The monetary hit of PCa

I pay a $15 copay for doctor visits and a very small copay for prescriptions, and that's it. I didn't pay a dime for any of my procedures or Lupron shots etc.

the most outrageous charge I've had to pay is for Cialis which my otherwise excellent insurance treats like recreational drugs but I've gone offshore and remedied that too.

so no real financial hit.

ed

When I had my SRT, my insurance plan had a maximum out of pocket of $3,500. My recurrence was diagnosed at the end of the year and my SRT was scheduled to start in January. So thanks to the timing, I was able to set aside $3,500 in paycheck deductions into my company's Section 125 plan. That, at least, spread the financial pain out over a year and also saved me probably $1,000 or more in federal and state taxes.

The ED pills have been a minimal cost, as I beg samples and take advantage of any free pills program. Trimix is something different, but no samples to be had. At .11ml for a roaring response, it isn't a big cost.

What hurts me now is the Lupron & Prolia, and constant scans / tests.

And I forgot to consider pads. That's another $30 or so bucks a month not covered by any plan.

After I pay the insurance deductible, I have no monetary outlay. No doctor copay's, no prescription copay's, no ER copay's.
But the 6K deductible is rough. :-\

From reading the other post, I have to consider myself grateful I had a good insurance policy, United Healthcare. I had to give my surgeon $500 at the time of scheduling the surgery but got a refund back from his office for $475 of that. So my surgery cost me $25 co-pay. Since then just co-pays for the follow up office visits.

Insurance covered VED pump 100% but not Viagra. Currently going overseas for Viagra generic.

Bill from Florida

We are averaging right around what 142 posted in annual medical expenses.

Now, we have to add a 40% reduction in his income due to long term disability. That portion would still be very manageable, but it is a constant fight with his LTD carrier.

After reading lots of complaints on the internet, it does seem to be the norm for that particular administrator.

142... you make a valid point. Perhaps that is why my letter to the CEO helped get the first battle with LTD resolved.

My daVinci surgery (hospital with 1 night stay) was $65,000 but billed the insurance $45,000. Then there are the pathologist bill which is around $4,000, my surgeon (urologist) $5,500 and haven't seen the anesthesiologist bill yet.

Luckily my deductible is $500 and maximum out of pocket is $1,000 (thanks to my previous biopsy) which I had already met for the year.

Thank you for insurance!

Interesting that nothing has been said so far about the coverage that Medicare provides. Probably explained by the fact that most everyone above who has posted so far seems to be under 65.

When I was Dx'd about two years ago in December 2011, I was already age 65 at the time, and had been signed up with Medicare as of January of that year.

Medicare as my primary insurance with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida as secondary have together covered virtually everything. Treatment history in signature below suggests the kinds of expenses that were run up.

So, if you can manage to be Dx'd after turning 65, and after having enrolled in Medicare, that will pick up a huge chunk of the expenses. Then, if you have good secondary insurance, that should get a big chunk of what's left over.

Simple as that, just get Dx'd when you're 65 or older. Makes me wonder if there have actually been some people in the past aged 63 or 64 who had suspicions of having PCa, but actually waited until after enrolling in Medicare to do something about it, knowing that the government would pick up much of the tab if it did turn out they had PCa.

I suppose stranger things have happened.

I happen to live north of the border so I could have had the whole process done at no cost...other than my monthly Medical Services Plan payment which is deducted from my paycheck.

That said, the health care system is a Provincial jurisdiction so different provinces cover different things.

A couple of years ago it was decided in the province that I live in, they wouldn't pay for the Da Vinci surgery.  They concluded that there was no proof of benefit over the regular radical prostatectomy.

I had the option to pay for Mr Da Vinci which I did.  For some reason it costs $5,000 to turn that machine on.  Some how I doubt that and I get the feeling that i'm subsidizing something.

And just so you don't think our system is totally socialized, I do have to pay for Cyalis.  I should have bought stock in that company.

I was on Medicare at the time of the surgery and had Medicare Supplement coverage. I paid nothing for all the pre-surgery tests and for the surgery.

If I remember, I spent about 2000 out of pocket for my cryoablation . Some of the money went to the company that leases the equipment.

I spending maybe 20 dollars a month on supplements. Also eat vegan meals out twice a day or so which costs some.

Surgeon billed 3305 insurance paid 1492
Hospital billed 21942 insurance paid 13423
My insurance cover 100% no out of pocket.