I am a newbie here to the board and Well I have been researching WLS for a few years and have been keeping an eye on the Lap Band as I feel it is the best choice for me. I am a larger then most Bandster and I am researching 3 surgeons in Oregon, Dr. Emma Patterson, Dr. Steven Tersigni and Dr. Raul Mirande, I am at the point of consultation and payment options. This is where my problem lies. I am out of work and have been for 2 years due to a disability but Social Security is fighting me and I am in appeals and my loving boyfriend supports us, he has a low income job, but does the best he can, I have no health insurance, in oregon I am not eligible for there medicaid program as they have made it for people with children only now and they do not cover WLS or so I was told and I was going to apply to what oregon calls OMIP which is Oregon Medical Insurance Pool, that is underwritten by Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon and cost alot and they have all WLS excluded for morbid obesity and I do not own a home we rent, we have 1 car and both of our credit is shot due to me being out of work and some past mistakes on him so I dont think we would qualify for a medical loan or a bank loan. So my question is does anyone know of a way to pay for the Lap Band that I may have not thought of? Our families cant help they have little income and I need this surgery in order to be able to drive again and get out of the house to work. Sorry for the long post and any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thank You!

Are you crafty at all? Maybe you can start an ebay business and sell stuff? Holiday baskets sell well right now. My sister makes an extra $1000 a month on ebay by going to thrift stores and re selling on ebay!!! And she is a stay at home mom and doesn't even do a lot of ebaying. She just shops with the kids and finds great things that sell great on ebay!

How about a yard sale to clean out the attic and make extra money???

You said you are out of work, so do you have time on your hands?? Try starting your own "home" business like cleaning houses and such. You can get free business cards at www.vistaprint.com I raised the money for my airfare by painting numbers of houses on curbs with stencils and reflective paint!! I charged $10 per house and raised the money in only 4 weekends and didn't even get to all the houses around!! My son does it now to raise money for stuff he wants.

My neighbor started cleaning houses around the area every week and raised the money for her surgery in just 6 months. She also began a babysitting service for preschoolers and kinder care in which she will babysit for the "early bird" workers and get the kids to school. They start dropping kids off around 3:30 am and she puts them back to bed and wakes them up at 7am to feed Breakfast and drive them to school. A LOT of people have to be to work early or have a long commute that requires them to leave early. It is super hard to find day care that early so she makes really good money!

Another idea is to start clipping coupons for groceries. Most grocery receipts will tell you how much you saved. Take that amount and put it in a savings account.

Depending on the value of your car, you may be able to put the car up as collateral for a small personal loan (may not cover it all, but it would work with another option your trying)

Hope some of these ideas start getting you creative! you can do it if you want to!!! GOOD LUCK

Thank You Princess n thep! I am not able to go out of the house right now due to a complication to my type 2 diabetes but th ebay option sounds good, so I am going to check into that and see what I can come up with and a friend of mine offered to help me sell stuff on ebay. I appreciate all the creative ideas, you have given me a silver lining to my dark cloud. Thank You Again!

I have the names of several patient finance companies that I would be more then happy share with you ..

If you will email me directly I can forward the information to you ..

marknjulieplunk@netzero.net

Have a Great day !

Julie

Capital One

1-888-440-2375

www.cosmeticfeeplan.com

APF Advanced Patient financing

1-800-392-5189

www.APFUSA.com

Reliance Finance Corporation

1-800-322-6377

www.reliancemedicalfinance.com

The Surgery Finance Center

1-888-942-6609

www.surgeryfinancecenter.com

these are the financial resources that Dr. Jay's coordinater .. Jennifer sent to me yesterday and I have already gotten pre approvals back .. I just need a co signer and I am approved ... I hope this helps you ..

Hang in there and everything will work out for the best.. Keep the faith !

Have a Great day !

So, I got the news today that there was an exclusion in my policy and it isn't covered. All day I have been upset about it, but this forum is helping me think of new ways to finance it.

I just applied with reliance, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed because my credit isn't that great. What should be my expectations for the time on hearing something back? Also, should I apply with several different financing agencies and get multiple approvals or will that mess up my chances of getting approved?

I'm pretty sure that if you are applying to multiple financing agencies you need to do it within a 24 hour period. It will show up that you applied at numerouss........

Hi I also am self pay try captial one!!!Thats what im using!!