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What would you expect to pay to have your appendix removed if so needed? $1,500? $182,000? How about any amount in between? A new study shows that hospital charges are all over the map when it comes to such procedures, and most people are left in the dark when it comes to medical costs, reports
ABC News.
Researchers of the study, published Monday in the
Archives of Internal Medicine, found wide variations in charges for medical procedures even among appendectomy patients treated at the same hospital.
One such procedure, performed on Augustin Hong, a then-34-year-old financial professional living in San Francisco, cost a staggering $60,000. Hong, who went to the ER with severe abdominal pain, was diagnosed with acute appendicitis, and subsequently had his appendix removed by doctors.
Hong had not worried too much about the cost of the procedure because he had health insurance. But that all changed when the bills started to arrive. "That's when I got nervous," said Hong, who is now 36.
In all, Hong was charged $59,283, including $5,264 for the doctors. According to the
Healthcare Blue Book, that figure is six times the fair price for an appendectomy in Northern California ($8,309, which includes a four-day admission).
"My initial thought was, it was a good thing I had insurance," said Hong. But he soon realized the hospital was not in his insurance network. And while the insurer agreed to pay more than half of his bill, Hong was still left with a $23,000 bill.
The researchers, as well as other healthcare experts, said the results aren't unique to California and show the system is definitely broken.
