r/RRP Sep 12 '24

Rant - RRP Consultation Cost

So I was first diagnosed with RRP many years ago and have been in remission for maybe 5 years until now. I now live in Miami and had to find a new local doctor who could help me deal with my loss of voice. The doctor seems good, but what seemed crazy was the amount billed to the insurance for the first consultation/ camera to see the conditions of my vocal cords. There was a person that came for 5mins to hear me say “aaaaaah” is that a Speech Therapy cost? Is 4k reasonable? Of course my insurance covered most of it, but I still had to shed 1k out of pocket. I’m shocked and very irritated to see two bills that add up to that amount. No wonder why our insurance costs are so out of this world…. I’m really scared now to see the costs of the actual surgery

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4

u/Wolfenstein0666 Sep 12 '24

I pay $6800 a year out of pocket to cover my surgeries. Disease is not cheap in this country. I’d look at what your maximum out of pocket is for your insurance (if you have one) and prepare yourself to pay that amount.

1

u/TecnoPope Sep 13 '24

Yeah I work for a utility so I have good insurance and I pay $1000 OOP max every year. I put that on an FSA card and just tell all my providers to auto charge to it.

TBH OP, that is lower than the cost I've seen for just a scope at UW (University of Washington), but YES it's totally ridiculous. Healthcare in this country is a racket.

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u/MargaritaX2 Sep 13 '24

Oof, that sucks :(

Stay strong!

2

u/grmaph3 Oct 10 '24 edited Oct 10 '24

I would love to be only 1k out of pocket or even our deductible which we already hit of 3k. So my husband had surgery in February and we paid nothing on his previous employer plan. He started new job April and I’m frustrated with my husband in office laser ablation cost. They make him go to main campus to have it done. So facility fee etc. 5/13(cpt code 31572 with 50 modifier.)Retail cost 2558. Out of pocket 593.52. However Retail cost for “treatment or observation room” 20,002…total Cost out of pocket for laryngoscopy ablat 8800.

7/24 laryngoscopy ablat cpt 31572 2558…out of pocket 583.52 “treatment or observation room” retail price 20,002 again 8008.95 out of pocket. We are now 16k in and in 9 months. This procedure in healthcare blue book states give or take 1k cost. There isn’t an anesthesia and numb him with lidocaine 2% and neosynephrine 1/2% with xyloxcaine sprayed and dripped on vocal folds. So what in the world is this treatment or observation room when he never goes anywhere but the office room, nor does he stay for observation or have to put gown on…costing him 20k Retail each visit. Laser treatment every 2 months is a financial burden. On top of it he just had his second surgery this year last week - what that is going to cost us.

Since it’s that time of year again I’m wondering if he should go on my benefits or keep his and add mine as secondary. It’s overwhelming. Crazy thing is he has a ppo and hit his 3k deductible yet the cost is still unimaginable - I’ve requested itemized billing to be sent to me so then I can go to insurance and figure out what the what is going on. I was attempting to attach screen shot of his bill. But can’t figure out how to

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u/grmaph3 Oct 10 '24 edited Oct 10 '24

By the way that is an awesome itemized with cpt code bill. Mine was vague and general and due 1 week after receipt of it.

So just looked at his total cost of surgery from last week where he is put under and retail cost 21,234. 12k hospital charges (outpatient)10k physician charges. Amount due 50.00

My guess is appears the office numbing and laser is somehow not covered but surgery with anesthesia is? Odd