ATR Surgery and Costs with No Insurance!
April 29, 2014 by texasflyer
As stated before, I do not have insurance so I had to shop around for the best price. Initially it felt odd and I was scared it would cost me well over $10-12-15k, I had no clue. Thankfully, it all ended up being quite alright and somewhat manageable.
In total my surgery was around $4,200 in cost, plus initial office visit, MRI, crutches. This is with the 50% discount that my doctor gives for those who are "self-pay", it was all rather up-front and felt like perfectly normal practice.
Here’s the cost of my Achilles surgery with a 50% "self-pay" rate, with rounded numbers:
- initial doctor visit = $150 (this included exam by PA and Dr., the legendary Thompson test and some prodding, feeling of the Achilles)
- MRI = $350 (again a 50% discount and I got it immediately)
- Surgery costs:
• Doctor cost = $1600
• Surgical center cost = $2,100
• Anesthesia cost = $450
- other costs:
• crutches = $22 (from Walmart)
• second opinion from another Doctor = $170
• Pain meds for post-surgery (Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen, 50 count, CVS pharmacy) = $18
All in all, I was somewhat relieved. Now, I don’t have $5k just burning a hole in my pocket as I’m trying to build my own business, but I was able to pay some upfront, get a little bit of help from my folks and do the rest on a payment plan. The latter of which was through the surgical center and was a very reasonable plan over a 6 month period.
Not only did I find my doctor and his practice to be the best, he was also the cheapest. Many other Orthopedics simply required insurance while the second opinion I did receive, that Doctor took only 30% off the costs.
Additionally, I guess these "surgical centers" are quite common and they are basically simple, out-patient surgical centers. They seem to be designed to be smaller, simpler, timely and less costly than hospitals. I don’t think they’re performing major in-patient type surgeries and there isn’t an ER section, it’s just scheduled (relatively) minor surgeries. This is what kept my costs way down as the second opinion doctor not only was more expensive he performed his surgery at a hospital, which charged the tune of $7,000! Whereas I spent $2,100. Wow!
Also, many healthcare plans nowadays have high deductibles, most new Affordable Care Act plans do too, and in the realm of "self-pay" ATR surgery, the cost was well under some of those deducible rates. I realize that $4-5k is a lot of money for some, it certainly is for me. But it was a rate that I was able to pay, get fixed-up and on my way. I was always dreading that it was going to be a LOT more.
If you don’t have insurance, have to "self-pay" or have a high deductible don’t worry about shopping around. The office staff will be able to give you costs and rates very quickly and without judgement.
