Metal Mouth Message Board

Had Xrays, photos and consult from 1 doctor which was paid already.

If I know that work that needs to be done is it unreasonable to expect a "ballpark" figure from a provider over the phone without paying a consultation fee which many places offer?

I suppose you can ask... and make sure you request both the surgeon's fee and a vague estimate of the hospital charges. However, be warned that surgeons may take a different approach for different cases, so you may not end up with the treatment plan you thought you were going to get unless you do a consult.

It would be highly unusual for a surgeon's office to quote even a ballpark figure over the phone, in fact, I've never known of anyone who received this. Consult fees are often paid for by health insurance if that is an option for you. Some surgeons may do "paper reviews" which is when they review all of your medical records, x-rays etc and give you a tentative opinion (but there is usually a fee for this also).

I have gotten several ballpark figures from several different surgeons. However I stated upfront that I am uninsured. I also stated that I was looking at double jaw surgery specifically. Usually the surgeons do have a set fee for uninsured folks. The hardest part was hospital fees...usually the surgeon would give me the numbers of the hospitals he/she used in the past, and then I had to have a little tap dance with the hospital staff to get estimates. They are not used to estimating anything. You need to give them the specific surgery, how long you anticipate being in the hospital for, sometimes even what medications will be used before they will spit out a number.