How to Avoid Getting Screwed -Healthcare Costs, Mole Removal

[Kevo]

My GF has some some odd shaped 3d moles on her back. She's knows she needs to get them removed and get lab work done, etc.

She called up Kaiser Permanente (our health insurance company) to ask how much it will cost. Apparently, the going rate is $500-$900 to scrape off 1 mole with a scalpel. She has roughly 15-20 that she needs removed, which means she'll hit our annual $5k out of pocket maximum.

Is there any kind of cash discount we should look into with out of network dermatologists? Should we call around and ask for a cash/volume discount? The entire process to remove 15-20 moles takes way under 1 hour.

In conclusion, fuck the US healthcare system. No, I'm not posting pics for you dirty bastards

[stuckathuntermtn]

Yeah, we really don't need pics of the mole.
Booze + yank it out = solved.

[doughboyshredder]

http://www.thailandmedtourism.com/Me...c-Laser-Center

As far as I know, if you're paying out of pocket, Thailand is the place to go.
You may be able to afford a nice vacation, and get all the work done, for the same it would cost you here with insurance.

[MontuckyFried]

Should we call around and ask for a cash/volume discount?

Yes. I went years without health insurance, and any time I needed to see the doc (including dermatologists), dentists, etc., I'd tell them ahead of time I was paying cash and wanted to know the lowest price they could help me out with. That always got things to at least half off. Even after I had insurance, I'd continue working that way, saying I would not be using insurance. It's a win-win, since they save money not having to spend so much in administrative costs dealing with your insurance company, and you save money! Also, since I didn't need anything major like surgery, I'd shop around, calling around to see who would work with me the most. Doctors have honestly cost me very little throughout my entire adult life by working it this way.

[jfost]

...She called up Kaiser Permanente (our health insurance company) to ask how much it will cost. ...

do you have some kind of weird KSR plan? HDHP or some such? In CA KSR is mostly an HMO so you only pay office co-pays + a deductible for a procedure.

[Kevo]

do you have some kind of weird KSR plan? HDHP or some such? In CA KSR is mostly an HMO so you only pay office co-pays + a deductible for a procedure.

It's an HMO with $1,500/year deductible for families and 20% coinsurance.

We are looking at what will likely be a $10k+ bill after lab work is completed, so we'll be out of pocket at least $2k.

[jfost]

It's an HMO with $1,500/year deductible for families and 20% coinsurance.

We are looking at what will likely be a $10k+ bill after lab work is completed, so we'll be out of pocket at least $2k.

there is no way to get removal + labwork for less out-of-network, and plus you would be done for the year in January so anything else is "free"...

edit: check the policy again too, it might be something like $500 per individual/$1500 family and the associated labwork with the removal may not carry a coinsurance amount. You probably accounted for this already in your orig. quote above - but just to be sure...

[Sicks]

Do you know that they need removed? As in a derm said so? I'm one that had to see the derm routinely, and what I thought needed to go turned out to be totally normal. Everyone is different, and even though some of my moles were raised ect, they are perfectly healthy. A tiny freckle I never noticed went, precancerous. When you say 15-20, it sounds like me, all worried because I had a handful, but turns out its fine. I did have 2 tested that i removed for piece of mind only to find doc was right. And he was right about the freckle too.

Edit: 10k?!!! It cost me$100 per mole for testing, and that was them sending it to Denver (a long ways away) for some lab cracky to dissect and test everything. That means 2k for 20. And 8k to remove is a rip off too.

[userA]

pay for the botox and use insurance for removal/labs

[DJSapp]

You can get an exacto knife and a bottle of rubbing alchol from Amazon for 10 bucks or so.

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my phone is better than yours.

[Danno]

How to avoid getting screwed by health care costs? I don't think that's possible.

[MontuckyFried]

Another little known fact is that you don't NEED your doctor to send your samples (blood, moles, urine, whatever) to the lab for testing. Believe it or not, you can get that stuff to the labs yourself and save a bundle! I've used http://www.healthcheckusa.com/ before, and it's insane how cheap you can get lab work done. Remember, a lot of the costs of doctors visits includes administrative costs, couriers to deliver the samples, and so on. What so many people don't know is that you are entitled to take your healthcare into your own hands and cut out some of the middlemen!

By paying cash for my medical expenses, and doing a bit more work on my end, healthcare has not cost me much. I know everybody dogs our tard-o American healthcare system, and I do agree it stinks for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons it costs people so much is simply because they are uniformed consumers and the system takes full advantage of them. I'm not talking cancer patients here, but average Joes who just need routine stuff or the occasional injury.

Check out this link from the broker who hooked me up with my insurance plan: http://www.c-ainsurance.com/smartcon...umerguide.html
Some REALLY good information there. He once told me how he even negotiated his double-bypass heart surgery he got a few years back. Only cost him like 15k compared to the almost 100k they told him originally. He paid cash (in installments I believe) directly to the hospital, and skipped using insurance all together.

I personally have followed the tips on that website, and it has indeed saved me a tremendous amount of money. As a consumer who wants to avoid getting screwed, it's all about learning how to work the system.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Do you know that they need removed? As in a derm said so? ....

This is my question too. I have a lot of raised moles on my back. Docs have never said anything about removing them. They look at them and pronounce them normal.

[Shredhead]

My dermo won't remove more than three at a time. So your also looking at multiple visits.

[Mazderati]

[oftpiste]

triple nipple perhaps?

one can only hope.....

[Kevo]

These are all apparently the bad ones. Barely 3D, but definitely not symmetrical

I think we may have to bite the bullet and pay up.

[goldenshowers]

You could always move to Canada.

Go to the doc and tell them you want some moles removed. Then tell them your right knee is bugging you and you would like it replaced. While their at it they might as well replace the left one and look at the hip. Before leaving ask for some good prescription drugs.

Once all is removed/replaced don't wait for or worry about a bill, there won't be one.

[CantDog]

Has she tried seeing her PCP? They can take off moles...

[iscariot]

Vet?

Paging hutash...

[Patches]

If its an option, you might want to consider the scarring issue and look at laser excision.

If you get them cut off you get scars... the removal can be performed scarlessly w/ the right laser. I think you can do punch biopsies on all of them at kaiser and then perform laser excisions elsewhere. Mrs. Patches and I do a lot of cosmetic laser work,mostly high-end aesthetic procedures but we do mole removals too, they are at most $100 each (and usually less esp. in quantity) but we need a derm to say they are non-dangerous first.

Not sure why cutting them out costs so much. Scalpels cost a nickel apiece vs. our laser cost more than a house.

I'm not a doctor though, so better listen to your derm.

[skinnyskier]

My GF has some some odd shaped 3d moles on her back. She's knows she needs to get them removed and get lab work done, etc.

She called up Kaiser Permanente (our health insurance company) to ask how much it will cost. Apparently, the going rate is $500-$900 to scrape off 1 mole with a scalpel. She has roughly 15-20 that she needs removed, which means she'll hit our annual $5k out of pocket maximum.

Is there any kind of cash discount we should look into with out of network dermatologists? Should we call around and ask for a cash/volume discount? The entire process to remove 15-20 moles takes way under 1 hour.

In conclusion, fuck the US healthcare system. No, I'm not posting pics for you dirty bastards

The going rate so far as I know is about $100 a mole, at least around here. The allowable amount per mole goes way down after five, so most docs will only do five or so at once. One problem with doing more than five is that it becomes really hard to keep the specimens straight. If one comes back ca, you want to know exactly which one.

[skinnyskier]

Path charges are more-I'm talking about the office and doctor charges.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I'm with you that the system is fucked. Over the years I've paid a shit ton in insurance and co-insurance deductibles etc. I know do a little better now that my wife has a government job. I assure you that $2K out of pocket for a fairly major procedure is not out of line these days.

Brings up the question, what is affordable health care?

[DasBlunt]

The going rate so far as I know is about $100 a mole, at least around here. The allowable amount per mole goes way down after five, so most docs will only do five or so at once. One problem with doing more than five is that it becomes really hard to keep the specimens straight. If one comes back ca, you want to know exactly which one.

The allowable amount they can charge, so they limit 5 per visit. Crock of shit, and the doctors should eat a dick.

After 5, you can have a few leftover weed baggies with numbers on them to keep track. fucking stoner doctors.