The Cost of A Hysterectomy in America
All of my bills have been coming in lately. But one of them really drives home just how expensive surgery truly is and why for people without insurance, things like this are utterly impossible to obtain. And I wanted to share it to help illustrate why I support Health Care Reform.
This is why I needed insurance for my surgery. Without insurance there would be no way I could pay for this procedure. This is the EOB or “Explanation of Benefits” from my insurance (PCIP) showing the submitted claim for my hysterectomy from the hospital.
(Click for larger)
This is ONLY the hospital and does not include the doctor, the assistant, the anesthesiologist, the labs, my primary doctor (for pre-surgery clearance) or any other provider.
The hospital billed $40,316.02 Forty-thousand dollars. Of that, the agreed rates between the insurance and the hospital took off $6,047.40. My portion due is $4,155.69. Almost forty-two hundred bucks. Which is a hell of a lot less than $40k, but still shows how HUGE an expense this surgery is. It’s why healthcare needs to be affordable for everyone.
And it’s why I’ve said it before but I’ll proudly say it again, I am ObamaCare.
Without Health Care Reform, PCIP would not exist and I would not have been able to get the insurance I needed to get the surgery I required.
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:: about ::
40 year old Pagan woman who lives in Florida with her guy and two cats, loves Disney, reads fanatically, tinkers in photography and runs her own handcrafted artisan jewelry business.
Inadvertently became the face of Healthcare Reform in America by posting the (in)famous "I am Obamacare" image and sharing the story of her hysterectomy at age 34. Now runs her own small business, PhoenixFire Designs, specalizing in handmade tree of life pendants, full moon tree of life necklaces, family birthstone jewelry, wire wrapped jewelry and more full-time.
Our best friend passed away suddenly March 13, 2010. Five years later, it's still hard. The full story can be read here.: photo & art prints :
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1 Comment
I’m so pleased I live in the UK and we have such a good system with the NHS. I did look into private care when my date for hysterectomy was post poned and I could not afford it. Today is ‘H’ day for me so I’ll sample good NHS care first hand, despite me working for the same service.