Cost range?

[Nichyr]

Does anyone have an estimate of how much an ablation cost with health insurance in the US? I have uhc but was wondering what people really payed.

[perkman]

It depends on your insurance coverage. My ablation was $132,000 but fortunately my insurance paid all of it.

[Nichyr in reply to perkman]

Yeah i normally could estimate, but i just got a new insurance and when the title is allsavers, albeit still uhc, i think what the difference will be. Thank you though!

[Hidden in reply to Nichyr]

Hi Nichr. My ablation and pacemaker in 2016 was around $77,000 US dollars. Covered by Medicare (80%) and my supplemental insurance-Humana (the remaining 20%.) A good deal, though we do pay monthly premiums on insurance including our medicare. For my medicare, Humana, dental insurance (optional) and prescription coverage somewhere between $200-$300 comes out of my check..I think for 2018 it's closer to $250.00. irina1975 Does your health plan pay for care outside your country other than for emergencies? I wish medicare did; then I could live elsewhere. irina1975

[Jhcoop55]

Mine was $87,000 US, all covered by Kaiser healthcare insurance.

[Hidden]

God bless the NHS......warts 'n all!!!

[wilsond]

I will never moan again!

[cjgroe]

My cryoablation on 10/17/17 was $95,000, and my RF ablation on 11/7/17 was $115,000. Both done in NYC, and both thankfully fully covered by insurance.

[Spoiler]

My ablation estimate was 114,000.00, but ended up in ICU with cardiac tamponade and they only got a little over half way on the PVI. I am not sure what the final tab is. They reduced the estimate to 75,000.00 by paying cash up front. My insurance covered a big fat 0 because I chose a top # 1 nationwide, out of network facility, Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

[Nichyr in reply to Spoiler]

How long were you in the icufor?

[Spoiler in reply to Nichyr]

28 hours. They did repeated echos to make sure the bleeding did not reoccur, which it did not.

[Spoiler in reply to Spoiler]

I chose it because I was certain I would have complications, I have had 11 cardioversions, cardiac arrest from Tikosyn and the heart hospital has only been doing PVI for a couple of years. I knew it would not be covered, but figured if I was dead what difference did the money make? They found alot of scarring around the pulmonary veins and upper atrium. He said that is a factor in my persistent afib that requires DC cardioversion once it sets in. The plan was to be off drugs... long shot. I felt whatever happened I would have the best chance there. I did get a good report of coronary veins ( no blockages) and heart is no longer enlarged.

[djmnet in reply to Spoiler]

Doesn't sound like your choice of Cleveland Clinic paid off -- either in terms of successful outcome or appropriate insurance coverage to cover the cost as others have mentioned here.

[Amcech]

Mine was over $100,000 in Illinois. I had to pay my out of pocket and the rest was covered.

[ilovecoffee123]

Wow those costs!

[Sunny570]

I hope everyone understands that the general cost is arbitrated between the hospital and the insurance companies. The actual cost of the procedure is inflated because the insurance companies are not paying that price and the people with the insurance are paying their co-pay which can be anywhere from $500-$50. I really do not know if anyone that pays out of pocket is paying that huge amount of money. Hospital do work with people but I hope they cut them some sort of a break. They do that with the insurance companies!

[Mike11]

Given those prices it would be cheaper to fly the patient to the UK or elsewhere in Europe first class, have the operation at a private hospital, put them up for a week in a top hotel to recuperate and still be cheaper. My cyro-ablation was just under £30,000, approx US$40,000.

[lars369]

Hi from Northern California. I practically passed out when my $130,000 ablation bill came last year! Fortunately, my portion of payments due was only $150. The ablation was indeed expensive, as is our monthly insurance payment, but I’ve never worried so much and so constantly about my health until debilitating afib and the meds that go along with it, so is it worth the cost? You should have seen the ablation procedure room. It looked like something out of the Starship Enterprise. The bill included a short wait time before the procedure, a cardiologist specialist of my choosing (inside my coverage area), an operating room in a highly regarded hospital, general anesthesia, an anesthesiologist, ultrasound, over-night care, follow-up appointments and best of all, the procedure was successful and seven months later I’m off all meds! We’d be doomed without insurance, but we buy it, we use it and, despite the savings a national healthcare system would provide us, I’m kind of afraid going that way in the US. I’m sure it will come to that, so please reassure this worrywart that it’ll fine.

[fluttered]

It does sound expensive in the U.S. The plus side is that you do not have to wait long . 3 or 4 weeks is what I had to wait after my E.P. and I came to an agreement on the procedure. I cannot imagine waiting for a year. Most people have insurance or Medicare. Most is paid by them.

[SRMGrandma Volunteer]

It's all relative. Here in the US, we can choose our specialists, easily go get second opinions, and have very short wait times. I never had to wait more than 12 hours for a cardioversion, and the only reason I had to wait 3 weeks for my ablation is because I was traveling. We pay our insurance premiums separate from our taxes, so it is individual, what kind of coverage one chooses. I had 5 nights in the hospital for my ablation, and my bill came to over $250,000. Of that we paid zero, as it was all covered by insurance. As someone pointed out, these numbers tend to be inflated, because even if the insurance company says they will only pay a certain portion, then the hospital accepts that. No system is perfect, they are just different.

[1Jerbear]

It depends on your ins. policy and deductibles . I haven rec'd a bill yet but when I do I can let you know