COST of procedures, appalled
 

So, recently I changed pain Dr's and boy.. unbelievable. The cost difference between the two Dr's is astronaumical. My first Dr. had a surgery center were he does his shots and the second one does them in his office but he has a surgical room and all the same equipment, they even went to the same school, so they both have the same training (fellowship trained and certified board of anesthesiologist).

The cost difference is the first Dr. is $7000 per shot and the second is $350.. seriously..

The surgical center has more nurses and a fancy chair to sit in after the procedure and they offer you juice and maybe they fluff your pillow.. LOL.. but heck, they sure don’t do $6,650 more worth of pillow fluffing.. I was appalled at the price difference and it would have NEVER crossed my mind that the difference was sooooo huge.

My insurance co-pay was $479 and now it's $60.

Also, the first Dr. had another anesthesiologist to do the sedation, my current Dr. said “I AM THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST why would I need someone else?” and the first Dr. charged me an extra $400 for them.. OMG... where does it end, how does this crap happen? Taking advantage of people in pain, sad :(

Anyway, that’s my vent, wondering if anyone has had this experience?

J.

that is amazing there is such a difference. what kind of shot costs 7000?....pete

hi again joojee....you know the insurance companies are no dummies .... they wont be paying the full price. at least you wont be paying the inflated copay based on an inflated list price. smart shopping :)

Isn't it disgustiing? :mad: That's why health care coverage is so expensive! Doctors are billing INFLATED prices to these insurance companies -- who, by the way do NOT pay that whole price -- and that drives up the cost of insurance!

There should be a "cap" on what these doctors can charge for procedures of ANY kind! It's absolutely ridiculous! These injections ARE dangerous and they do have to have special equipment to do them, but they are NOT worth THAT PRICE!!! For EACH INJECTION?? Heck no!!!

These doctors are highway robbers! :mad: Shame on them.

yep
 

Pete-it was just the transforminal injection (right & left). Insurance at the end of the day paid them about $1800...

who would have thought you have to price shop a procedure... argh..

J.

seems like everything medical related is high. plus look at what the med students pay for med school. and medical services comprise 16 percent of our total economy. if everyone got healthy the country would go into an economic depression....lol

Pete - in case you haven't noticed, we are ALREADY in an economic depression. If you think this is a recession, you're sadly mistaken!!!

leesa i am up in massachusetts and there are more jobs available. i take it your state is still doing poorly. if i move therte 10 new doctores will need to be hired...lol

JoJee,

First of all, no injection I have ever had was $7000.00! And I have had plenty through the years. I also have had them done in a surgery center and in the office. What you were billed for so to say was use of the surgery center and the use of another Anesthesiologist as you stated. I just had to HAVE an injection done at a surgery center that is in a hospital setting. This is important to know as Medicare has now stated that if sedation is involved, it HAS to be at a center within a hospital. My PM does injections at both places; in the surgery center with sedation or in the surgery center at his own group without sedation. Furthermore, every insurance company contracts and what the doctors are paid are pretty much the same; insurance companies HAVE to abide by the Medicare rate. So, it is not so much what they are billing for as it is the location and the rules and regulations. Why your first doctor had another Anesthesiologist is odd. But it is not unusual. My hand doctor has a background in Anesthesiology but his specialty is not that alone of course. And he used a different Anesthesiologist as well. Bottom line is, these numbers you have been reading about and/or to be release on Wednesday are skewed big time!