Out of pocket expenses - share our stories

That's so right Arpie,
the unexpected costs like assistant surgeon, anaesthetist, travel, car parking, billeting for those who have to travel, tests like MRI and echocardiogram, prosthetics and lymphoedema treatments and clothing, wigs and hats. It all adds up, including changes in medication, the list goes on.
Without speaking out, the system will remain broken and continue to affect people who are vulnerable and sick, I do hope that somebody listens.
Cuddles, Trace xxx

I Just remembered - when my husband had his stomach cancer surgery back in 2010 - we paid virtually nothing - and he was in North Shore Private for 10 days, as well as many scans, tests, bloods etc, etc, etc - maybe there was the odd 'out of pocket' bits - but nowhere near as many as my procedure has had! 

I guess I 'had' the opportunity of going Public right from the start - but wasn't really 'up to' phoning around myself (or NIB) & my other half (now confirmed with moderately severe dementia and about to lose his drivers licence .... ) couldn't have done it .... and there would have been a wait if I went public, even for the surgeon I went with.

I was in a Private Hospital and I had a shared room (which was still OK with me.)   I WAS given a quote AHEAD of the surgery - but didn't fully understand the costing part of it -  I was still expecting NIB to contribute more ..... they only kicked in with a few hundred dollars of the whole surgery total of about $4500 - which was nullified as they charged me about $300+ to ATTEND that hospital (on top of the hospital costs which they paid fully.)  Medicare paid out about $1000 towards the surgery & associated costs.  I was totally surprised all the pathology wasn't covered by either.

I can't see how they can call it Private Health Insurance when it ISN'T!!   False Advertising!!  I could also call it Fraud!!

WOW! Listening to it & recording it right now .....  Some vital info & tips there from Tracey!  I hadn't thought of 'adding' the cost of the actual Health Fund as well to the Out of Pocket expenses!  Bloody good idea! Well done @Tracey_B - you were AWESOME!

VERY interesting hearing everybody else's experiences as well!

It is the cumulative effect of BC.  The ongoing consults and tests that are not part of hospital visit all add up. If you don't have a Health care card it is the full whack at the chemist for all scripts as well as and it all adds up as time goes on. 

@Tracey_B was on the local radio on Monday talking about this - in a separate post 

I haven’t gotten anything either. 

Here are the results of the survey from earlier in the year:
https://chf.org.au/out-pocket-pain-closed

The survey had finished before I'd had most of my expenses in!!  HOWEVER .....

Because I was keen to get my surgery over & done with back in the middle of January - I went private for the surgery - I knew there would be a 'cost' - but it still 'hurts'.  I am not sure how long i would have had to have waited, had I opted for the same surgeon in the Public system .... probably a month or more - but that was going to do my head in - so I went private & ended up with $3500 'out of pocket' expenses after NIB/Medicare for the surgery - but that DID cover reconstruction at the same time as the operation & it was a very neat job.  Right now, it is difficult to tell which boob had the surgery as it was all done by isolating the nipple & the surgery was done under the peeled back skin - even the lymph nodes were removed without any outer skin cuts.  After removing the tumours (making my right boob a bit smaller than it was previously) - the loose skin was removed & then the nipple was reattached & stitched 360 degrees.  The only cut I had for the whole procedure was around the entire nipple.

There was the $450 I had to pay to the private hospital before surgery, as they were not on NIB's 'preferred hospitals' - and that was BEFORE NIB would pay any of the hospital bill - and also an excess of $250 to NIB as well.

$250 oncology bill

$160 re lymphoma check

Then $500 'blowout' of my pathology tests from surgery (for some reason it wasn't covered by Medicare or NIB) ..... not sure why!

I've never received an invoice from my anaesthetist .... so not sure if that will be a 'surprise' some time in the future .... if it DOES turn up sometime in the future - I will pay it at the same rate as they've sent it - about 6  months later!

I've spent a fair bit on lotions & potions - probably about $300+ - but they are essential to our well being .... 

So far, I've had $250 back on Medicare repayments ..... and just heard today of $280 re fuel expenses backwards & forwards to Port Macquarie for my radiation treatment.  I have more IPTASS forms to send re fuel rebate, too.

So I reckon my Out of Pocket expenses to date has been about $6000 up til now and still growing slowly ...... plus any PBS charges for my Letrozole - $7 a month for 5 years .... and other incidentals.

@kezmusc I have sent you a pm and test email 
If anyone else would like to receive email communication from BCNA and hasn't been, please contact us either by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling the Helpline on 1800 500 258. The Helpline is open until 9pm this evening.
Thanks,
Rosie  

Never got an email at all.  Actually, I never get any of them.  :(

@Rosie_BCNA (cc @SoldierCrab and @jennyss)
How simple would it have been for you to state the diagnosis date up front so everyone knew you only wanted 'up to date' data ?  There is always someone from BCNA on the site so as soon as the posting showed up you could have added that quickly.  We may be clever women out here in the ordinary world but we are not BCNA mind-readers !

@Summerhill38, @SoldierCrab, @jennyss The email about the out of pocket costs of treatment and Consumer Health Forum survey link was sent on Friday to people in the BCNA database who were diagnosed after 1/01/2015. This date was chosen to enable the most recent and accurate information. The email is the same as the FB post included above. If you are facing financial distress related to your breast cancer diagnosis and would like to hear about the types of supports available to you, call our Helpline on 1800 500 258.