For All You Medicare Guys

As I was making my decision on what treatment I wanted, I found that knowing the cost of radiation is next to impossible to get. Not knowing didn't effect my decision, it was just something I wanted to know. So I'll share what I've encountered so far. I've got a medicare advantage plan, Humana PPO. The cost for the surgery route is fairly well defined out in the benefits book. Radiation just says 20% copay. Great, 20% of what? Nobody could tell me what "what" was!! So I decided on radiation as the best treatment. The total for the MRI, biopsy with sedation, pathology, fiducial placement, Trelstar injection, CT simulation & 44 IMRT sessions was right at $3000, my cost. Compare that against an est total for surgery of $1300, my cost. I followed the costs from my providers billed to Humana as the came in. The crazy thing, as an example, was the amount billed for the Trelstar, $15K. Yep, $15 thousand. When the eob showed up there was a huge sigh of relief. After all the discounts & negotiated pricing from Humana the total was $105. I'm not pitching Humana here. Far from it. I suspect other major insurers have similar plans. I'm just passing on my experiences. Don't let cost be the first thing you look at. Hope this helps.