The (Monetary) Costs of Melanoma

Dawn — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:47:08 +0000

Ever since I was diagnosed with Melanoma back in July, the bills have been piling up. Fortunately, Mike has very good insurance through his company and our out of pocket expenses have been minimal – I think we may have spent more in $2 parking structure fees for each visit than total copays at this point. We are lucky.

The whole government health care reform is a touchy subject for a lot of people – but not for me. See, I believe that everyone deserves health care, and affordable care at that. The insurance companies are making a LOT of money, and since I’m on the side of health related work, I can tell you that the doctors don’t see squat compared to the insurance companies. Other countries are successful with it, and if we’re the “greatest country in the world”, why couldn’t it work for us?

Anyway, just for fun, I thought I’d share my bills with you. Remember, this is from diagnosis through physical therapy and everything in between. I can’t even imagine the costs if I had had to go through the interferon or chemo. Oh, and for fun, know that while I was going through all of this, there was a 6 week period in which neither Mike nor myself received paychecks, so if we hadn’t had insurance, we would either have lost our house or be on the way to it, or would be making payments to U of M for YEARS. If that isn’t an incentive to get people covered, I’m not sure what is.

07.13.09 – Initial visit with Dermatologist (out of network) – [$180]*
07.13.09 – Pathology $175
07.20.09 – Microslide Consult $216
07.29.09 – Cancer Consult Visit – $415 [$20]*
08.20.09 – Pre-Op Visit #1 Includes crutches, bloodwork and labs. $216
08.26.09 – Surgery #1 (outpatient) Includes all things surgical, down to the gown, sutures, etc. $9,435
09.25.09 – Initial Stockings (2 pr) $380
09.29.09 – Surgery #2 (23 hrs of care, still outpatient) – Inclues all things surgical, plus drain and supplies. $12,616.60
10.13.09 – Office Visit $319 [$20]*
10.28.09 – MRI#1 and CT #1-3, includes dyes $9,073
11.30.09 – Physical Therapy – $616
12.01.09 – MRI#2, including dyes $2,663
12.07.09 – Physical Therapy – $420
12.08.09 – Labs / bloodwork for follow-up $236
12.08.09 – Office Visit – $100
12.14.09 – Physical Therapy – $336
12.14.09 – New compression stockings (1 pair) $152

Grand Total: $37,548.60

*[] Amounts we paid out of pocket.

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The (Monetary) Costs of Melanoma