When I went for my consult..the dr office said they verified that my insurance would cover the surgery, so I was scheduled the next week for an upper GI. about a week after I had the endoscopy done, something told me to call my insurance company just to put my mind at ease...GASTRIC SURGERY IS A PLAN EXCLUSIVE...IT AIN'T COVERED...but the surgery center said that they will do a hernia repair and at the same time put the band in...(I knew that i had a hernia or something because I had horrible heartburn and throwing up) but anyway, so far it looks like my insurance will cover the endoscopy, conlonoscopy and sleep apnea test...the price they quoted is very, very affordable and they said I could make monthly payments...can they do this? is this legal? has anyone every had this experiance?

A major cost for surgery is the OR time and the anesthesia, surgeons bill, etc.

My guess is they will only be charging you for the band itself seeing they will have you in there for the hernia repair.

I would check it out closely though so you know "exactly" what you are paying for.

Plus, if they do not cover the band, you will probably have to pay for all your fills and followups.

wow, I haven't even thought about the fills, I'll have to check that out today, THANKS SO MUCH

That was the same situation with my insurance. WLS and anything related to it is excluded. If I had a hiatal hernia repaired I would've only had to pay for the band but everything else would've been covered. Fills were excluded as well but the doctor was willing to give me a break if I paid cash for the fills. It turned out that I didn't have a hernia so, I went to Mexico and had my band installed by Dr. Ortiz.

I was a self pay the fills were covered for a year.if your insurance dosen't cover wls it doesn't cover fills