Post Ablation Observations.......

Jan. 4, 2011

Happy New Year to everyone!  My recovery from ablation continues to be fairly typical.  I continue to have a few PVCs each day along with 1 or 2 brief runs of tachycardia.  They may last 5-10 beats and ten drop out.  I'm getting use to them and it doesn't bother me like it did when I first felt them.

THE BILL IS IN....and WOW, what a bill it is!!!  
Total charges: $76,798..and...thirteen cents.
I'll spare you the details unless you want to see anything specific.  It was all neatly broken out for each procedure performed.  Here's one that make you want to be an anesthesiologist.  I was charged  over $5,300.00 for 15 minutes of anesthesia including the supplies.  Here's a few of the essential charges:

COMP EPS W/ATTEMPT INDUCTION  $10,914.00
EPS W/LT ATRIAL RECORD  $13,949.00
CATHETER ABLATION SVT  $18,540.00
TACHYCARDIA MAPPING  $2,187.00
CATHETER SUPPLIES  $21,699.00

The smallest charge on the bill was a 50mg tablet of Metoprolol at (only).........$0.28.  That's right folks, twenty-eight cents!  There's a lot more blah..blah..blah on the bill but we'll save it.

Ok, so what was my financial responsibility, you ask?  Well, it  was my HMO copay of $250.00  That was a bill I happily paid after seeing the nearly $77,000 total.  How much of that bill is actually paid by my HMO and employer I guess will remain a mystery.  But you can bet your life if you walked in there as an individual, that bill would be your responsibility.  So ablation is a short but expensive little procedure and thank goodness for insurance, an employer with deep pockets, and an excellent health insurance plan.  You've heard the last of my complaining over my weekly co-pay deduction to cover it!