Cost of Chemo & Radiology Treatments

Jean T. Szabo
Jean T. Szabo Member Posts: 193
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Do insurance companies pay for the Chemo and Radiology? Should I call them now to find out or after the Onc. appt.? What is the usual cost? What is the usual number of treatments? Reading the discussion board it sounds like 6 treatments is the norm. What terrible side effects..God Bless all going through this...with courage and persistence. Will see my Onc. doctor to talk about treatment options.

Comments

  • 2Floridiansisters
    2Floridiansisters Member Posts: 384 Member
    #2
    Hi Jean
    I'm pretty sure the cost involved will vary from place to place, but I know each one of my chemo treatments were $6000.00 and I had 4 of them, my rads treatments are $3000.00 each, and I'm getting a total of 33. Quite expensive, isn't it? Yes call them and ask plenty of questions.
  • carriesoup
    carriesoup Member Posts: 144
    #3
    my insurance covered
    my insurance covered everything. so glad i have excellent insurance! not sure what i would do without it! i know for each round of A/C, including blood work, therapeutic iv drugs and chemo, costs about 3,000$! (i only have to pay a 20$ co-pay) i have 4 rounds of that. then 12 rounds of Taxol. not sure the cost of radiation, yet. i have to do 5 days a week for 6 weeks of radiation.
    keep your chin up! courage and persistence is so important!

    *hugs*

    carrie :)
  • Snowkitty
    Snowkitty Member Posts: 295
    #4
    carriesoup said:

    my insurance covered
    my insurance covered everything. so glad i have excellent insurance! not sure what i would do without it! i know for each round of A/C, including blood work, therapeutic iv drugs and chemo, costs about 3,000$! (i only have to pay a 20$ co-pay) i have 4 rounds of that. then 12 rounds of Taxol. not sure the cost of radiation, yet. i have to do 5 days a week for 6 weeks of radiation.
    keep your chin up! courage and persistence is so important!

    *hugs*

    carrie :)

    Oh my goodness! My chemos
    Oh my goodness! My chemos cost a little over 9,000 each (had 4 T/C). I can check on line what each thing costs. My rads aren't up there yet. Everything is so expensive. I have excellent insurance and it only costs me $15 co pay plus 500.00 deductible. I am keeping tract of everything they are paying and it's incredible.

    Cindy
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #5
    Absolutely call your
    Absolutely call your insurance company. They may not be able to tell you whether they will cover you until you and your Drs. have decided on the treatments, but I believe in being prepared and having as much information as possible. If your insurance won't cover all or part of your treatment, ask your Dr. about financial help, or go to the hospital's billing department to see if they have any financial aid resources. You could also go to your local American Cancer Society and ask them about resources for financial help. This stuff is too important and too expensive to try to do it on your own.

    Take care, seof
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #6
    seof said:

    Absolutely call your
    Absolutely call your insurance company. They may not be able to tell you whether they will cover you until you and your Drs. have decided on the treatments, but I believe in being prepared and having as much information as possible. If your insurance won't cover all or part of your treatment, ask your Dr. about financial help, or go to the hospital's billing department to see if they have any financial aid resources. You could also go to your local American Cancer Society and ask them about resources for financial help. This stuff is too important and too expensive to try to do it on your own.

    Take care, seof

    I think my rads were 2k per
    I think my rads were 2k per day and I know the neulasdta shot was 14K each. I had two botox shots that I paid for and they were 640.00 dollars each. I did get reimbursed. Interesting the difference in cost.
  • Double Whammy
    Double Whammy Member Posts: 2,832 Member
    #7
    carkris said:

    I think my rads were 2k per
    I think my rads were 2k per day and I know the neulasdta shot was 14K each. I had two botox shots that I paid for and they were 640.00 dollars each. I did get reimbursed. Interesting the difference in cost.

    Cost of chemo
    For some reason, I haven't received an explanation of benefits from from my insurance since my first chemo, but it is fully covered by my insurance, as is the radiation. The EOB that I received for my first chemo was billed at $15,000 and the insurance paid $12,000 per their contract with the facility. The $3000 just disappears because of what they have negotiated in their contract. I about fainted, both at the amount billed and the amount paid. Since I haven't seen another EOB, I'm wondering if that was for all 4 rounds of chemo vs only 1. I had no co-pays for chemo, only when I see my oncologist.

    Be sure to check with your insurance to know what any co-pays and deductibles to anticipate in addition to what is covered.

    Ok, my Neulasta shots were $4K each. My copay $40. I have no idea what my insurance is contracted to pay of the $4K.

    I was apalled to see how little the insurance paid for my partial mastectomy vs the amount billed because what was billed for that did not seem excessive to me (I think it was about $36,000 and included surgeon fees, anesthesia, nuclear medicine,and radiology). Then I got an EOB for my hysterectomy and my one-night hospital stay was billed at $90,000 (! this was NOT the surgeon's fees, OR, anesthesia, or anything - just a night in the hospital - or at least that's what it looked like) and the insurance paid only $3K of that and the rest is a wash. My co-pay was $250. I just don't get it. I don't get how the inflated charges are determined and how the insurance contracts work, but it is mind blowing - and I'm glad I'm covered.

    Suzanne
  • Boppy_of_6
    Boppy_of_6 Member Posts: 1,138
    #8
    Double Whammy said:

    Cost of chemo
    For some reason, I haven't received an explanation of benefits from from my insurance since my first chemo, but it is fully covered by my insurance, as is the radiation. The EOB that I received for my first chemo was billed at $15,000 and the insurance paid $12,000 per their contract with the facility. The $3000 just disappears because of what they have negotiated in their contract. I about fainted, both at the amount billed and the amount paid. Since I haven't seen another EOB, I'm wondering if that was for all 4 rounds of chemo vs only 1. I had no co-pays for chemo, only when I see my oncologist.

    Be sure to check with your insurance to know what any co-pays and deductibles to anticipate in addition to what is covered.

    Ok, my Neulasta shots were $4K each. My copay $40. I have no idea what my insurance is contracted to pay of the $4K.

    I was apalled to see how little the insurance paid for my partial mastectomy vs the amount billed because what was billed for that did not seem excessive to me (I think it was about $36,000 and included surgeon fees, anesthesia, nuclear medicine,and radiology). Then I got an EOB for my hysterectomy and my one-night hospital stay was billed at $90,000 (! this was NOT the surgeon's fees, OR, anesthesia, or anything - just a night in the hospital - or at least that's what it looked like) and the insurance paid only $3K of that and the rest is a wash. My co-pay was $250. I just don't get it. I don't get how the inflated charges are determined and how the insurance contracts work, but it is mind blowing - and I'm glad I'm covered.

    Suzanne

    I was blessed that my
    I was blessed that my insurance paid really well. My chemo was about 14,000.00 per treatment 4 rounds of T/C. My rads were about 45000.00 for all 30. I cannot rem the cost of surgery and stuff that day. I am guessing it varies by where we live and how much we get in each dose on the chemo anyway. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice
  • racergirl
    racergirl Member Posts: 50
    #9
    Drs insurance biller
    Most Drs offices have a person or persons that work on billing the insurance companies, that is who you need to talk to. They know the ins and outs of the business and can generally give you a good idea of what will be billed to you. Good luch and best thoughts
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #10
    Jean
    your oncologist will talk about what chemo cocktail and then you'll meet with a radiology/oncologist re rads. I called my insurance company before I met with my onc to inquire about copays. I pay a copay for each chemo (I'm having 6 every 3 weeks) and I pay a copay for Neulasta shot the next day. I also go for blood labs the 2 weeks inbetween and have a nurse evaluation and pay a copay. My insurance covers rads differently. Some people have rads for 5 days/week for 6 weeks. My copay would not be for every day. You really should ask your insurance company so that you are prepared and not surprised.
    {{hugs}} Char
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    #11
    Boppy_of_6 said:

    I was blessed that my
    I was blessed that my insurance paid really well. My chemo was about 14,000.00 per treatment 4 rounds of T/C. My rads were about 45000.00 for all 30. I cannot rem the cost of surgery and stuff that day. I am guessing it varies by where we live and how much we get in each dose on the chemo anyway. God Bless
    (((Hugs))) Janice

    Yes, contact your insurance
    Yes, contact your insurance before you have rad treatments. My rads oncologist's office contacted my insurance for me to make sure the treatments were covered, and, they were. I don't know what the cost was, but, someone kept throwing around $100,000 to $150,000. But, we paid nothing. I didn't have chemo, so, I don't know about that.


    Diane

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