Yesterday I scheduled a scrotoplasty to have the empty sack removed.

Today the urologist's billing department called me with a jaw dropping $6,500 fee for the procedure. Okay, maybe I was naive but I was thinking such a simple surgery (doctor described) would set me back no more than a few grand.

I did some sweet talking to the lady to see if she could find an honest way to get my insurance to cover it and she said she would try, but not to count on it.

$6.5K is just a bit out of my price range. Hell, I could fly to Costa Rica, save a tonne of $$$ and get a damn nice vacation to boot.

So anyone here who has had this done at a reasonable cost, please let me know. Thanks

Why not mix business with pleasure? Fly to Costa Rica and have someone take your bag?

Sorry to make a joke, but that seems ridiculously expensive. Hope you get where you want to be without entering the poorhouse. I’d try to find a tanner that would be willing to pay for it. Just a thought.

rogerwpbfl (imported) wrote: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:34 am Why not mix business with pleasure? Fly to Costa Rica and have someone take your bag?

Sorry to make a joke, but that seems ridiculously expensive. Hope you get where you want to be without entering the poorhouse. I’d try to find a tanner that would be willing to pay for it. Just a thought.

Yep, ridiculous !! Now I did contact a plastic surgeon in Costa Rica of excellent repute but in the meantime found a doctor in NC that will do it for $1,350 inclusive. I am making an appointment with her as soon as we return from holiday late July. The benefit, other than price, is that she preforms SRS surgeries whereas my urologist admitted he'd never done a full removal. So it's a bit of a drive but a few nights in a hotel in a charming city negates the inconvenience. Anyone can PM me for her details, although I imagine she is known to some folks here. Hey, it pays to shop around but honestly I am disgusted at the rip off my urologist tried and may just be looking for a new one.

Hmmm.... had it done in DC for $800 by a genital plastic surgeon. Neat job. Sorry to hear the story.

I tend to ask the taxi driver the fare before we start. It's kinda hard after you've arrived.

Mine was done in Pasadena by a visiting Swedish clinician, it was $1500. Justine x

Oh my. Yikes. I think I'd shop around. As you point out you could do a medical tourism and get it for a fraction of the price and enjoy a vacation.

Plus, if you document the problems you're having with your scrotum - sores, rashes, pain, redness and even the odd infection (I said document not have), the insurance company is far more likely to pay.

Ask about a "cash price". Payment plans work too, although they don't tend to discount as much.

Different topic, but I had a friend who went to the ER one day before her husband's insurance at work kicked in. They thought it had already started. She got a bill for over $15,000 for all the test they'd run (the hospital verified the insurance and oddly, she suddenly needed more tests).

Even after verifying that she was covered the insurance company discovered it was a day too early. Shocking, I know.

I asked her how much she could pay right now. She said she thought about two thousand dollars. So, she got her check book and I put her in my car. We drove to the hospital and and offered them $1,000 to settle and zero out the balance. Sadly, they said they couldn't do zero out the balance for anything less than $1,200. After pretending that would be a hardship, she wrote the check and it was done.

The thing is, if the insurance had paid, they would have discounted the bill down to the contracted rate. That most likely would have gotten it down to maybe $2,000.00 or so. Then, she would have owed the deductible (I'm guessing about $500) and then 20% of the remaining balance (so about $300 to $600 or so). So, $1,100 to $1,200.00 (maybe a bit less) and the hospital knew that.

Maybe the reason the urologist doesn't want to involve your insurance is that they know the discounted about will suck the air right out of that bill.

I had surgery last year and even as an outpatient, the billing to my insurance was over $45,000. But, the contracted amounts lowered it to less than $6,000. The hospital and doctor both owed me a refund on the amount they'd had me prepay.

The father of one of my daughter's friend was a financial guy at the local hospital. We were chatting a couple of years ago about health care costs after the ACA kicked in. He said that health care pricing is not like other things where you add in all your costs plus profit to find a price or like a commodity (corn, oil, copper) where the market sets the price and your profit is your cost relative to that price. To set prices, they look at what area or regional hospitals are charging - who set their pricing by surveying what area or regional hospitals charge. Obviously that gets a bit circular. I charge $X because Fred charges $Y and Joe charges $Z, and Fred charges $Y because I charge $X and Joe charges $Z. Obviously they have to cover their costs or close, which is in nobody's interest. (Somebody has to pay for the money loosing services. Separately, it is not indigent or illegal immigrants who really hurt their finances, it is retirees who do not have separate health insurance because Social Security does not pay a realistic amount and somebody has to make up the difference). He said that when they negotiate with insurance companies, everyone understands they begin with their total costs and then work down for a price on each thing so the costs are covered.

Bottom line he said, be sure to talk to them if you cannot pay a bill. There is wiggle room in a system where the broad goal is to cover retirees who cannot cover the services they need and prices are set to cover that. I would challenge what sources they used to set the prices. You have the basic info from some posts here to begin to do that. Do not be shy about going over that lady you dealt with.

Hope this helps.

Interesting this this was on my mind. I had a dermatologist go over various spots and discolorations. One concerned him and he took samples. I got a call from the clinic that it was not cancer, but that there were enough anomalous cells that they want to remove it. A person would call to set up the in-clinic procedure. When she called, I asked how much it would cost. She said that insurance would probably cover it. I said that I did not care about that, I wanted to know what it would cost. That flummoxed her. I need to wait for another call to get cost.

Holy crap! Are they going to gold plate your penis while they're down there?

Diamonds or rubies replacing family jewels?