Prostate-cancer surgery prices vary widely

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A study from the University of Iowa examined the charge for prostate cancer surgery at 100 hospital all over the United States, and the results showed widely different prices. The cost for a similar procedure varied from $10,100 to as high as $135,000 depending on the hospital, researchers found. Only ten percent of the hospitals queried provided anesthesia or surgeon costs, which are vital in determining the full price for a surgical procedure. A lesser percentage, only 3%, provided a hard copy of the procedure charges.

Per government records, approximately 138,000 prostate cancer surgeries are performed each year in the United States, and prostate disease accounts for nearly 12 billion dollars in treatment costs, so more transparency in pricing would be beneficial and ease patient concerns. 

Bradley Erickson, corresponding author on the study, blames some of the price variances and misinformation on prices that are purposefully inflated by hospitals as part of reimbursement negotiation with the health insurance provider. Charging a higher amount can mean a larger reimbursement, so hospitals tend to inflate prices as a matter of course, and such procedure estimate to not necessarily represent the actual cost of reimbursement or what a patient might pay.