Cost of a Colonoscopy?

Any idea how much your gastro charges for colonoscopies? Know of any web sites that list costs for various procedures? Such sites seemed to be cropping up a few years ago.

My gastro charged me almost $900 for a cscope 3 years ago. Now it appears to be almost $600, but they also tack on a facility fee (over $800), plus they now use anesthesiologists which as you can imagine tacks on another big fee, plus any lab fees. Those are self-pay rates -- if they bill insurance then their fees are more than doubled (!).

For those of you with (good) health insurance, does it usually pick up the full cost, or does your deductible apply, or a co-pay? My (high-deductible) insurance says it covers a max of 2 lifetime preventative colonoscopies, but I'm not sure if that applies for colonoscopies for diagnosing and monitoring CD.

WOW, that sucks, I'm glad it's covered by our provincial health care here in Canada...we don't pay out of pocket for hospital stuff or tests (only cosmetic surgery isn't covered).

:)

It all depends, I'm sure it varies for each province...because I'm already an existing patient with my GI, if I wanted one I could probably get one with in a couple of weeks or less, still it depends on how booked they are, cancellations, ect.

We pay higher taxes in Canada, but it's worth it, especially when you have a chronic illness and having to make more trips to the docs/specialists/hospital than the average bear. That's another thing that makes universal health care so good, doesn't matter if you have insurance (cuz tests and doc/hospital visits) don't go through insurance, they go through individual provincial health care systems, so everyone is covered.

:)

I developed anemia almost overnight so they thought I was bleeding internally. They took me right in for the consultation, confirmed that I needed a colonoscopy ASAP. It then took me just over 4 weeks to get an "emergency" colonoscopy here in the good old USA. I called around and no one would do it sooner.

I'm Canadian as well, I live in Quebec. I've only had one colonoscopy but it was done in 2 weeks, and that was because my doctor was on vacation during those 2 weeks and she booked me for as soon as she got back. I have also had an endoscopy done privately, it cost me $450 and I got in after about 3 days. You can do the same for a colonoscopy here and it's about $600 if I remember correctly. I do most of my tests privately because the wait time is so short here for them, and they are usually covered under private insurance (scopes aren't unfortunately).

Same with me,$100 co-pay,with Bluepoint2.
Usually the wait is 2 months,unless there is a concern.
Bad idea to raise out of pocket co-pays,people will avoid
colonoscopies,and not get treated.
I'm sure insurance companies know the cost of surgery!
Or do they???

The colonoscopy I get in my doctor's office is about $1,000 total - that includes the doctor's time, the IV/anesthesia, and some other assorted stuff. My insurance is an 80/20 setup so after the negotiated rates it costs me less than $100 out of pocket. A pretty good deal, especially considering I had three of them last year.

ok I'll speak up for British Columbia. No cost but my GI has a non emergency waiting period of around 2-3 months.

Valerie3 said...
I'm Canadian as well, I live in Quebec. I've only had one colonoscopy but it was done in 2 weeks, and that was because my doctor was on vacation during those 2 weeks and she booked me for as soon as she got back. I have also had an endoscopy done privately, it cost me $450 and I got in after about 3 days. You can do the same for a colonoscopy here and it's about $600 if I remember correctly. I do most of my tests privately because the wait time is so short here for them, and they are usually covered under private insurance (scopes aren't unfortunately).

I imagine the equipment in private clinics is much more modern too? I recently saw a documentary about healthcare in Quebec and the filmmakers found it nearly impossible to get treated anytime soon. Also, more and more private clinics were cropping up.

GDen said...

Valerie3 said...
I'm Canadian as well, I live in Quebec. I've only had one colonoscopy but it was done in 2 weeks, and that was because my doctor was on vacation during those 2 weeks and she booked me for as soon as she got back. I have also had an endoscopy done privately, it cost me $450 and I got in after about 3 days. You can do the same for a colonoscopy here and it's about $600 if I remember correctly. I do most of my tests privately because the wait time is so short here for them, and they are usually covered under private insurance (scopes aren't unfortunately).

I imagine the equipment in private clinics is much more modern too? I recently saw a documentary about healthcare in Quebec and the filmmakers found it nearly impossible to get treated anytime soon. Also, more and more private clinics were cropping up.

Lol, yeah, of course. When you go private here, you get amazing facilities and care, and our hospitals don't always have the newest facilities. I wouldn't say it's nearly impossible to get treated anytime soon though, my GI works at the Montreal General Hospital (which is the teaching hospital for McGill), and I've seen her the same day when I'm ill, gotten a scope in under 2 weeks and can get appointments whenever I want, really. Same with my family doctor, if it's important, I see her the same day, if not I wait 2-3 days tops. I've only been to the ER once, and I waited half an hour max. I know that some people have bad experiences here, but I wouldn't say it's like that for everyone. I doubt that I could get better health care anywhere else.

GDEN: They really got you by the short ones. You should be scoped every two years to screen for polyps and cancer but two grand!? Maybe you should push it to three years. Set aside the money each month and/or in the year you are going to get it done do one of those tax free flexible spending medical savings accounts.

Here's a pricing site:

www.healthcarefees.com/healthcare-prices/42-outpatient-surgery/72-colonoscopy

colonoscopy: $1350 - $3700

I'm thinking I may push mine to every other year because of my copay. My GI would like to do one every year, but right now I'm unemployed so I just can't afford my copay.