Woman denied a colonoscopy by her doctor died of colon cancer at 39, friend says in viral Twitter

[wishstar]

22. Colonoscopy is expensive- my last one was over $7000 if I had not had insurance

I have had 4 colonoscopies since age 52 removing multiple polyps each time. Seems like the first colonoscopy 16 years ago was only about $600 with removal of one quite large precancerous polyp and a couple smaller ones. Oddly I had no known family history then but just 3 years later I convinced my reluctant mother who had bowel problems to get tested and she as diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon cancer and died very quickly.

But I was shocked to see over $7000 in total charges on my billing statements 3 years ago when 3 small polyps were removed by same doctor at same place. Thankfully my Blue Cross has paid 100% of charges for all 4 colonoscopies.