I still have a few post-surgery radiation treatments to go, so the ultimate, total costs (to my insurance company) are still unknown at this point but the hospital bill was around $25,000. (4 days in ICU at $5,000. per, plus meds, 1 day in a semi-private room @ $3,000 per day, + meds and 'incidentials'. My surgeon's bill was around $30,000. ($23,000 for the primary surgeon, $5,000. for his assistant and a few thousand more for the use of the operating room). They earned it. The anesthesiologist charged $4,500. but Blue Cross only paid him $3,000., which he accepted. Add another $1,000 to the total for all the various pre-op tests and the total cost at this point would be approximately $60,000.
I am no expert but I have to assume that Blue Cross 'discounts' almost all of the various charges submited in any one case and hospitals, physicians, labs and whomever agrees to accept Blue Cross insurance are all contract-bound to also accept their 'discounts'. So, the insurance company (Blue Cross) has actually paid closer to half the charged amount (probably more like $30,000.) - and I personally owe about $1,200. in 'co-pays', which is manageable, and, considering my potential finanacial liability (no one 'discounts' the bill when you don't have medical insurance) had I not been insured for these expenses I would probably be paying medical bills until I died...or went bankrupt.
