Colonoscopy Cost - Buyer Experiences and Price Information

My insurance covered the procedure. I didn't even have to pay the normal co-payment of $15. I was there at 2:00pm and out at 4:00pm.

Just got a bill for $28000. Was told I had 100% coverage, but Anthem is only paying $400. They expect me to pay the rest. This was a 1 hour procedure under light sedation, not several days in intensive care!

Way more than I expected. Anthem says this is their contract price with PAMF. I will shop around next time. I think this is a total ripoff.

Out of pocket costs were approx. 1200. Colonoscopy alone was 4920.00 Doctors fee was approx 1000. If out of pocket typically is approx 1000. This is great assuming you haven't met deductibles--but I think almost 5000 is too expensive considering the doctors fee is 1000.

For 55 yr old male in gd health (1 polyp removed)

HOSPbill:3500 BlShd:2500 Me:500 Writeoff:500
DRpre+opn+post:1350 BlShld:620 Me:180 W/Off:550

We are lucky to have a group plan with a reasonable deductible and 20% copay. We had already met some of our deductibles, so our out- of-pocket total was $680 and Blue Shield PPO thankfully paid $3120, after they discounted everything by $1050. Given that we can expect a 700 cost outlay, the other family member is planning to wait a year...

Due to my wife's "pre-existing" condition (the result of a misdiagnosis not her actual condition), we haven't had insurance since about 2007 when the economy tanked in our area and our over 50 rates went through the roof. I'm self-employed, my wife is unemployed.

I have indications of polyps, and acknowledge a colonoscopy can no longer be delayed.

If I can get quality care in Thailand for about $700, that's about a $650 plane ticket from SFO. Add in hotel, meals and local museums and I'm probably at $2,000 - or about a third the published cost of the Palo Alto patient, and still less than the out of pocket.

If I "invest" $2,000 on "insurance" we get less than 2 months of coverage that won't pay for my US colonoscopy.

Note, I'm in excellent health per my life insurer, rated top 10%. It literally doesn't matter to the "health insurers" as they'll find a way to invoke rescission or denial before making payment. Decades ago my wife worked for a doctor as his insurance liaison and their inconsistency and duplicity drove her batty.

MY WIFE AND I WERE REFERED TO DIGESTIVE DISEASE CLINIC FOR COLONOSCOPY TEST IN APRIL THIS YEAR.TO OUR UTMOST SUPRISE THE CLINIC CAME UP WITH A BILL OF $14,676.50 OF WHICH WE WERE EXPECTED TO PAY AN AMONT OF $5,230.66.I CALLED THE CLINIC TO FIND OUT HOW THEY CAME UP WITH SUCH AN OURAGEOUS BILL.ALL WE WERE TOLD IS TO CALL AETNA TO PAY THE BILL ELSE WILL BE HANDED OVER TO CREDIT AGENCES.I HAVE CALLED AETNA AND TALKED TO ONE VALERIE WHO INDICATED THEIR PART OF THE BILL HAS BEEN SETTLED.ON OUR PART WE HAD TO PAY $5,252.00.WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM THEM. AS OF NOW I HAVE PAID OVER $200.00 FOR THE SERVISES PROVIDED.
FOR PERUSAL PLEASE.

As soon as I turned 50, I was pressed by my doctor and the insurance company for preventive measure, to have this procedure. So I finally did. Had to provide all the insurance info prior to schedulling. No estimates for services were given, didn't give me choice of local anesthesia, fully sedaded me which my insurance refused to pay.
doctor charged $1300 adjusted to $588
hospital $11,465.50 / $5388.00
anesthesia $816.00 / $00
pathology $292.25 / $54

I can't afford to repeat this procedure every 3 years!!! One person called it gouging, I totally agree... no wonder our health system sucks.

Provider Virginia Mason billed $3114. HMO Plan allowed $1350, Plan paid $707. My bill is $642. Strange item on explanation of benefits: two services are listed, both charged at $1557. Plan allowed 900 for one, and 450 for the other. No differentiation was made for these services. I wonder if other bills will be coming in the following months.

I am really at a loss now for what to do. The situation boils down to this. On my itemized bill from the hospital I am being charged twice in the amount of $6,800+ for two procedures done on the same day. One is for Colonoscopy and the other is for a colonoscopy with polypectomy. The hospital says that people who have no polyps removed are only charged for te one procedure. But once one polyp is removed you are then charged the second fee of $6800+. This is outrageoud to me. My out of pocket cost is $3200 after $1000 deductible and 80-20 co insurance up to an out of pocket maximum of $2500.
I'm really considering getting an attorney.

The Doc suspected an Ulcer and said I had better get both procedures done. The hospital billed $4k, the doctors billed $1400, all for two procedures that took about 40 minutes total, and a diagnosis of "I dunno". Probably the last time I attempt (or can afford for the remainder of the year) preventative treatment. Don't tell me the private system ain't broken...

I see a trend here.. my ins co has been billed $6000 and counting for my 5/22 colonoscopy. Two diff anestesiologist for $619 a piece (what did they do while i was sleeping?). Medical Center $2800.. dr another $1200.. I had a polyp removed and haven't seen that charge yet.. I was in and out in under 2 hrs. Amazing that none of the cost is reviewed up front - learned a lesson - time to treat medical professionals like used car salesmen and dicker.

In looking over everything on this page, it seems that the "average" cost posted at the top does not match what people are actually saying it cost them. I was thinking this would cost me about $2000 out of pocket with my ppo plan but after reading all the posts, Im thinking it might be A LOT more. I"m 54 and have been having gastrointestinal "issues" so I thought maybe I'd shell out and have one done...now I am reconsidering.
I've been trying for the past two days to get an estimate from someone and have been sent around in one big crazy loop. My insurance company says that if I contact everyone ( doctor, hospital, anestegiologist) and get their name and address, tax i.d.#,cpt codes, hcpcs codes and rfu codes and give them all that info they will check in with the ppo group they deal with in my area and get back to me. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?? Surely someone knows a ballpark figure they can tell me. At this point, I'm ready to forget about it...or go to Thailand. We need a single-payer plan in the US. HR676 . Call your representatives in congress..demand it !!

Like the poster above, I elected to get my colonoscopy done in Thailand's state of the art international hospital, Bumrungrad. $700 USD for everything, unless you need a biopsy/etc, which adds a reasonable fee. I've used this hospital before and quality of staff/equipment is top notch (it looks like a 4 star hotel, complete with Starbucks and food court on the second floor). My doctor there was Chinese, US board certified and a graduate of University of Michigan. I would have paid more out of pocket using my insurance in the US, so it's cheaper to just pay cash here and enjoy the beautiful country. It really demonstrates how completely screwed the US health care system is. We NEED mandantory universal health care ASAP. The French, Norwegian and Finnish systems are good role models to base a program on. We (the US taxpayer) are getting ripped off terribly right now compared to our friends and allies abroad.

Although I should have been covered on a group insurance plan through my employer, United denied coverage of many of the costs for my colonoscopy, and I ended up paying many of the bills. I called and harassed them for months, reminding them that THEIR pay was coming out of my paychecks, and so I expected their cooperation in return. While I still got alot of the bills paid..eventually..I still loathe united healthcare,and believe they are a bunch of ripoff scum bags.

I am absoulutely outraged by excessive hospital charges... I haven't even seen the doctor(s) bill, but I'm sure it will bring my experience close to the $10,000 mark. The versed alone cost 240.25. I could really use it when I look at the charges. ha ha

I have good insurance which will cover most of the bill, but that is not the point! Healthcare costs are out of control and I am sick of people saying "oh, well. The insurance company will pay it."

It is a very sad state of affairs to just turn the other cheek... no pun intended.

I feel very resistant to undergoing a colonoscopy because of the possibility of infection from improperly sterilized equipment. Although unusual in private hospital facilities, it occurs more often than is commonly known. Also, the prospect of a rarely occurring perforation of the colon has me on alert. And now, having read the postings above, regarding the financial issues involved, I am having second thoughts about the wisdom of having this "gold standard" proceedure. I do have BC/BS HMO insurance.

I had a colonoscopy at age 51 and have history of colon cancer in my family. UHC covered the colonoscopy but not the cost of the anestheologist which is $769. I have filed an appeal with UHC and am waiting to hear back. Had anyone else had this same experience?

Routine screening on turning 50.
No family history, no symptoms.
Two polyps removed during easy procedure.
Walked out two hours after arrival.

Doctor billed $5,385 for: (a) colonoscopy with polypectomy; and (b) colonoscopy with tumor ablation;
Pathologist: $170 and $170 for "gross & micro" study on two benign polyps;
Clinic billed: $1,317 for OR, Meds, recovery, sedation, equipment rental.
After insurance payment, amounts not allowed, and an adjustment, I am out of pocket $3,280.

They want me to do this again in five years so I need to save $60 per month for sixty months to pay my share - provided costs do not escalate over the next five years.

So I'm not alone after all. We all, except for the Thailand tourist, are getting probed twice. The bill the hospital sent my insurance company was for $6417.29. Out of that there was a charge for "2 units" of "Gastr-Ints SVS" for a total of $5,078.86. $917.52 for "Med-Surg Supplies" and of course, $183.24 for the "Pharmacy".
I paid $165.49.
Then my doctor sends me a bill for for $3092.50, $673.11 of which is the remainder of my $1,000.00 deductible, and with an "adjustment" from my insurance for $536.89 I'm stuck with $2550.61.
His charges are as follows:
Colonoscopy with Polypectomy- $1210.00
Colonocopy with removal of polyps - $975.00
Colonoscopy with biopsy - $907.50.
This doesn't include the $400+ bill from the lab.

My doc told me he removed 4 or 5 polyps and would like to do another one this year "just to make sure he got them all" but then I'd be good for 5 years. My insurance company allows 1 Colonoscopy every 5 years. What the hell?

Billed Ins paid wroteoff Pat Paid
--------- --------- --------- ---------
$ 950.00 $ 950.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 Colonsocopy
$ 850.00 $ 832.62 $ 191.55 $ 658.45 Polyp removal
$ 160.00 $ 29.68 $ 60.90 $ 99.10 Pathology


While I am thankful for for not landing in the higher category that some of you have hit, I also have to agree with Greenville above - just what DOES this tell us about the real cost of medical care.

Having lived in Germany for 16 years, coming back home and being faced with this absolute stupidity is astounding.

There is a two-step cure to the health care problems in the US: 1) Base health insurance premiums on patients income, not on their risk, and 2) make it MANDATORY.

Billed Ins. paid Patient paid Charges
------- --------- ------------ ---------
$6,161.60 $2,525.38 $280.58 Hospital
$3,061.00 $ 832.62 $ 92.51 Doctor
$ 61.00 $ 29.68 $ 20.00 Pathology

Over $9,000 billed with almost $5,755 written off by the providers. What does that tell you about the real cost of medical care? Thank God for decent insurance coverage!

was billed by Hospital $6000 and $1500 by doctor..Haven't heard from "others" yet...
seems like $1000/hour is outrageous

I turned 50 seven months ago, and although there is no history of colon cancer in my family, I did have cancer of the femur at age 15 and recently lost a close friend to throat cancer. Thus, I reluctantly decided to go ahead and get the dreaded colonoscopy.

I am self employed and my health insurance in the US is $5,000 deductible with 80% co-pay kicking in and maximum exposure up to $10,000. Thus, I decided to get my colonoscopy while on vacation in Thailand at the #1 hospital used by just about all expats working there. The hospital has an excellent reputation throughout Asia with many doctors educated and / or certified in the US or Japan.

The total cost including doctor and hospital was approximately $700. Moral of the story is that US healthcare costs are ridiculous and need significant reductions and the next time anyone is in the market for a colonscopy, why not basically get a free vacation to Thailand given all the money will you will save

BTW: I also got a full "executive" physical for $350 which would have cost over $1,500 in the the States

I have a colonoscopy scheduled for January, 2009 and I'm trying to find out how much this procedure will cost me. I found out today that my insurance does not cover colonoscopy screening. And the doctor doing the procedure can't tell me how much it will cost. Not even for a simple screening. Since it appears I'm going to have to pay the whole thing, I'd like to have a ballpark figure of what it will cost.

And since it is not covered by my insurance, even if I pay the whole thing on my own, it doesn't get applied to my deductible or co-insurance. Isn't that wonderful?!!!

Crazy costs involved. Had two polyps removed and sent to pathologist. Cost over $5800. Insurance covered all except $2000 deductible - still a lot $$. It seems so unreasonable and I don't feel any different besides!

Hospital billed 8900
Dr. Billed 950
Anesthesiologist 500
Pathology
Pathology Dr
This was over 10,000 for 1/2 hour its criminal

Here's a new one: My doctor sent a bill to insurance for 2 colonsocopies, $1500 each! According to him, he managed both in a marvelous 27 minute span! The insurer dutifully paid out all but $408! The biopsy charge for a snipped polyp is an additional $700. Has anyone heard of this? The same place charged $1000 6 years ago. Have costs increased or are they billing more shrewdly? How can I have had two complete procedures in the space of 1?

I just recieved the bill for my colonoscopy. The doctors charges seemed fair at 355.00, but the Hospital charged the insurance company 9000.00.
This to me seems to be gouging. I feel that becuase I have good health care that the hospital is tryin to get the maximum they can. Since it was a PPO I will only have to pay 10% but still if you are only expecting 3-400.00 the almost 900.00 comes as a shock. Why should preventative procedures be so expensive. It is no wonder people in this country die because they did not get the care or treatment necessary to prevent a major illness.

Outpatient Colonoscopy and EGD procedures done in the hospital .
Doctor billed $1000 for the colonoscopy and $775 for the EGD(upper gi endoscopy).
and hospital billed $4300.00 for sedation,recovery room, and equipment use. Insurance knocked it
down to $2800.00 which I paid $2300 of my $2500 deductible.