A tiny baby cast cost HOW MUCH?

[todzwife]

I just got the statement from our insurance letting us know that they've paid out as much as they allow and to expect a bill from the orthopedist for DD2's cast.

The entire urgent care visit was $486 billed to the insurance. This included the doctor, the x-rays, the splint and the $16 dose of motrin (seriously??).

Unfortunately, NO ONE does casts here except the orthopedist's office, so I had to take her there the following morning. JUST for the cast. The doctor "looked at the x-rays" from urgent care (they are all on the same computer system), but I didn't even see/talk to him. A PA came in, told me what I already knew (it's broken, she needs a cast up to mid-thigh) and took me to "the cast room" where a very sweet older gentleman gingerly unwrapped the splint and put a tiny pink cast on her leg. The entire procedure took less than 10 minutes.

Cost?

$845. For the cast. My cost? Unfortunately, almost half of that. Thanks insurance.

[misshollygolightly]

Holy cow! Was it made of gold? Call the ortho's office and see if they can work with you on this.

[Octobermommy]

I'm assuming the orthos office is out of network?

So sorry! I felt your pain at the dentist last week.

[todzwife]

Nope, the ortho's office is IN network! It was billed as "surgical svs" so I'm wondering if they weren't being honest. I'm going to call them tomorrow because that's just INSANE for a cast. My OOP for it is $360!

[crl]

Ouch!

Catherine

[niccig]

Ouch - check all details of the billing and maybe wait until the Dr's office bills you if this on the EOB.

I needed to see a specialist and was referred by a professor in that field. The room for the test is not in network, but the Dr is - and it's in the same office. The test room is 2 doors down the same hallway. The room for that 20 min test is billed as a surgical center at $4600 - insurance said it was ridiculous amount for that test and paid $600 and I received a separate letter telling me to contact them if they did bill me for the remaining $4K.

I never got a bill. I called and asked and was told they take what insurance pays and that is all. I didn't ask anything else as didn't want them to change their mind.

So, wait and see what you do get billed.

[elephantmeg]

DD's compression shirts-after her burn (of which she had 2) cost $1,000+ (my share was like 700ish total) plus $40 for each fitting (3 total) and somehow they still didn't fit despite being custom ordered/made for her??? They were supposed to be the same size but they were totally different. I remember thinking at the time that even my wedding dress didn't cost that much! And at 18 months she was pretty tiny.

[MamaInMarch]

It's mind boggling, right?? DS had a cast on his forearm last summer (he was just over 2) and when I got the EOB it showed a $600+ charge for the cast itself. And it was done so poorly that he pulled it off himself one day. The cast was about 5 inches long and about 3 inches or so in diameter.

[AngelaS]

When dd broke her arm, they put her in a temporary splint which cost about $250 and the fee to wrap her arm was another $230! She wore that for two days! Grr.

[khalloc]

Thats less than the cast on my DD's arm. She fractured her elbow last year and it was almost $1600. That included Xrays at urgent care, and a splint on her arm. Then a week later a trip to the orthopedist and more xrays to determine that there was a fracture and then they put on a cast form her elbow to her wrist. And last year was a bad year for us with doctor visits and that all had to come from out of pocket for us. Ugh!

[jess_g]

Can totaly understand. My sons back brace was $2200 (thankfully insurance paid 90%) and he only wore it for a year. Now its an expensive sculpture that we have displayed in the toy bin.

Hope your daughter is feeling better.

Jen.

[Tondi G]

welcome to my world! We blew through our savings paying off medical bills! It's ridiculous!