I am wondering if it is necessary to retain health insurance that covers banding once banded.My insurance is changing from 1 July when banding will become a restricted procedure with highly reduced benefits.

I am just wondering what happens if there is a problem with my band e.g a slip. Is it necessary to have insurance that covers this or will any problems be sorted out via the public system?

The difference in premium is $105 per month which to me seems excessive! What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Lynn

I'm wondering the same thing Lynn and posted about it in the insurance forum http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f8/insurance-changes-after-banding-lots-uncertainty-116541/ several days ago. No responses so far to my thread. U.S. vs. Australia location might make a big difference though as we have no 'public system'.

Well my insurance pays for the fills so you would need insurance for that. The fills are quite expensive especially if you do them under fluroscopy which is the only way I would do it.

Fills are not a problem. In Australia they are covered by Medicare and we just have a small out of pocket expense.My concern is if there are problems in the future.

The situation in Aus is vastly different from the US which is why I posted in the Aussie forum.

Sorry didn't realize I was in the Aussie Forum, only trying to help.

Lynn;

I cannot speak to the particulars of the AU system, but if the question is whether or not you SHOULD have coverage in the event that something goes wrong, well, I think you should. Slippage and erosion are becoming more common, and they can be expensive to have treated.

$105 a month is a lot for the extended coverage, true. I hope that there is provision for something like this in Public component of your Health Care System.

S.

Hi Lynn,

I got a nasty shock when NIB advised the procedure would no longer be covered under my existing policy. So I've upgraded my NIB to their highest cover (I wasnt happy though) and I'll keep it at the max for approx 2 years after the banding to give me some peace of mind, just in case.

I guess it depends if you want to take the (admittedly small) risk of a complication.

Jason

Well decided that I had better keep cover as the waiting lists in the public system seem to be pretty long. I went through Iselect and have now changed to HCF. It costs more than my original AHM policy but a lot less than what i would have had to have pd to stay covered with AHM.