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According to an article by Sarah Kliff (April 24, 2012) posted on Washingtonpost.com, an appendectomy costs between $1,529 to $186,955, depending on where it was performed, according to results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Sounds perfectly reasonable doesn't it? The OP is lucky that his cost was only ten times greater than the lowest.
Oh please....the Appendectomy didn't cost $185K, the complications from surgery did. I know of someone that had an appendectomy, had major complications and was in the hospital for 2 months...yes, it was an expensive appendectomy
The solution is to not have Medicare, Medicaid, and all the private health plans. A single payer system--funded from tax revenues--would reimburse physicians and providers the same amount for all patients. Than, "cost shifting" would no longer be an issue. Nor, would providers have to maintain huge billing staffs to deal with the myriad of different insurance plans.
Physicians in other countries generally earn less than physicians in America do. This article from the NY Times shows both specialist physicians and primary care physicians earning more than in virtually any country in the world. I think the Netherlands was an exception for specialist physicians. Twenty-five percent is an arbitrary figure. However, I'm of the opinion that if we do that and it doesn't work, we can always go back and tweak reimbursement rates.
Oh please....the Appendectomy didn't cost $185K, the complications from surgery did. I know of someone that had an appendectomy, had major complications and was in the hospital for 2 months...yes, it was an expensive appendectomy
And how do you know that from this woman's study? Jumping to conclusions without reading the whole article---once again.
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However, while these ranges are extreme, most appendectomies are going to be between the $8,000 and $35,000 range.The U.S. average for this procedure stands at $13,000. The cost of an appendectomy seems to vary because of the individual institution instead of geographic region. Whether or not the patient has any sort of health insurance will probably be the biggest factor in determining the price.
According to Healthcarebluebook.com the physician’s fee for the procedure as well as post-operative care costs around $1,087. Hospital service fee costs around $9,717 which covers a four-day surgery admission for appendectomy.The fee for anesthesia is $537 on average.
It ridiculous that this country still operates on this for-profit healthcare system that is not only inefficient and expensive, but bankrupts the individual because of a medical condition that requires a trip to the emergency trip.
This will never happen in many other developing countries around the world and will get treated with the best care possible. The individual will get the treatment and not see a bill at the end or pay a very low affordable price for the surgery.
It depressing to see how this individual now has to deal with this medical bill and even though he has insurance, he still has to pay a large amount of money to cover his surgery. Unfortunately many people are dealing with this on a daily basis.
The healthcare system will never change until the people in the US come together and take this corrupt government down. Plus Single Payer does work and it is much more efficient rather this crappy system that we have.
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