Cost of Modern Medicine, Insurance Reform, and Death in the Paleolithic ScienceBlogs (blog)
Cost of Modern Medicine, Insurance Reform, and Death in the Paleolithic
Two months ago, I fell on the ice, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, got emergency surgery, and two/three days later was released from the hospital. The paperwork I waas handed on my release indicated that the costs to that point were $20,000 US (all covered). I estimate that this injury will cost, medically speaking only, about another ten grand, so the total cost of this injury is going to be, let's say, $30,000.
A few weeks later, a tooth crown that I had had repaired several years ago ("This may last six months, one year tops" said the dentist) finally came flying out of my mouth at a random moment. So now, I'm getting that fixed. Associated with the tooth crown falling off of its perch on my lower left mandible was a nasty little mandibular infection.
So the dentist put me on antibiotics and we started the process of figuring out what to do next.
This tooth needs to be fixed with either an implant or a bridge. The raw cost, before insurance, of both procedures totals to about $3,500. So, about one tenth of the knee surgery. But, there is a question about what insurance will cover (they don't like to cover implants for some reason), so we sent off a request for information along with x-rays to Delta Dental, the insurance company.



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