Comments on: The Cost of Warren Buffett’s Cancer Treatment http://thebillfold.com/2012/04/the-cost-of-warren-buffetts-cancer-treatment/ Everything About Money You Were Too Polite To Ask Tue, 21 May 2013 03:13:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: kittenplan http://thebillfold.com/2012/04/the-cost-of-warren-buffetts-cancer-treatment/#comment-949 kittenplan Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:33:35 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=2007#comment-949 Are you saying that a single IRMT treatment costs $47,000? If so, I think you are interpreting the NYT article incorrectly. It says, "The approach, a radiation therapy known as I.M.R.T., can mean reimbursement of $47,000 or more a patient." I believe that is the total cost for 25-30 doses of radiation, plus X-rays, doctor visits, and treatment planning. I want to double-check these figures because I actually received IMRT last winter (on several lymph nodes, not a prostate; I don't have one of those). I had 30 sessions of radiation, and my insurer reimbursed the hospital about $8,400 for those 30 treatments. Maybe it's different for prostates, I don't know. Are you saying that a single IRMT treatment costs $47,000? If so, I think you are interpreting the NYT article incorrectly. It says, “The approach, a radiation therapy known as I.M.R.T., can mean reimbursement of $47,000 or more a patient.” I believe that is the total cost for 25-30 doses of radiation, plus X-rays, doctor visits, and treatment planning.

I want to double-check these figures because I actually received IMRT last winter (on several lymph nodes, not a prostate; I don’t have one of those). I had 30 sessions of radiation, and my insurer reimbursed the hospital about $8,400 for those 30 treatments. Maybe it’s different for prostates, I don’t know.

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