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I did research before I went to see the gastroenterologist. He gave me a colonoscopy exam. Two polyps were removed during the process. I thought the cost should be in 1000 to 3000 dollars range, but I am deadly wrong.
I have received two bills already, and I expect more bills are coming because the biopsy test is not shown on the bills yet.
Current total is 15,510.
04/11 consultant $310.00
04/13 surgery $14,400.00
04/13 surgery $500.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
Is it funny? Although my insurance covers most of it, I still feel bad about the whole thing.
Any thoughts?
Last edited by pttcc; 05-09-2009 at 06:01 AM..
Reason: ....
I did research before I went to see the gastroenterologist. He gave me a colonoscopy exam. Two polyps were removed during the process. I thought the cost should be in 1000 to 3000 dollars range, but I am deadly wrong.
I have received two bills already, and I expect more bills are coming because the biopsy test is not shown on the bills yet.
Current total is 15,510.
04/11 consultant $310.00
04/13 surgery $14,400.00
04/13 surgery $500.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
Is it funny? Although my insurance covers most of it, I still feel bad about the whole thing.
Any thoughts?
It sounds your insurance covered part of it, and you should call your insurance to see for the 310.00 and for the 14,400. The other is clear that are the deductibles but the 14,400 doesnt sound like a deductible. Do you have major medical?
Sometimes people dont think they have insurance and find out they dont have major medical.
And if you do have major medical find out the %, 75%/%25 or 80%/20% or a flat deductible.
That is a lot more than hubby's last oscopy was but I suspect since you had removals involved that drove your cost higher. If your insurance covers most of it I wouldn't worry about it.
That is TOTALLY ridiculous. You need to get an itemized bill of what exactly was done. I work in a rural Alaska clinic where costs are almost two to three times more than the rest of the country, and these exams only cost $3500-$5000 depending on polyps!! $15,000? That is completely absurd. Did they use conscious sedation or general anesthesia? That might be a difference, too. Even my surgery to repair my broken arm was only $7,000!!!! Unless they did general anesthesia, I think it sounds fishy. If it were me, I would probably get the itemized bill. And you could always talk with your insurance company to see if they think it is outrageous. Just my two cents...
It's amazing. You probably didn't ask for an estimate going in because you figured your insurance company would pay for it. More people need to call up and scream about this type of thing.
I did research before I went to see the gastroenterologist. He gave me a colonoscopy exam. Two polyps were removed during the process. I thought the cost should be in 1000 to 3000 dollars range, but I am deadly wrong.
I have received two bills already, and I expect more bills are coming because the biopsy test is not shown on the bills yet.
Current total is 15,510.
04/11 consultant $310.00
04/13 surgery $14,400.00
04/13 surgery $500.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
Is it funny? Although my insurance covers most of it, I still feel bad about the whole thing.
Any thoughts?
Make sure your insurance company was even billed and paid for most of it because it seems like that is the TOTAL cost and it was just billed to patient instead. If you have a yearly out of pocket deductible perhaps it was taken out at the time of service as well and that's why it seems like so much more.
I would say call your insurance carrier made sure it was billed and ask if they are participating and in network with the physician, clinic/hospital where you had the procedure done. If not then that also might cause a huge balance on your behalf.
Good Luck to you, let me know if it was an error or actually your out of pocket expense... Cuz that is a lot of money if you already has insurance that should cover most of it.
My insurance, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, will pay for none of the cost for a colonscopy if it's done with an office connected with a hospital or all of the cost if it's done at a non-hospital connected facility. Don't ask me why, but it's so as I checked before having the procedure done..
I did research before I went to see the gastroenterologist. He gave me a colonoscopy exam. Two polyps were removed during the process. I thought the cost should be in 1000 to 3000 dollars range, but I am deadly wrong.
I have received two bills already, and I expect more bills are coming because the biopsy test is not shown on the bills yet.
Current total is 15,510.
04/11 consultant $310.00
04/13 surgery $14,400.00
04/13 surgery $500.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
04/13 surgery $100.00
Is it funny? Although my insurance covers most of it, I still feel bad about the whole thing.
Any thoughts?
Indirectly you and all the other insureds are paying for it in the form of higher premiums. You SHOULD feel badly. That is highway robbery!
It is a FRACTION of what your insurer paid. You'll probably end up paying in co-pays the actual cost of the procedures!
Look up your hospital and area hospitals in the American Hospital Directory www.ahd.com and see if they have their prices listed for what you had done. If not you can still do a search on-line for "cost of colonoscopy and polyp removal in ____ area hospitals".
I would make a big deal about it if I were you. I'd also be interested to see a copy of the check that actually cleared the hospital's bank for that amount in case what the hospital charges the insurance company and what they actually pay is not really what is shown on your explanation of benefits statement.
As an independent health insurance broker, I have been watching what goes on in this industry for a long time and have discovered lots of unethical practices shall we say --- to put it nicely. I have heard from my clients that doctors will ask for $$ upfront before surgery only to then later collect payment in full for the surgery from the insurance company. After everything has transpired, the client asked me if there is any way to have the cash amount she paid to the doctor before applied to her deductible (which by this time it was of course way too late as the doctor had already collected more than he should have been paid for the services rendered).
Watch OUT you guys. Pay attention to what you are being charged for medical services. Don't just shut your eyes and hope the insurance company pays. There could be lots of fraud going on and gross overpayment like what the poster explained happened in his case.
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