I am looking for costs of bone marrow transplants for MDS. This is
purely for insurance purposes as I know the charge from the hospital
and physicians where I would prefer to have the procedure done and
have already been seen there in consultation. Since Medicare would not
cover any of the costs, and our secondary insurance would cover some
or all of the expenses, depending on the usual/customary charges from
other hospitals providing BMT's, I need to know about the charges that
would be incurred in about ten such institutions in order to have some
understanding of what our out of pocket costs might eventually be,
since we are required to pay for the procedure in advance without
knowing what our insurance might provide. 
 Our insurance
considers this information as a source of possible competition - as do
other insurers, so we need this only as a guide line to what we might
anticipate our actual cost after whatever amount insurance might
provide.  We would appreciate any help you might give us.

I am a nurse working on a bone marrow transplant unit.  One thing you
will need to look into is your prescription coverage.  You will be
taking many expensive medications.  I assume from your disease that
you will be having a matched unrelated donor transplant which is very
costly.  I don't know the exact costs, but I know that prescription
coverage can be a major issue.  It is important for you to know that
it is a long process to go through.  For several months after
transplant you may be in and out of the hospital for various reasons. 
Talk to people who have had transplants already.  I would also suggest
seeing a movie called  "The New Normal Life after bone marrow/ stem
cell transplant".  You can get a free copy at www.nbmtlink.org  My
patients have told me that its a good resource for what to expect.