Hi all…I have been searching for an experienced Dr near me and in my insurance network with no luck. I have had my telemedicine appointment with Dr Cognetti and am in process of scheduling with him. I have asked him and Samji’s office for quotes for self-pay because out-of-network prices via my insurance are outrageous. Ends up being cheaper to do self-pay as they give a big discount. So…I will pull from retirement to get this done. Anyway - for Dr. Cognetti, $1,400 for surgeon, $385 for anesthesiology, and approx $9,700 for hospital. For Samji - $5,000 for surgeon, $3,600 for surgical center, and $685 for anesthesiology. I would probably go with Samji except I am worried about travel home being hard as I live in Maine.
Also, I tried to get Dr. Paydarfar to see me at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and after reviewing my CT and history, he had his nurse call me and tell me my symptoms were not consistent with Eagles and he could not help me. My guess, he doesn’t believe in the vascular type. Just FYI for everyone.
Hi seiders,
I’m sorry that you’ve had so much problem with your insurance company & are having to pay for your own surgery…
Thanks for the prices & info- that’s something quite a few members have asked about.
Hope that you get a date soon, let us know when you do!
Stephanie, have you spoken directly to your medical insurance about out-of-network pricing? You should be able to appeal to have in-network pricing for an out-of-network doctor when there is no in-network doctor who is able to treat you. Same goes for surgery and the associated testing and costs.
Glad you’ve made your decision & are heading in the right direction. Both doctors are good surgeons & you’re right, traveling is challenging when you don’t feel good. There was a forum member who traveled from North Dakota twice to have Dr. Samji do her surgeries several years ago, & it was the coming to CA that was hard for her because of her ES symptoms. She felt pretty good after surgery & had no problem going home.
Hi…I tried to get in touch with Dr. song through mass eye and ear… I called mass eye and ear and the nurse was absolutely adamant to the point of being rude saying they do not treat eagle syndrome there and recommended women’s the same doctor that I’ve already been to and already have a bill for $500 for after her not knowing what Eagles is… Frustrating. . As for Dr. Anderson He is out of network for me so probably would cost as much as Cognetti or more although I don’t know because I tried to get someone to tell me what it might cost to even walk in and see him and no one could do that and they refused to let me see him without first doing an audio logical exam which was going to be around $400 out-of-pocket. So at this point I have about $1400 in out-of-pocket costs from doctors I’ve seen and gotten nowhere with.
I also sent my CT discs to Dr. paydafar at Dartmouth who is in network and someone on here are used him successfully after four weeks of me calling trying to even get an appointment the nurse kept saying he won’t make an appointment until he looks at your CT‘s and finally she called me back and she said that he looked at my CT scan’s and said my symptoms (vascular)are not consistent with eagle syndrome and there’s nothing he can do for me. So at the very least he didn’t have me come in and charge me hundreds of dollars just to tell me that.
I would’ve spent the dollars to see Dr. Anderson at Lahey but I don’t really know if he acknowledges the vascular type of eagles syndrome and that does seem to get in the way whenever I go find a doctor that I think finally knows about ES only to find out they won’t acknowledge any vascular symptoms and they are only going by the classic presentation.
I am so sorry! I had to fight Dr. Anderson to do my surgery. He sent me to 3 other specialists and I was cleared of very known problem. Dr Anderson did not believe my symptoms were due to Eagles. After the other specialists I went back to Dr. Anderson and he said he would not do the surgery, at this point I broke down crying and begged! He agreed to the surgery but only on 1 side because he didn’t believe it was going to help. It was literally a miracle and I convinced him to do the other side. I believe Dr. Anderson would believe more after my surgery worked and I gave him a full page of how my life was changed and he did seem to truly believe me at this point. It even helped my jaw to close correctly my whole life I have had a huge overbite but not anymore! I should have braces because my teeth are ground down due to the eagles but I have not pursued that because of the cost. I wish you luck on your quest. It has literally changed my life. It is worth fighting for! I don’t blame you for going to where they are willing to operate I would have gone anywhere I could convince them to do the surgery, anywhere! Any chance of signing up for a new insurance even temporarily through a broker so that it covers more? I would also call Dr. Song again and tell them you know for a fact that he has performed Eagles Surgery in the past.
Hi seiders50
FYI - even Dr. Samji doesn’t acknowledge “vascular ES”. I think most experienced surgeons put ES & its varied symptoms under one umbrella & don’t differentiate between types. You might get farther just stating that you have Eagle Syndrome & not worry about promoting that it’s the vascular type. Sometimes less information is more.
To encourage you, if you were to come to CA to see Dr. Samji for surgery, he requires that you stay for 4 days for a post op check (i.e. surgery Monday - post op Friday) before you fly home. You could even opt to stay beyond that if necessary. There are lots of Air BnBs locally that are much less expensive & more convenient than a hotel room.
Quite a few people have come some a distance to see him, & as far as I know, none of them had an issue w/ the flight home.
Not sure if this is any help but Dr Davidson in Washington DC (Georgetown) does intraoral same day in and out procedure. That has to be less than a hospital stay.
