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Old 01-17-2006, 11:50 AM
mmglobal mmglobal is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 882
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In many cases, the patients are completely hamstrung by financial or legal issues and cannot consider any options that are not covered by insurance. In your question you are not mentioning whether or not your insurance company will pay for the surgery. Most insurance companies are not paying and many in the industry don't expect that to change too quickly, even with ProDisc approval. For the insurance companies, it's not about FDA approval or about appropriate medical care, it's about money.

I've had people tell me that they cannot afford to get the most appropriate surgery done because they can't afford it... then hop into their car which cost twice as much as the surgery they need. On the flip side, I've known people who were living paycheck to paycheck (or disability check to disability check) who have managed to beg/borrow/steal enough cash to get their life saving surgery done.

Even in the best of circumstances... best candidate... best device... best surgeon... etc... spine surgery is not automatic. Many of us will fail. Five years from now, if one is looking in the mirror and see a grimace of pain instead of a smile, having saved 30 thousand dollars will seem pretty insignificant.

Again, I realize that many of us do not have the option and my heart goes out to those who's medical decisions must be based on something other than best care available. However, I know too many people who are looking in the mirror at that horrible grimace, and wondering if they could have made a difference in their outcome.

Mark
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