Cost of Radiation

Sam726
Sam726 Member Posts: 233
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Has anyone elected not to do radiation or only to do part of it because of cost? Up until now my insurance has paid for almost everything but it seems that they arent paying as much for radiation. At $1,000 out of pocket each time, 33 treatments...I will go bankrupt. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • dyaneb123
    dyaneb123 Member Posts: 950
    #2
    Wow Sam! That's terrible! My
    Wow Sam! That's terrible! My only suggestion would be to go to the ACS, Susan B. Komen, or the hospital where you are being treated and ask them about financial aid. The point of all these organizations is that no woman have to go without treatment ,so surely there is help available somewhere.Good luck and let us know what you find out.
  • meena1
    meena1 Member Posts: 1,003
    #3
    Hi Sam, are you sure it is
    Hi Sam, are you sure it is $1000.00 each time? I believe it may be $1000.00 out of pocket for the entire radiation treatment. So, for the radiation you would put out $1000.00, not $33,000.00. You may want to check with your insurance. I work for an insurance company paying medical claims so that does not sound logical to me. Check this out first. Good Luck
  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #4
    I had 30 RADs, and it cost
    I had 30 RADs, and it cost about 50,000. It was about 1,200 a treatment. My husband's Ins has paid pretty well. We have a 3,000 out of pocket total for a fiscal year that started in October of last year.
  • roseann4
    roseann4 Member Posts: 992 Member
    #5
    Make payment arrangements.
    Please don't let cost be the reason not to have radiation treatments. You can make payment arrangements based on what you can afford. I know someone who is paying $50 a month. Your insurance may not cover all of the cost but they pay a negotiated cost. I have a $5,000 front end deductable so until that was reached, I paid $900 per treatment. Without insurance it would have cost 1,700 per treatment. I made payment arrangements of $200 per month because I could affort that much. I actually told them what I could afford. Get your treatments and then work it out with the provider.

    Roseann
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #6
    My insurance wouldn't pay as
    My insurance wouldn't pay as much for radiation either. But they didn't start billing me until after radiation was over so the deductable applied to the total, plus the 20%. Then I called their billing department and they asked what I could afford to pay monthly and I paid that.
  • Sam726
    Sam726 Member Posts: 233
    #7
    meena1 said:

    Hi Sam, are you sure it is
    Hi Sam, are you sure it is $1000.00 each time? I believe it may be $1000.00 out of pocket for the entire radiation treatment. So, for the radiation you would put out $1000.00, not $33,000.00. You may want to check with your insurance. I work for an insurance company paying medical claims so that does not sound logical to me. Check this out first. Good Luck

    u r right Meena
    I did read my benefits and i have total of 3000 out of pocket each year...whew, I was freaked! I was wondering why all my chemo was paid for and not all my rads. DUH...its beginning of year and havent hit that mark yet. Can we say chemo brain? lol...
  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #8
    meena1 said:

    Hi Sam, are you sure it is
    Hi Sam, are you sure it is $1000.00 each time? I believe it may be $1000.00 out of pocket for the entire radiation treatment. So, for the radiation you would put out $1000.00, not $33,000.00. You may want to check with your insurance. I work for an insurance company paying medical claims so that does not sound logical to me. Check this out first. Good Luck

    Meena, they charged me
    Meena, they charged me seperate for the CT scans and the tattoing
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #9
    Marcia527 said:

    My insurance wouldn't pay as
    My insurance wouldn't pay as much for radiation either. But they didn't start billing me until after radiation was over so the deductable applied to the total, plus the 20%. Then I called their billing department and they asked what I could afford to pay monthly and I paid that.

    I was shocked to find
    I was shocked to find neulasta cost 10 thousand a shot. thank goodness for insurance.
  • meena1
    meena1 Member Posts: 1,003
    #10
    carkris said:

    I was shocked to find
    I was shocked to find neulasta cost 10 thousand a shot. thank goodness for insurance.

    Sam, glad that was
    Sam, glad that was straigntened out! Guess you are on your way to radiation. Good luck
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #11
    meena1 said:

    Sam, glad that was
    Sam, glad that was straigntened out! Guess you are on your way to radiation. Good luck

    Sam -- Quick questiion ...
    Radiation needed -- due to no mastecomy, partial or bi-lateral ??


    VickiSam
  • Sam726
    Sam726 Member Posts: 233
    #12
    VickiSam said:

    Sam -- Quick questiion ...
    Radiation needed -- due to no mastecomy, partial or bi-lateral ??


    VickiSam

    VickiSam
    I had a lumpectomy...thats why I am doin rads:)
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #13
    carkris said:

    I was shocked to find
    I was shocked to find neulasta cost 10 thousand a shot. thank goodness for insurance.

    Neulasta
    My Neusata was $6,000.......wondering why your's was $4000.00 more!
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #14
    carkris said:

    I was shocked to find
    I was shocked to find neulasta cost 10 thousand a shot. thank goodness for insurance.

    I knew it had to be at least
    I knew it had to be at least somewhat pricey as VA would not cover it at the CCI they cover my Chemo and rads at but rather I had to drive the 35 miles to the closest VA hospital for the Neulasta shot. Just did a 'google' and found that it usually runs between $3,000 and $7,000 per syringe. My cost - $8.00 per syringe.
  • cindycflynn
    cindycflynn Member Posts: 1,132 Member
    #15
    Glad to hear
    You checked your out-of-pocket maximum. I was going to suggest that, since I couldn't imagine having insurance where you would end up owing $33,000! It's still a chunk of change, but I'm sure you can make payment arrangements. You want to do everything you can to give yourself the best possible chances going forward.

    Good luck!
    Cindy
  • mariam_11_09
    mariam_11_09 Member Posts: 691 Member
    #16
    Talking about cost.My
    Talking about cost.


    My mastectomy + DIEP flat reconstruction = $150 000!!!

    I haven't started chemo or rads yet.
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #17
    Sam726 said:

    u r right Meena
    I did read my benefits and i have total of 3000 out of pocket each year...whew, I was freaked! I was wondering why all my chemo was paid for and not all my rads. DUH...its beginning of year and havent hit that mark yet. Can we say chemo brain? lol...

    Glad you got it figured out
    Glad you got it figured out Sam. $3,000 is still a lot out of pocket, but, better than what you originally thought! Good luck!
  • Skeezie
    Skeezie Member Posts: 586 Member
    #18
    mariam_11_09 said:

    Talking about cost.My
    Talking about cost.


    My mastectomy + DIEP flat reconstruction = $150 000!!!

    I haven't started chemo or rads yet.

    My Neulasta was $3,200!
    That's three different prices! What's the deal? I had a nausea Rx that was $1,600 for 30, it was Anzemet, I only had to pay $40 for that and $20 for the Neulasta.

    Definitly make arrangements to pay the $3,000 in payments. They have to agree, what's the alternative, they certainly aren't going to sue you as long as you are making payments. Besides, anytime I've dealt with any hospital reagarding billing they have been wonderful.

    Judy :-)

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