Price of a pacemaker

Prior to my having my pacemaker (Medtronic-dual lead) installed I had a difficult time finding anyone who could tell me what they cost. Even the hospital said they didn't know and I shouldn't worry about since my insurance would cover it.

Well I just saw my insurance claim for it. The pacemaker and leads, nothing else, was $15,422. Wow....can you believe it? The rest of the bill was about $45,000 but I also had a lot of tests beforehand.

11 Comments

Price

by Red1958 - 2008-05-31 07:05:49

My 3 wire st-jude crt-d total bill was 140,000 .My out of pocket expense was 4,000. I think this included my heart cath too

Adjustments in bill

by auntiesamm - 2008-05-31 08:05:10


What you saw is the actual "cost" or amount that was billed to your insurance company, whether it be Medicare, a HMO or other insurance. You can bet the hospital will get just a fraction of that amount based on a pre-negotiated rate. My guess is that hospital, if lucky, will collect about 25% of the total billed. The balance is a write-off. I belong to a Medicare HMO and my co-pay in May '06 was $300.00. Yes, we have very good coverage through a not-for-profit HMO in So. California.

Sharon

Pacemaker $$$

by boatman50 - 2008-05-31 08:05:58

One Pacemaker.............$15,422
Hospital Costs...............$45,000
You being here...............$Priceless!

It is amazing what it costs, but it sure is nice to have this little wonder!

Cha-ching!

by ela-girl - 2008-05-31 09:05:35

Hey, Boatman....you should write commericals! LOL That was a good one!

After all was said and done, my costs were around 70,000.

ela-girl

Boatman is Right!

by auntiesamm - 2008-05-31 11:05:52


Thank you! You are so right...............at any cost I am glad to be here!

Sharon

righto

by jessie - 2008-06-01 01:06:53

yes it is sure good to be here and be able to enjoy every day. no price can be put on it. jessie

I'm finally worth something!

by coryi711 - 2008-06-01 02:06:58

A 3 day stay at Florida Medical Center cardiac icu/ccu:
Room and Board.........$ 7,130.00 ate 1/2 of one meal
IH Misc. Services........$ 93,985.79
IH Misc. Services........$ 30,624.52
Electrophsyologist.......$ 4,080.00

Total $ 135,820.31 retail

Insurance plan settled $ 73,474.75
my deductible..............$ 1,250.00

Total paid $ 74,724.75 wholesale

My wife is thinking about trying to pawn me... lol

COST OF PACEMAKER

by peter - 2008-06-01 03:06:17

A pacemaker consists of no more than a tiny printed circuit board which has no more on it than a special low power microprocessor plus a few more components. Then there is the battery and titanium case. They are assembled and tested in space age clean rooms just like a laptop computer would . The laptop can be bought for $500 but the pacemaker which contains far less technology and far less components is sold for up to $70000 . There is something decidedly wrong with this industry. The battery life seems either to have reached a plateau or in many cases is a lot less than it was.My neighbour has gone from 15 year life plus, to 7 years plus with his new pacemaker, which is doing exactly the same job. Its not difficult to work out why that is, and why new battery developements that will greatly extend the life of your pacemaker will probably never see the light of day.Cheers Peter

re:worth something

by coryi711 - 2008-06-01 03:06:42

I had forgot to mention.. I died during the EP study and had to stay in cardiac icu/ccu 2 nights. The next morning I was fitted with a 2 lead, dual chamber pacemaker, defibrilator with built in full time monitoring .

PM Cost

by patpeter - 2008-06-01 07:06:10

What's happening is insurances are driving healthcare, they dictate the kind of care we recieve whether it's a pacemaker or getting our appendix out. Clinicians , MD, therapists, whoever hands are tied because everything they do is directed by insurance. It's quite sad really, everything is about money. So who knows really how much a pacemaker and surgery truly costs? Only the insurance companies know for sure! That's my humble take on it !

Pat

It is all about the $

by Swedeheart - 2008-06-02 02:06:30

I am rather cynical about the insurance and payments... so take my statements with that in mind. I have been fortunate and have excellent insurance (which costs me a big amount each month...) but with my hubby as a heart patient and now me... it is worth it! I have been pleased with my insurance and they almost always pay 100%. But the downside is we have a $2,000,000. lifetime limit per patient. Now that sounds like a lot of money, but with some of the tests and things I have had, $50K goes by in a flash! I worry about the day when I reach my limit! Yikes! I don't think other carriers will be waiting in line to "cash in" on my health costs...so I try to scrutinize every penny doctors/hospitals/etc. spend to make sure I am getting my money's worth. The thing I hate to see is the tiny bit they pay my doctor and the huge amounts they pay for things like the pink wash tubs one gets to take home from the hospital....

Well enough of my rant.
Swedeheart

You know you're wired when...

Your favorite poem is “Ode to a Cardiac Node”.

Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker since 2002 and ever since then my life has been a total blessing.