So can anyone give me a clue as to the financial burden of a crani? I now have a pretty good idea of the embol costs, but a little scared as to what we may be facing in the very near future. Also any? ideas of help since husband is not on SSD and so far :) working part time at his job.
Thanks all!
What about Oregon Health Plan??
If he’s considering filing for SSDI I’d encourage you to contact http://www.allsup.com/ or a local attorney and get the process started, as it’ll take awhile…
Patti
Thanks Patti
Well, it will probably take some time to recieve Social Security Disability, it took me 3 years to get it. Luckily I had Anthem health ins. thru my job when I got sick, and my neurosurgeon wrote-off many of my bills because he knew I would NEVER be able to pay those bills in two lifetimes! Seek out good health insurance and try to get SSD. Otherwise just file the untouchable bills in file 13! God Bless!
HI, WOULD LIKE TO AGREE WITH EVERYONE ELSE, START YOUR PAPERWORK BECAUSE IT DOES TAKE A WHILE FOR ANY MONEY TO COME IN, FILE FOR WHATEVER KIND OF HELP U CAN GET. MOSTLY DONT WORRY ABOUT THE FINANCIAL PART JUST GET HIM WELL AND EVERYTHING ELSE WILL FALL INTO PLACE. REMEMBER " GOD WILL PUT NO MORE ON YOU THAN U CAN HANDLE" I GOT A BILL FROM THE HOSPITAL AFTER MY FIRST WEEK STAY IT WAS 48,000, AFTER THE INS PAID THEIR PART I STILL HAVE 3,000 LEFT BUT THEY CANT STOP TREATING ME. JUST FINISH MY FIRST EMBO. HAVE GOT THAT BILL YET BUT. I REALLY DONT CARE HOW MUCH IT IS. I JUST WANT TO GET WELL AT WHAT EVER THE COST.
I’ve kept a spreadsheet of my husband’s records. He had 3 crainiotomies - the first was about 30k, then 20k, and the last one was 12k. By comparison, the gamma knife my husband had was about 100k. The biggest cost was the actually hospital stay - a private room in the ICU was about 20k a day - my husband was in an induced coma for 11 days.
To date - 4 angiograms, 3 embolizations, 3 crains, 1 gamma knife, and what seems like a hundred doctor’s appointments within the last two years - the hospital’s “value” of my husband’s brain is $1.4m of which insurance has paid about 25%, we’ve paid a very small portion (about 10k) and the rest is written off by the hospital.
We’re with blue cross PPO if you need to get your own insurance.
Sara said:
I’ve kept a spreadsheet of my husband’s records. He had 3 crainiotomies - the first was about 30k, then 20k, and the last one was 12k. By comparison, the gamma knife my husband had was about 100k. The biggest cost was the actually hospital stay - a private room in the ICU was about 20k a day - my husband was in an induced coma for 11 days.
To date - 4 angiograms, 3 embolizations, 3 crains, 1 gamma knife, and what seems like a hundred doctor’s appointments within the last two years - the hospital’s “value” of my husband’s brain is $1.4m of which insurance has paid about 25%, we’ve paid a very small portion (about 10k) and the rest is written off by the hospital.
We’re with blue cross PPO if you need to get your own insurance.
WOW thanks so much for the honesty Sara! As scary as that is…really? what are we suppose to do? huh? Good to hear that the powers that be are willing albeit reluctantly I am sure to work with you and write some of it off. I appreciate you posting and you have inspired me to start my own spreadsheet and really keep track of this.
I do hope you came through all this ok and that your husband is doing ok
Karen Blades said:
Sara said:I’ve kept a spreadsheet of my husband’s records. He had 3 crainiotomies - the first was about 30k, then 20k, and the last one was 12k. By comparison, the gamma knife my husband had was about 100k. The biggest cost was the actually hospital stay - a private room in the ICU was about 20k a day - my husband was in an induced coma for 11 days.
To date - 4 angiograms, 3 embolizations, 3 crains, 1 gamma knife, and what seems like a hundred doctor’s appointments within the last two years - the hospital’s “value” of my husband’s brain is $1.4m of which insurance has paid about 25%, we’ve paid a very small portion (about 10k) and the rest is written off by the hospital.
We’re with blue cross PPO if you need to get your own insurance.
Karen,
What’s written off is actually the difference between the hospital rate and the “negotiated rate” with the insurance companies. It’s really scary to think we’d be responsible for the full amount if we didn’t have insurance. With the write-off, the hospitals are able to claim it as a “loss” - it’s a tax thing for them. (My husband’s father and and aunt are both in hospital administration - they’ve confirmed this is how hospitals do their accounting to show they’re not making much of a profit).
I started keeping the spreadsheet (before the Health Care Bill and the end of the lifetime payout) because we thought he’d eventually meet the lifetime pay-out. But since so far insurance has only paid about $350k (when he was on his own) and $50k since joining my plan, we think we’ll be OK without having to switch my plans at work (I can choose from 8 options).
Jeff is doing fine now, if you didn’t know he had a brain injury, you wouldn’t be able to tell there was something wrong. We just went in for his 6-month post-gamma knife check-up. But the radiology technician messed up and did the MRA on the wrong portion of his brain - so we’re going back on Friday.
My data is from 20 yeas ago, and unlike Sara, I didn't keep a spreadsheet (although I will this time around!) I had a 14 day stay in neurosurgical ICU when the AVM first burst, then a couple angiograms, then 2 embolizations, then a craniotomy. After that I stayed in the hospital because I was paralyzed on the left side for several weeks (2 or 3) before being shipped over to a rehab hospital where I stayed for another 2 weeks. After that
Total bill came in right around 250k. My husband had gotten insurance on his new job 3 days before my AVM ruptured.
Keep all your medical bills and go over them with a fine tooth comb - we found tons of errors and over billing and double billing on ours which would have cost us thousands upon thousands of dollars.
My craniotomy was in 2002, and I am sure that is much more expensive than it was then.
I had an HMO and they paid for all of my operation and the hospital stay, but not
the rehab.
My daughter needed SSD and she got it, but to get it quickly at all... you need
a good lawyer who specializes in such things.
Hoping for the best for you all.