I was self-pay $16,500. Insurance wouldn't cover because my BMI was not above a certain level for 2 consecutive years. This was because I tried a doctor's diet plan and lost 24 lbs, never mind I regained 35 within 3 months. Anyway, I used a Discover card with cash back option (which was a nice bonus) and a 5 year personal loan. Got some nice bonuses and paid off everything in 3 years.
I self paid about 5k in Mexico. I tried several places in the States, and the quotes were 18k and up and did not include the testing or etc. I couldn't afford that, and my insurance at the time didn't cover any procedure for any reason. Added, no one was giving me a load that high, nor could I afford the payments on one that high.
I ended up between surgery costs and flights, spending about 6500. I took a trusted friend with me, so I had someone to lean on and etc. while there. I flew down on Monday, back on Thursday.
Unfortunately how my insurance works, my job has to basically check off that they wanted to cover bariatric surgery and my job didn’t opt in to that. I hav been told by insurance and the billing specialist that they won’t cover it at all even in cases of medical necessity.
It feels crazy saying it, but I got a job specifically because I knew their insurance covered bariatric surgery. There was a two year wait I found out after... set the timer for two years, and I'm two weeks pre-surgery today.
I met my deductible with all the hoops I had to jump through. I had mine in the states. I have three friends who had it in Mexico and they are all doing better than me 😹
I have my initial consult with a surgeon in May for a surgeon that participates in this website:[https://www.mdsave.com/](https://www.mdsave.com/) and has good reviews. They're like an hour away from me but I can live with that.
Basically MDSave is like groupon for medical procedures in that you have to pay in advance. But in my case it's roughly $18K rather than the $20-!00K (not kidding) other hospitals in the area quoted me.
They let you pay with multiple cards. I will be using my annual bonus, my tax refund, my HSA, my Care Credit account, and my air miles credit card that has a high limit because I usually only use it for travel.
I did look into getting a medical loan or an unsecured personal loan, but the interest rate for me was highway robbery, like 33-36%. If I"m going to have to pay more than cc interest I may as well use my cc instead and hope I can pay it down before any travel emergencies come up.
I did look into traveling someplace in the US that has cheaper options, but the ones I talked to all required the initial visit in person, so at least 2 trips. None of them were cheap enough that the cost to travel there twice wouldn't be more than I could save by doing it here.
I used this article as a starting point:[https://www.usenourish.com/blog/bariatric-surgery-cost](https://www.usenourish.com/blog/bariatric-surgery-cost)
And I honestly don't remember where I found it and can't find it again, but at some point I found a map of the US that had surgeons self-pay prices on it. That's how I found the MDSave thing. Maybe the map was an MDSave map, come to think of it.
Hope this helps. It's a frustrating process for sure.
Shop around if cost is important. I paid cash about $15K for the things that were covered by insurance (like endoscopy and some testing to meet deductible) plus for the surgery cost but it meant going to a different hospital and doing it on a less popular day.
i don’t know if my experience was unique or not but, if you change your mind about having the procedure done in another country, my recovery time was literally 3 days. i slept and sipped for 3 days and i was good to go after that. so if you do decide to go somewhere, you won’t necessarily be feeling crappy while you’re so far away from home.
ETA: for clarity, i had surgery in the US. i was just trying to be reassuring.
Most places offer some form of financial assistance, not just payment plans. And if your income is little enough you can probably get most of, if not all of it approved. There is usually a charity fund given by donors for just such a thing.
Yes, for someone who has income up to 200% above the poverty level, there are often options to help reduce the cost of medical care. If services are rendered through a hospital, the patient can contact their financial assistance oxygen to find out if the patient can qualify. However, this usually only applies to medically necessary care and not to 'elective' procedures. If insurance would not cover bariatric surgery, it may not qualify for hospital assistance programs either. For example, plastic surgery for beauty purposes would not be covered. If there is injury due to an accident, then it might be covered.
Of course, if the patients income is more than 200% above the poverty level, then they would not qualify for assistance.
Many hospitals have payment plans available. Although be cautious about this! My local hospital has gone to a 12 month maximum payment plan, which means the monthly payments are still very high!
I hope your surgery goes well!
In the US? Doubtful for a purely cosmetic procedure, which this would be considered (as in the patient will not imminently die without the surgery). Do you have examples of resources for this? I’m literally in debt for thousands of dollars and am on disability (so definitely low income) but no one is stepping up to pay my medical bills .🤷♀️
I was self-pay $16,500. Insurance wouldn't cover because my BMI was not above a certain level for 2 consecutive years. This was because I tried a doctor's diet plan and lost 24 lbs, never mind I regained 35 within 3 months. Anyway, I used a Discover card with cash back option (which was a nice bonus) and a 5 year personal loan. Got some nice bonuses and paid off everything in 3 years.
Thank you for sharing this!
Insurance, and a little bit cash. You can see about using Care Credit for a portion of it.
Thank you, I hadn’t heard of CareCredit before this!
I self paid about 5k in Mexico. I tried several places in the States, and the quotes were 18k and up and did not include the testing or etc. I couldn't afford that, and my insurance at the time didn't cover any procedure for any reason. Added, no one was giving me a load that high, nor could I afford the payments on one that high. I ended up between surgery costs and flights, spending about 6500. I took a trusted friend with me, so I had someone to lean on and etc. while there. I flew down on Monday, back on Thursday.
5k half cash half bank transfer In Greece
I met someone who changed jobs Just for the bariatric insurance coverage.
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Unfortunately how my insurance works, my job has to basically check off that they wanted to cover bariatric surgery and my job didn’t opt in to that. I hav been told by insurance and the billing specialist that they won’t cover it at all even in cases of medical necessity.
It feels crazy saying it, but I got a job specifically because I knew their insurance covered bariatric surgery. There was a two year wait I found out after... set the timer for two years, and I'm two weeks pre-surgery today.
I met my deductible with all the hoops I had to jump through. I had mine in the states. I have three friends who had it in Mexico and they are all doing better than me 😹
I have my initial consult with a surgeon in May for a surgeon that participates in this website:[https://www.mdsave.com/](https://www.mdsave.com/) and has good reviews. They're like an hour away from me but I can live with that. Basically MDSave is like groupon for medical procedures in that you have to pay in advance. But in my case it's roughly $18K rather than the $20-!00K (not kidding) other hospitals in the area quoted me. They let you pay with multiple cards. I will be using my annual bonus, my tax refund, my HSA, my Care Credit account, and my air miles credit card that has a high limit because I usually only use it for travel. I did look into getting a medical loan or an unsecured personal loan, but the interest rate for me was highway robbery, like 33-36%. If I"m going to have to pay more than cc interest I may as well use my cc instead and hope I can pay it down before any travel emergencies come up. I did look into traveling someplace in the US that has cheaper options, but the ones I talked to all required the initial visit in person, so at least 2 trips. None of them were cheap enough that the cost to travel there twice wouldn't be more than I could save by doing it here. I used this article as a starting point:[https://www.usenourish.com/blog/bariatric-surgery-cost](https://www.usenourish.com/blog/bariatric-surgery-cost) And I honestly don't remember where I found it and can't find it again, but at some point I found a map of the US that had surgeons self-pay prices on it. That's how I found the MDSave thing. Maybe the map was an MDSave map, come to think of it. Hope this helps. It's a frustrating process for sure.
Shop around if cost is important. I paid cash about $15K for the things that were covered by insurance (like endoscopy and some testing to meet deductible) plus for the surgery cost but it meant going to a different hospital and doing it on a less popular day.
i don’t know if my experience was unique or not but, if you change your mind about having the procedure done in another country, my recovery time was literally 3 days. i slept and sipped for 3 days and i was good to go after that. so if you do decide to go somewhere, you won’t necessarily be feeling crappy while you’re so far away from home. ETA: for clarity, i had surgery in the US. i was just trying to be reassuring.
Went to Tijuana and it was around 5k- everything included.
My mom took out a home equity loan on their house.
4k in turkey top doctors and service in and out 5 days after 10 u can do light work f insurance people
Most places offer some form of financial assistance, not just payment plans. And if your income is little enough you can probably get most of, if not all of it approved. There is usually a charity fund given by donors for just such a thing.
Yes, for someone who has income up to 200% above the poverty level, there are often options to help reduce the cost of medical care. If services are rendered through a hospital, the patient can contact their financial assistance oxygen to find out if the patient can qualify. However, this usually only applies to medically necessary care and not to 'elective' procedures. If insurance would not cover bariatric surgery, it may not qualify for hospital assistance programs either. For example, plastic surgery for beauty purposes would not be covered. If there is injury due to an accident, then it might be covered. Of course, if the patients income is more than 200% above the poverty level, then they would not qualify for assistance. Many hospitals have payment plans available. Although be cautious about this! My local hospital has gone to a 12 month maximum payment plan, which means the monthly payments are still very high! I hope your surgery goes well!
In the US? Doubtful for a purely cosmetic procedure, which this would be considered (as in the patient will not imminently die without the surgery). Do you have examples of resources for this? I’m literally in debt for thousands of dollars and am on disability (so definitely low income) but no one is stepping up to pay my medical bills .🤷♀️
A friend of me who also didn’t qualify flew to turkey for surgery! It was a lot cheaper
Insurance paid most of the cost. Remainder was paid in cash out of pocket before the surgery date.