[shamon86]

Hello everyone,
I'm in the process of trying to appeal a pre-authorization denial by my insurance for TMS. One of the angles I'm trying to work is the fact that ECT (which my insurance does cover) costs more than TMS. But I'm looking for some literature on it. A study, an article or something that proves that. Does anyone know of something like this? I've searched online and found an article on ECT vs TMS with psychology today, but the articles main point is that ECT is more effective than TMS in general (which may be true but I'm not ready to take the ECT step yet).

Can you approach the hospital and ask how much they charge?

This is an article I found that you are probably referring to: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...hs-the-options

The problem some run into is that rTMS is still consider experimental by some insurance companies so they won't cover it while they will cover ECT. It hasn't shown to be as consistently effective as ECT, so it can be a lot of money spent only to have to go to ECT anyway. So in such cases it comes down to whether the patient can pay the cost out-of-pocket.

rTMS is also rather time consuming if you don't live close to where it is done. It is done every day for 4-6 weeks which is rather prohibitive if you have to travel to the treatment location and/or you might be trying to work. ECT is every other day for usually only 3 weeks.

The highest frequency of ECT treatments I've had was twice a week, for about five months (not just three weeks). So it can also be a big imposition.

Originally Posted by Breadfish

The highest frequency of ECT treatments I've had was twice a week, for about five months (not just three weeks). So it can also be a big imposition.

Yes, if you do maintenance ECT it is also time consuming. The usual course of ECT is 3-4 weeks, every other day-ish.