The Cost of Breast Cancer
October 20, 2010
For the first time since this ridiculousness began (back in January) I took a close look at the Explanation of Benefits on-line at my insurance company’s website. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t received any EOBs from the oncologist’s office.
Thank god for insurance because here’s just some of what was billed on my behalf…
The bi-lateral mastectomy – over $10,000
The hospital stay (2 nights) – over $19,000
Each one of the chemo days at the oncologist’s office – over $9,000. That’s $54,000 for the 6 infusions!
This doesn’t include the needle biopsies, ultrasounds, x-rays, MRIs, physical therapies, next week’s surgery, and more more more!
I can’t imagine what I’d do if we didn’t have insurance!
Well, I can imagine, but it wouldn’t be good.
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kitschinlogic.wordpress.com 
What’s even more ridiculous is that what is actually paid by the insurance companies is only a fraction of what is actually billed by the providers…doesn’t make sense to me.
That’s so true, Nicki. What insurance “allowed” on the $9,000 infusion days was around $3,000. I’m going to start trying that around the town. At the grocery store, when the total comes to $175, I’m going to tell them that I’m only going to allow them to bill me $125!
I never received any explanation of benefits, but I wasn’t worried. I was playing a lot of money for my own insurance at that time, using my social security (even though I was still working) and my IRA. It was costing me about $12,000 a year (and that was just for me).
But it paid for just about everything (maybe there was a $10 co-pay whenever I visited the doctor). As bitter as I was about losing benefits from any employer, I had to be grateful.
This is a prime example of why we need health care reform. No woman should have to die from breast cancer in America in 2010 because of $$. The same way no child should suffer from common illnesses because their parents can’t afford immunizations or preventative care.
The (considerable amount of taxes) that I pay go for all sorts of garbage (can you say UNITED NATIONS???? GAH!!!!) that I disagree with. Health care and education is what I want to support. And basic services – police, fire, infrastructure building and maintenance.
Don’t get me started…
Love you, Kathy! Hugs all around.
My broken ankle was about $30K, your surgery had to be way more than that!
It’s a good thing people without insurance never get cancer. Right…….
I look at how much I was covered by my insurance – all of it. All of them: surgeon, hospital, oncologist, chemo treatments, and radiation cost me nothing.
I know those here who don’t have insurance wait longer than the entire time of my treatment before they are even seen. What a shame.
My insurance is truly crap. However, it is insurance. At least it helps out. I just can’t get seriously ill.
well you know…if you don’t have health insurance and you get sick it is your own fault…and you probably did something to deserve it…and you probably aren’t like a real imporatant person or anything so if you die it won’t really matter… at least that is the impression i get from listening to all the bullsh*t about repelling healthcare reform… and how we don’t need to reform our system because we don’t really have a problem…
What surgery are you having? I thought you were done.
The total for my care for a two month hospital stay was about $200,000. That didn’t include the surgery, surgeons, or specialists. My radiation was about $5000 a shot and I had to pay 20% of all of it that my ‘good’ insurance didn’t cover. I worked for two years at an extra job to finish paying the bills. Right now I have a bunch of bills left over from my son’s sudden onset kidney failure because of a defect in the tube that runs from his kidney to his bladder. Two days of hospitalization, three outpatient surgeries, about $3000 not covered by insurance. I had planned on working retail over Christmas this year to make the cash to pay off those bills I don’t think I will be able to do this because it looks like I will have to go back for more treatment. I am doing the best I can to work things out for a payment plan for my son’s expenses and now my own but it’s frustrating. I get finished paying for one illness and another one comes up.