I have serious doubts that there is such a great disparity in fees for the 2 procedures. Procedure codes allow billing for arthroplasty/arthrodesis, with additional billing for instrumentation; there are probably other procedures involved in the surgery that are billed separately. Fusion may involve bone harvesting and grafting and perhaps may therefore have a higher total fee. I don't know the specifics but I do know that the fees listed for arthrodesis for BC/BS are not $10,000--but the total for all procedures involved in the surgery may approach that. Again, I doubt that the total fees for all procedures involved in ADR are that much less.
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2001 MVA; C5-C6 disk extruded
ongoing physical therapy, exercise and massage
ESI's, oral prednisone, trigger point injections
foraminal and central stenosis C5/C6 and c6/C7
2007 EMG/nerve conduction shows pattern of chronic radiculopathy
January, 2008: Prestige ST Artificial Disk Replacement, C5/6
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