Okay so if I understand what the woman told me is that my insurance, if they approve me for lap band surgery, will pay 80% of the surgery and then I'll be left having to pay $11,000. Now I'm waiting on a settlement from the lawyer so that should be about $12,000 but I really don't want to have to pay that much. What are other options? I'm also not sure if $11,000 is what I'd be left paying or if she meant that they will pay 80% of $11,000. I'm waiting for the woman to call me back to tell me exactly because if all I'm left owing is $2,200 then okay that's a little easier to deal with. What are other options for me though? I know a lot of people say Care Credit but I already have a credit card through them and I still haven't been able to pay off $1,000 in the last year and now I'm up to owing them $2,250 because of how high the APR% is GRRR. I'm getting so frustrated because I finally am in the process of doing everything. I could have told my husband not to insure our daughter and I under his insurance and kept my state insurance where they would have paid 100% of the surgery but I don't feel right to do that to the state. Someone else in the state of Vermont needs state insurance more then I do. I guess I'm just going to have to start saving up and if I have to wait until next year to get surgery then that's what I'm going to have to do. GRRR why does it have to be sooo frustrating. But seriously is there any other choices? I know that my surgery has to be paid IN FULL by the day that I have surgery.

I think they are in my network but I'm not positive and I've already paid the $250 fee...I figure that if I do have to pay $11,000 out of pocket that I can set up payment plans but it still doesn't make sense to me so I'm waiting to see what happens. I'll be finding out WHY it costs that much

shop around...ive never heard of the 100k lapband procedure..no one in my area would charge that...in fact cash buyers are paying 12k....my insurance has it set so that he can max charge 18k to them..and i pay 15 percent of that...look around....i guarantee you that you are getting messed with...either that gal is wrong or they are a con game...call your insurance and they'll tell you what the CONTRACTED amount is with that doctor...I'm sure that gal is wrong.

Well the thing is is it's at a hospital. I have WellMark BCBS if Iowa but its PPO and I live in Vermont and I'm having the surgery in New Hampshire. I had state health insurance when I started this whole process. The reason why I have the insurance that I have now is because my husband is an over the road truck driver and the head quarters for the company he works for is out of Iowa. I'm guessing that she's wrong because I've never heard of that. Worst comes to worst I'll pay out of pocket. $11,000 is a rediculous amount to pay out of pocket when I have insurance

I'm having my surgery at a hospital and I'll pay 3k at the most. There's no way they are charging 100,000 for that surgery.

Yeah that's why I'm going to go along with what I need to then when it comes to the cost I'm going to find out how come they charge $26,000 TOTAL for gastric bypass but yet lap band is supposed to be cheaper and they are having me pay $11,000 out of pocket after my insurance pays their 80%.

At that rate you would probably be better off flying to Iowa and having the surgery.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking but then I have to worry about my fills

You state u have bcbs ia. It really dosent matter which state the bcbs cover is in. If the dr is participating with bcbs in their state they are par with every bcbs

Employers buy coverage in the state thier company is based

A employer can also choose not to cover the weight loss surgery also the bcbs. Oils have a clause that u have to see certain providers like the previous person stated a center of excellence to have coverage. This is how my coverage is if I do not see a center of excellence provider there is no coverage

I would suggest that you personally call the insurance company and ask what the coverage is and what the deductible and max out of pocket that u would have to pay. Also u can ask if the dr ad hospital are in network I think of u go to the lap band site there is a list of questions to ask your insurance. I also got these questions when I went to a seminar for the lap band

My doctor covers all fills for the first year....

The hospital does deal with BCBS and my deductible is $100 and max out of pocket doesn't have a certain number. I guess it's unlimited. They do cover the surgery (my insurance) but I have 3 places near me that do it and the hospital that I chose is ranked high compared to the others

Now I don't have to worry about my husband's insurance because he no longer works for the company so they are billing my previous insurance which I'm back on

and what does your old insurance cover?

They cover lap band 100%...it's my state insurance that I pay for...I pay a monthly fee to be on it

awesome coverage!

Yeah well it is state insurance so it covers a lot of things 100% but I have had to jump through a lot of hoops. I'm still waiting for my first of 4 appointments before I even get my surgery date. They still have to approve it and everything. I'm getting anxious and nervous and impatient lol