Urolift costs…Wow!

[bob deluke]

We’ll, decided at my age (76) to have the Urolift procedure done at our local hospital. Doc does it there instead of at his office. I got tired of getting up 3-4 times a night to pee, and I wanted to get off the meds. I called my local VA office and they said procedure may be covered under Community Care Network. Doc’s office approved it. Went in about a month ago, had it done and lucky me, had to have a catheter put in my Johnson, wore it about a week with a bag, and they took it out. Anyway, feeling o.k., still get up at night a time or two. Doc said it may take a month or more to see positive results. I can eat grapefruit again! I did get a statement from Optum who pays the bills. Total cost the hospital/Doc charged was $41475.00. VA through community care paid the bill at $8958.00. I paid zero. Could have done it through Medicare, but I’d have to pay 20% of the Optum bill. Good benefit through the VA. If anyone here is contemplating having this done, check with your insurance for coverage. Vets, check with local outreach to see if it can be covered through Community Care Network. Hopefully this procedure is worthwhile. Time will tell…

[Scott Douglas]

That cost pales in comparison to my quad bypass costs, Bob. And no VA involved there either.

[Chocaholic]

So, an uninsured person would be billed $41k with full payment required. Yet $9k is perfectly acceptable via insurance. Any question about why our healthcare system is such a mess?

[McLovin]

I have one of these implanted in my heart.
Called a Watchman. A little wire spring device with some kind of fabric on it.
On the bill to the insurance company they charged $95,000.
For just that part the guy is holding.

[Chocaholic]

What did the ins co actually pay? $95k is what a private person would be charged for a device that cost the hospital abut $4k...and cost about $60 to manufacture.

[McLovin]

I’d have to look again, but it wasn’t a huge amount.
I think all in, surgeon, hospital, anesthesia, overnight stay, etc etc etc the total cost actually paid by the insurance company was around $35k.
And I don’t think a private person would pay any of these huge inflated costs either.
It is my casual understanding they’d get discounted rates similar to what insurance companies pay.

[john70t]

With the advent of heart and circulation problems....

A new investment platform is created.
(provided you actually live long enough in flesh to spend that money)

[Zeke]

Each of my shoulder surgeries have been a quarter million. I'm 3/4the the way to a million.

[p911dad]

Wow! $41,000 for a Urolift. I had the same procedure done in the Urologist's office. Took a valium and he slid it up the channel to the correct spot. In a few days I was good to go. They never suggested a hospital procedure. I hope it helps your night issues. I ended up back on Rapiflow anyway.

[billybek]

I thought this thread was about a car sharing service in Europe...
Good to hear you can now go with the flow.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Each of my shoulder surgeries have been a quarter million. I'm 3/4the the way to a million.

One of them done twice? Or something else going on there?

[bob deluke]

I can empathize with Scott and Zeke regarding costs. Wife has colon cancer and is doing chemo. She’s had six procedures, three more to go. Cost per treatment around $3-4K as an outpatient. Not including pills she has to take and Dr. Visits. Medicare and supplemental has picked up most of the cost. So far we’ve paid $600.00 out of pocket. My hospital O.R. cost for a 2 hour stay when I had the Urolift done was over $14k. Procedure to install staples was $8900.00. If we didn’t have some health insurance and VA, it would have put a hurt on our savings. Hospital stay and costs are astronomical.

[john70t]

Medical costs are over half the cases for all bankruptcy in this country.
Been that way for quite a while. I'll stop there.

[creaturecat]

pay out of pocket, for medical?
that's a dated concept.

[creaturecat]

you fortunate - having insurance - probably earned it.

[Arizona_928]

My last spine surgery was 400k.
Tricare paid a dime on the dollar when the dust settled.


VA community care is very good (if the hospital group wants to accept the patients beyond just the office visit copay schemes).

[craigster59]

Years ago I got a stock tip on a company "Heartport". They manufactured a kit that was used for heart bypass surgery. It was similar to arthroscopic surgery, no "cracking" the sternum so trauma to the chest was minimal with a 2-3 day hospital stay as opposed to a week or two with traditional bypass surgery. Seemed like a "win/win".

The problem was the kit was "one time" use and costs were considerable. But medical insurance would rather go with traditional surgeries since they could bargain down the cost of the hospital stay but not the costs of the disposables.