I was wondering if the surgery costs extra if they repair a hernia? I think maybe I have a hiatal hernia having surgery in mexico. Don't want to get out of surgery and be sprung for more money before I return home. Anyone please respond.l..

I was not charged extra, but I was told upfront that this was automatically taken care of if it was found when doing surgery and I had to sign a paper that said this again. It's been a month and no bill. Although, I read on here recently that some guy got a surprise bill for the hernia repair, so it might be best to just contact them.

I found the article, hopefully this link works:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/151744-insurance-wont-cover-hernia-why/page__hl__hernia%20bill#entry1798567

I happen to be a coder/biller and the truth is technically yes. Its an extra code that can be billed. If you have insurance, its important to know what your portion should be do you have a deductible, cosinsurance (80/20%), and what is your out of pocket max.

*************example only****************you have a $1000 deductible, then coinsurance of 80/20 with a $3500 max out of pocket. Surgery cost say $15,000 $10000 for band and 5000 for the repair: insurance contract adjusts $6000 and pay $7200 your coinsurance =$1800+your deductible =$2800 with a $3500 out of pocket max you still have 700 before you are no longer responsible for any medical bills for you medical calendar year.

Again this in no way is a real life estimate. This is just an example of how the breakdown works.

If you are self pay get the estimates ahead of time. They may not be exact but unless there are complications they should be close and you should get a discount for self pay.

I'm self-pay in Mexico...