WOW$!!$

I had no idea just how expensive PM's were!!! Just received my hospital bill today. All I can say, is that we pacers are worth a bundle now.....not just the mere 98 cents that my childhood science teacher told us our body components were really worth!
However, I guess you really can't put a price on quality of lfe, which our PM's give to many of us.
My posting is really just a knee-jerk reaction to my bill, thank goodness for insurance. Hope this posting finds everyone in the best of health

10 Comments

Cha-ching!

by ela-girl - 2007-11-09 02:11:46

I can relate to your reaction! After all was said and done, mine was over 70k! My mom had MAJOR surgery this summer and hers was just over 30k. I couldn't believe it! For pm implantation being such a "minor" surgery, the doctors and pm companies aren't making minor salaries!

I would be curious what everyone else's surgery etc. cost IF you're willng to post that info.

At least we're not cheap! ha ha :)

ela-girl

hi

by jessie - 2007-11-09 04:11:57

i have a medtronic dual lead p.m. and i was told it 10,000 and 10,000 to install. i forget who told me that but i remeber being told. it was covered by insurance. . jessie

$$

by Carol - 2007-11-09 05:11:27

My itemized bill stated that the PM cost $21K, it wasn't broken down any further than that so don't know if it was split between cost of device and implantation or not. But there was a separate charge for cardiology. All told with an overnight stay, my bill was a hair over 30K. Sounds like we're all in the same b"ballpark".
Smitty, got a kick out of your wife's comment re: the convertible!
Carol

yeapers

by Syrano - 2007-11-09 05:11:47

costs involed with my little procedure, from April of this years, ended up topping out close to $48,000. This included the hospital visit, (4 days in the Cardiac Intermediate unit), surgery, unit itself, etc. And to make it all so much more enjoyable, my insurance, after a several month decision process, decided that it was all deniable under the pre-existing conditions clause.

Now, 6 month later, I need an entirely different device due to worsening medical issues. Cost for this little procedure will top the $50,000 mark. Also, not covered by the pre-existing clause....

Ain`t it fun???....

Syrano

PM Cost

by SMITTY - 2007-11-09 05:11:52

Hello ELA-girl

My pacemaker was implanted in 2000 and cost for surgery, PM, leads and hospital stay was just shy of $30,000. That included an overnight stay in the hospital. For a 1 hr. surgical procedure, well let's just say I agree with Jesse.

For comparison, I had a quadruple bypass in 1982, which was a 4 hour surgery, 2 days in ICU and 5 additional days in the hospital and the entire cost was about $28,000.

I don't think we can say any single organ is the most important one in our body because there are a bunch of them that without them we do not live. Bur, I do think the heart can become the most expensive one for many, many people in a hurry.

Since 1982, my out of pocket expense, insurance pay, and Medicare have been more a quarter-million dollars, I'm sure. Occasionally, my wife will reach over and pat my chest and say "I haven't forgotten that is where the money for my 450 SL convertible went." I just tell her that when I die she has my permission to retrieve my PM and see if it will have any trade in value on that 450 SL.

Smitty

$$$

by bowlrbob - 2007-11-10 01:11:22

I got my dual lead Medtronic 2 years ago. The hospital bill said the Pacer was $12,000 and the leads were $2500 ea. That's a lot for 2 wires don't ya think. Then I had 2 days in intensive care. Plus tylenol at 10.00 ea, ect. Anyway the total hospital bill was just over $56,000 but then i got the Dr. bill that was $8500.00 and the ambulance all total came to about $65,000. Well I as many had insurance and I paid total about $3000.00. The hospital accepted from my insurance and my contribution about 1/3 of the bill or $15,000. The Dr. settled for about 1/2 or $4250.00. So if you don't have insurance be sure and ask for a discount. Insurance companies get one so should you. Now don't get me wrong here it was better than dying but if you don't have insurance dying is cheaper. JUST KIDDING!!! Bowlrbob

WOW indeed

by Nuka - 2007-11-10 03:11:26

When I see or hear conversations like this I just shake my head and wonder how people in the U.S. who do not have insurance can possibly pay these kinds of bills. What do they do if they don't have the money?

I haven't any idea what the cost of my PM was nor the implant. Here in Canada we don't see a bill for such things. It is just automatically paid. I'm told our taxes are higher here but somehow I think I'd rather pay it in my taxes a bit at a time than get hit with such huge bills in one lump. The only thing we pay directly out of pocket is dental, eye glasses and a deductable on our medication. (mine this year is $2000.00 and I had the nerve to complain about that. lol

Hi to all of you.
Nuka

Dollars not Stars in your eyes

by peter - 2007-11-10 04:11:13

I have commented before that the cost of the pacemaker is excessive. This seems to apply to all things medical. I work sometimes at a medical factory making a handy gadget used in the pharmacies of hospitals. I could hve designed this machine myself in two days. It takes 4 hours to make one and the component cost of the electronics and the case is less than 300$ labour costs are 50$. So that makes a total of $350 dollars. But the company sells this device for $3000 dollars. So lets look at a pacemaker. It has hardly got more in it inside than one processor chip and a battery. Also a case and some sockets. There is though considerable effort in the initial working out and writing of the program and working out the maths.However this is not a situation of one offs. I think there is a lot of money wasted in having reps from the various companies fighting over the spoils and trying to push thier product instead of thier competitors. I do hope the chinese have taken note and come up with realistically priced products. I suspect though that the industry has protected itself from real competition with patents.Which also begs the question should you be able to patent whether somebody lives or dies? It is sad because there are so many people in the third world who die because thier country cannot afford the price of a single pacemakers. It is really possible that a simple pacemaker for bradycardia could be made for less than $500 dollars and sold into the third world.Some of the early pacemakers without housekeeping had circuitry that can be made today for less than $20. Sadly on this planet profit comes before health. Cheers Peter

High Cost Of Meds

by SMITTY - 2007-11-10 10:11:42

Peter,

I'm sure you are correct about the Chinese being able to build and sell a PM for much less than the current manufacturer. But then a pacemaker case made of lead or a lead alloy is going to cost less than one made of titanium.

Seriously now, I have started to ask the country of manufacture on all my medicines and I refuse to accept those that are made in Third World countries or China. (Is China considered a Third World country?) I had rather cough up the ungodly price of brand name medicines made in a country that I feel has good quality control measures in place.

A good case in point for me is that within the last six months, I had digoxin prescribed for arrhythmia. The first prescription worked like a charm, but the refill did nothing and I was back to the original problem within a week. I went back to the doctor and in the discussion I learned that the digoxin I got was from a foreign manufacturer and this problem had been seen by the doctor on other patients. I then got Lanoxin (brand name for digoxin) made in the U.S.A. and within not too many days the arrhythmia was under control once again.

I guess my message to most folks, if I have a message, is that if you are taking the generic version of a medicine and it suddenly stops working, before deciding it is all in your head, check out the medication. See if you can correlate the failure to a time following a new prescription which would mean it could be the new prescription.

Smitty

Just some comments!

by ela-girl - 2007-11-11 12:11:28

Bowlrbob- I got a good laugh out of your "dying is cheaper" comment. We must share the same sick humor! Your costs and mine were about the same...my total also included the ER etc. Can you believe that Tylenol was $10 a pill? It's like...come on! You can get a bottle for less than that! How does that make sense?! I remember seeing crazy costs like that for meds etc. on my bill.

And I'm with Nuka. I would gladly pay more in taxes to have national healthcare. While I'm glad to live in the US and all, it sometimes disgusts me how the healthcare industry is run. But I won't get on a tangent about that!

Pretty soon Smitty is going to have a new nickname! We will have to call him the Million Dollar Man! :) Smitty, I also loved the joke about the wife's convertible. I'm guessing with as fiesty as you say she is, she's probably already made plans on the trade in for the 450 SL!

ela-girl



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