How much it cost to cut off my leg
In case you're wondering how much things I had done in February of this year (2018) cost, I got a breakdown from my insurance company. My insurance is decent (thank you, Obamacare!) so I've owed only a few thousand dollars. I know you're saying "Only?!" but my parents left me some money when they died in 2011, so I can manage it. It's in ascending order and just the highest ones.
- Operating Room Service (This means cutting off my right leg at the hip and stitching up what's left. My doctor's house has a swimming pool and a tennis court. Not kidding. I like the guy, though.): $40,866
- Intensive Care (really, it was a sort of half-intensive care room for a few days until I got moved into a normal room): $17,964
- Supplies (Oh, come on, this much? What am I, going to the moon?): $6,740
- Pharmacy service (This is why you hear about $200 aspirins and things like that.): $5,479
- Anesthesia service (You're going to cut off my what? No! No! So ... sleepy ... no ... don't. Dave ... stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave.): $5,130
- Semi-private room (Actually, it was a private room, but I'm not going to call and tell them that.): $4,604
- Recovery room (Is he dead? No? Slap his face and see if comes to so we can get him the hell out of here.): $3,913
- Physical medicine (I have no idea what this means. They also billed me $614 for Occupational Therapy, so it can't be that, can it?): $1,688
- Laboratory service (Looks like blood all right.): $1,319
Total: $87,703
In case you're wondering how much things I had done in February of this year (2018) cost, I got a breakdown from my insurance company. My insurance is decent (thank you, Obamacare!) so I've owed only a few thousand dollars. I know you're saying "Only?!" but my parents left me some money when they died in 2011, so I can manage it. It's in ascending order and just the highest ones.
Whew, pretty expensive. But, much better than if they did it with a saw and no anesthetic, right ? 😉
ReplyDeleteI think your doctor is entitled to a pool and a tennis court if he wants them. He's the one that went to school and pays the exorbidant malpractice insurance, right ?
This will probably surprise you, since I'm a conservative, but I think we should (and eventually will) have a Single Payer system. I'm VERY grateful for my VA benefits.
I'm glad your VA benefits are working for you. It seems that every time I hear about the VA and health care it's about long waits and poor care. I'm not surprised that you'd be for a single payer system; it makes sense no matter where you are on the political spectrum. It's funny how people talk about how much better our health care insurance system is than that of other advanced nations, but they never ask themselves one simple question: If ours is so much better, why do you never hear about countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Japan trying to change from what they have now to a system like ours?
DeleteI'm all for my doctor having those things and doctors should make more than reporters and store managers (to name two jobs I've had), but medicine shouldn't be all about money and getting good care should be a right, not a privilege.
Yes, my VA experience has been largely good. But I dont hold them up as a model. The state should be paying, but not providing.
ReplyDeleteWe have to avoid somehow the problems Britain and other countries have had. The Charlie Gard fiasco set us back ten years in the US- you cannot have the government deciding who gets to live and die.
Canada's doesn't seem too bad by comparison...I refuse to believe that we can't craft a good system when we're already spending more per capita on healthcare than Canada.
But, it will never happen until the people absolutely demand it. Way too much money is being made by the ones controlling the system.
"ONLY" $87k?! You got a great deal! (I am not kidding here; your surgery could easily have cost twice that much.) Your doctor's fee is about the same as mine was for an arthrotomy and osteotomy I had on my right hip in 1992 - after 3 1/2 hours of unsuccessful fishing with arthroscopy to try to remove bone chips that scored my femoral head and to repair tears in my acetabular labrum. All told I was under anesthesia for 12 hour and 20 minutes; I spent 11 days in hospital. My youth helped me get out quickly (!) - I was 30- but I was living 2500 miles from yhe medical center that treated me.
ReplyDeletePhysical medicine is another name for physiatry and rehabilitation. They're the people who make sure you move enough that you don't develop embolisms, and get you up and walking so you can master crutches (or wheelchair racing) before you leave hospital, etc. I called them the physical terrorists... They laughed, but I wasnt joking! Their visits were the most painful aspect of my stay.
I had awesome insurance when this was going on (personal injury coverage from auto accident) but ultimately had to sue MY insutance co. to get the bills paid, despite their "pre-approval" of the procedure. The whole tab for this one was about $90k, but this was the 5th major surgery I'd had.