[fifithebunni]

Hi all,

I'm to undergo a Lap Endo to remove a single large (10cm) uterine fiboid by keyhole surgery next week. My surgeon is one of the best in the field as he was recommended by my family doctor whom I trust very much, and he's been on ABC radio and stuff, so I'm not worried about that.

I was given the quote for the surgery a few weeks ago and it's totaling a little over $6000. Minus the estimated Medicare rebate, I'm expected to pay around $5000 myself. So that had settle in.

Today, I got a phone call from the hopital (also one of the best hospital in Sydney) where I'm scheduled to stay for 3 nights. I was given a quote for the theatre hire, 3 night stay, etc for about $3000. There will also be another cost for the General Anaesthetic which I still don't know about, and today the hospital staff couldn't give me a rough estimate. I was a little bit confused but I guess it's too late now to have second thought about this.

My private health fund policy (medibank) does not cover this tpye of surgery (so I was told when I checked with them) and so I won't be able to claim anything from them.

So now it's become clear to me that the total cost for having this fiboid removed would round up in $8000 - $9000?

I was a little bit shocked to be honest, I guess I didn't do my homework early enough and now one week from surgery day I don't know how to explain to my husband about this huge bill!?

Anyone can give me an idea whether the cost sounds reasonable to you? Maybe I'm just naive and ignorant! Thank you!!

[doctorseuss]

Sounds reasonable.

Can you go public?

Or private in a public hospital. I'm surprised your GYN would recommend surgery that's not covered by private health insurance. Can you double check with medibank.

Your anaesthetist could be another $1000.

[doctorseuss]

1 more thing. 3 days in hospital may not be necessary for endoscopic surgery - often it can be day surgery. Vs you just stay 1 night and save $$? If there is someone who can be with you at home...

[KRT]

I would double-check with Medibank if it's covered or not. I had a laparoscopy with hysteroscopy, dye studies etc for suspected endometrosis that they covered. Ask your surgeon for the Medicare item numbers so that Medibank can cross-check. I've had a few claims with them (for extras) that were rejected on the first go but paid when I went in and queried them.

I would also check whether your hospital accommodation is covered even if the surgery isn't.

[Shadowess]

I have no idea about the actual surgery, but your PHI should pay for the hospital accomodation (minus whatever your excess is). They'll only pay a small amount of the anethetist though, so don't expect to get heaps back on that (ie: last year I had an epidural for my caesar, the bill was $1000. I got back about $400, between medicare and PHI).

I had an elbow arthroscopy last week, to remove a bit of loose bone, and I'm seriously wondering why I went private... $1800 for the surgeon (will get around $600 back), $350 for the surgeon's assistant, $500 for the anethetist, $500 excess at the hospital for day surgery, $500 to hire the physio machine for afterwards... the list goes on and on. No idea how long I would have been waiting for the surgery if I had have gone public though. Not sure if they'd have classed it as elective or not, if I'd rocked up at the emergency department, rather than going to my GP when I first broke it. I'm also about $400 out of pocket for the x-ray and CT scans.

Good luck, I hope the bills aren't as bad as you're expecting.

[SoxyMama]

If you are in VIC and you can go public, tee up with the Mercy. I was through there in around 7 months including lap to remove endo, all the appointments and follow ups and finally hysterectomy. All gone and polished in record time (lap was within just a few weeks, and the hyst about 4 weeks from booked time) and now I'm all done and dusted with no out of pocket funds, and five star public service. Compared to the crap hands I've been dealt at other hospitals I was amazed at the efficiency of the staff of the Mercy (Heidelberg). Know it might not help but I'd freak out about a bill that size too!!