Deviated Septum and Rhinoplasty Combined Surgery Costs?

It is hard to say how much the cosmetic portion would cost without seeing your nose. There are also wide variations in fees based on your region in the country. As a rough estimate I suspect the cosmetic portion would be about $4500-9000, including operating room and anesthesia fees. This doesn't include your co-pay for the insurance side, though.

The OR, anesthesia and surgeon's cost are based on the amount of time required.  OR time and anesthesia time is approximately $1,000 an hour and the surgeon's time is about $2,000 an hour.  If an additional hour is required then it would be $3,000 more.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Combining a cosmetic rhinoplasty with a septoplasty can save you some money but the costs can vary significantly depending on a number of factors. The key is to know up,front how much out of pocket you will be responsible for so that there are no surprises, such as a huge hospital bill after the fact.  You will almost certainly be best off having it done in a surgeon's office surgicenter where you can find out from the doctor's office what you will be responsible for.  Most hospitals are wise to the idea of trying to have insurance pay for part of the cosmetic procedure and may even ask for money in advance, somdon't try to beat them at their own game.  It could be expensive.

You are correct in your assumption that having a combined septorhinoplasty (insurance/cosmetic split) will help reduce some costs. But the actual cost savings is never as great as many patients believe because the OR and anesthesia costs for the cosmetic rhinoplasty portion will not be covered by insurance and must be paid separately and in advance just like the surgeon's fee. As a ballpark expect to pay about $4500 to $5000 in up front cosmetic fees.

Most hospitals and surgicenters will significantly reduce the OR and anesthesia cost when performing a combined insured procedure with a cosmetic one.  In my region, combined OR and Anesthesia costs are about ~$1000/per hour.  When combining with a cosmetic procedure, the surgeon can estimate how much time is needed for the cosmetic portion which is shorter as you are already under anesthesia.  As much as 30 minutes to 1 hour of pre and post surgical OR time are calculated into the full cost when performing a completely cosmetic procedure.Most surgeons also will also reduce their cosmetic fees when combining with an insured procedure.

It's usually easy to figure out the surgeon's part. He can tell you how much he will charge for the cosmetic portion of the surgery. The more difficult part is determining how much additional the hospital/anesthesia provider will charge. In my hospital they time each portion of the procedure so although some money may be saved during the septoplasty portion - there is no savings for the Rhinoplasty portion. If you are fortunate, and have a good insurance plan and a reasonable hospital you may save yourself as much as several thousand dollars. However, I have had cases where having the patient pay out of pocket was actually less expensive because the hospital charged less overall as part of a cosmetic surgery discount they give patients that pay out of pocket. You need to find a surgeon who will work with you to determine which approach is most cost friendly. Best of Luck  Dr Harrell

 It's not likely that a significant portion of the Septorhinoplasty surgery will be covered by your insurance.  

You are correct that the insurance company will usually cover the functional part of your surgery. Cost will vary depending on the experience and geographical location of your surgeon. However it is impossible to give you an estimate of your out of pocket  expenses because there is tremendous variation in what different insurance companies pay for this surgery.