Cost of Ablation

[Jafib]

Curious about the average cost of ablation. When all was counted mine was very near 200k!

[BobD Volunteer]

You must be in USA? Here in UK even privately it would not be likely to be more than £20,000 or so give or take a few hundred. For example hotel costs for hospitals are never more than £1000 a night for a top one and less for most hospitals. I think £500 is average for your bed and board. I dont know many EP who charge £15k a day! Could explain why there are so many EPs in US?

[Jafib in reply to BobD]

Sorry, I do not know the conversions to understand your amounts but I take it that they are much cheaper where you are. My mouth dropped when I saw all the charges and was VERY thankful for good health insurance!! I still paid in the thousands for my part. I should be completely cured and an Olympic athlete for that kind of money!!

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Jafib]

That is why we are so fond of our National Health Service which is free at point of contact (OK we pay tax for it but nothing like over your side of the pond). Lets say about $25,000.

Our view is that if you allow finance to intervene there is a real danger that unscrupulous doctors will advise patients to have treatments they don't need for the doctor's benefit. We already see that here with things like blood pressure meds and statins etc. where doctors have targets to meet.

[Dawsonmackay]

Mine was 180K.

[planetiowa]

The billed cost of mine was somewhere around $140K however, the contracted negotiated price the insurance company actually paid was more on the order of about $24K total and the amount I actually had to pay was around $6500. I'm not sure who if anyone actually pays the full billed cost. Maybe that's so the hospital can get that from the government if a patient can't pay?

[soberhoumom]

The hospital billed amount to the insurance company for the tests prior to my ablation was I think a couple thousand. The allowed amount was $485 which I paid out of pocket.

The actual procedure and overnight insurance billed amount was $124,000. The allowed amount was $1475.00 which I will pay out of pocket.

[jedimasterlincoln]

All 5 of mine were free, save for the cost of a tax on my earnings, and fuel costs to do the 120 mile round trip for appointments pre and post procedure. I'd be lost without the National Health service.

[Jafib in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Five??? Wow. I will not be happy if I end up getting two, let alone five. Hopefully the 200k means they did a super great job and only one ablation will be necessary!?!?

[jedimasterlincoln in reply to Jafib]

I think I'm just really complex. 2014 ablations in July & December on the left side.... Pulmonary vein isolations.

2017 atrial flutter presented on the right... ablations in September & December and abnormal heart tissue found and isolated - possibly due to childhood virus/infection and made worse by passing through it in 2014.

Further ablation back on the left side in January this year as a combination of flutter and PAF came back, work done on both sides of the heart and "90% isolated" with possibility of flutter of unknown significance/location needing to be isolated under General Anaesthetic with a Trans Oesophageal Echocardiogram if it persists through this year (it hasn't thus far)

[Jafib in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

You are complex! I’m glad all seems well now. You probably have more experience than most anyone other than the doctors themselves! Good to see you on this community sharing your experiences!

[MydogBrandy]

Wow I had mine done private in January and it was just under £11k that included overnight stay, I have a £500 excess on my insurance so that is all I had to pay.

[MarkS]

My cost was around £20K privately (though BUPA) in the UK for a 5 hour cryo and RF ablation. That included about £1,500 for the EP, about £500 for hotel costs and the rest was the cath lab. Costs in the US seem bonkers to me!

[Dmackie57]

Mine was $90,000. I am in US. After insurance paid I owed around $8,000.

[Pickone]

I live near Victoria BC Canada, I paid zero. However nothing is free, we most likely contribute more in tax than in the US.

We spend our winter months in your lovely southern climate and are well aware of hospital costs and the need to be well insured by a private insurance provider.

[cuore in reply to Pickone]

I live near Vancouver, B.C. Canada. We have to pay zero because, as you know, we are not allowed to have private arrhythmia and other clinics. As you also know, there is a court case going on right now to make private clinics legal. The downside of this zero payment is that we are sentenced to get worse and worse via waiting time if we are in persistent AF when time is of the essence. I hope yours was done in a timely manner. I have had to go out of the country at my expense for three ablations when one may have sufficed had I been promptly attended to. So much for our Canadian taxes and our lagging arrhythmia treatment.

[gateman]

You Americans should come over here for private treatment by the sounds of it.

[Amcech]

My first was 200k, second and third was around 140k. I paid about $2200 for each one after insurance.

[Jct9841]

In Alabama my aflutter ablation was book price $163k. BCBS Advantage said that's interesting but we will pay you $16k. Co-pay was $325

[Getoutside]

My fully loaded up front bill was just over $200K. Looking through the details the greatest costs were the catheters, one being $65K. The final payout by Medicare was only around $30K and my cost was about $500.

[cuore in reply to Getoutside]

These figures don't add up. Just one catheter was $65K, yet Medicare paid totally $30K ?Does that mean insurance pays rock bottom prices, but the uninsured have to pay insane prices?

[Redders]

Wow frightened costs over there. I’ve had three ablations all totally free. We’re so lucky to have our NHS.