Benjamin Hirsch, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lubbock, TXNPI 1326209891
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $9,427 of the $15,671 with a category attached, or 60.2%. Kaneka Medical America LLC accounts for 60.2% of it on its own, with 14 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $10,573, more than ten times the $673 reported in 2019.
Across 334 payments — averaging $46.92 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Kaneka Medical America LLC$9K
- Medtronic$4K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$864
- Abbott$375
- Zimmer Biomet$222
- Heartflow, Inc.$120
- plus $256 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$9,42760%
- Travel & lodging$1,0787%
- Food & beverage$5,16633%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Kaneka Medical America LLC | 1 | $9,427 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 300 | $4,406 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 4 | $864 |
| Abbott | 6 | $375 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 9 | $222 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $120 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $74 |
| Merck | 3 | $43 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $29 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $17 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $16 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $14 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
How this compares
$15,671 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 424 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas →
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 12 | $8,663 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 20 | $306 |
| Warfarin Sodium | 11 | $243 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 41 | $188 |
| Sulfamethoxazole-TrimethoprimSulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim | 19 | $95 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 23 | $65 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 16 | $59 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 21 | $30 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Lubbock
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
- Danny RamzyHouston$527K
- Scott OlssonCypress$357K
- Randall WolfHouston$283K
- Gary JettPlano$277K
- Darien BradfordBurleson$266K
- William BrinkmanPlano$266K
- Brannon HydeAustin$214K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.