyone interested in Ohio,PM me and I'll tell you where to avoid. Some people would say they didn't do it to be unkind but what a waste of time and money they were! What did I learn from them? Where not to go and who not to trust. What a sad lesson that is.

[damzelindistres5 17]

Mine hospital bill was $68,000! Before insurance

[deargh 52]

That’s crazy! My total cost of surgery including anesthesia, medical supplies, dietician, room for 3 days, surgery, supplements and shakes for the first month was €4,000! No insurance or anything. Praise Europe!

[eso0402 20]

Wow I paid 10 k for mine.

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