Anyone ever self pay for Dr. Grossbard in Zephyrhills/Dade City Florida?

Im just wondering because I have still been researching in the event something happens again with my surgery (May 26 now)

I was told $24,500 which after researching other drs here in FL is really overpriced it seems.

Dr. Jawad is $14,000 and there are a few others around $17,000 but I have not another dr for over $20k so I am a bit shocked at this price.

Anyone have great success with any Dr in FL ? If yes, did you self pay and how much?

Thanks in advance

I also think that $24,000 for self pay is ridiculous. In the US, you can find a lot of doctors under $18k. In Mexico, under $10k for self pay.

The procedure takes 20 minutes to perform. With prep and anesthesia, you're out in 40 minutes. $24,000?? Maybe his insurance rates have raised. The $8500 fee I paid in Mexico was a real blessing!

If you're willing to travel, my surgeon here in Louisiana charges $12,900 for the surgery, 23 hour hospital stay, anesthesia and 1 year of follow-up care/fills. This also includes the pre-op EKG.

This is his outpatient self-pay price, and you have to pass a health screen to qualify. If I remember correctly, to qualify, you must not have had prior extensive abdominal surgery, among a few other things. I think a lot of his self-pay patients do qualify for this reduced price.

The initial consultation fee and psych evaluation is $175, which is not part of the above-referenced price. Any additional testing (blood work, sleep apnea test, etc.) is also separate from the above price. My health insurance paid for my blood work, after my co-pay.

Please visit his web site at www.whyweight.com for more info.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info :party: going to check out your dr. Tricia. Do you know if you have to have pre-op visits or and how many or do they tell you that in the site?

I set aside $15,000 for surgery. I have been planing on Dr. Ortiz since his reputation is good and nice price at $8,500, but would rather be closer to home just in case.

Is $24,00 the price that Grossbard's office quoted? He banded my son in 12/04 and it was quite a bit less. I did not have that kind of money either and opted for Mexico. I paid $7,500 for my surgery. The doctor malplaced the band during surgery and had it so tight that I could not swallow my own spit. The doctor even sent me for x-rays that showed a total restriction and I was still told that I was just swollen, this was normal in some patients and sent back to Florida. Two days later, I went to the ER. Dr. Grossbard had to remove my band. A couple of more days and I would have been DONE. To make a long story short, Grossbard helped me to get a refund from Mexico and a new band from Inamed and did my surgery on 1/27/06. I have never had anyone to do for me what he did. He is awesome!!!!

Ahhhh Fran you must be the person someone told me about. I asked did anyone have info on Dr. G (good or bad) and they told me about your story - or someone else similar to yours?

When I first started researching I thought I would go with Dr. G - UNTIL I found out the self pay pricing (Jan 06)

I was told the Hospital was $14,500, Dr G was $6,500 pre-op & post op testing etc. was around $3,500.

I decided to go with Dr. Ortiz ($8,500) because of this and go with Dr. G for followup care since he is so close.

:bananadoggywow: sorry to hear about your first surgery - please tell me it wasn't dr ortiz? pm me if you dont want to put it here, I chose Dr Ortiz because he did Dr. G's band and taught him the procedure and all of the happy patients here.

wow, when i called dr. g's office about 5 months ago to find out about financing they told me to ask for 17k from the bank. i wonder what that extra 7k is for...

i am surprised that it is so much higher than everyone elses. i wonder if the good reputation has gone to his head. LOL joking of course. but it is strange.

Have you checked out dr. jessee? she is in clearwater, and i have heard good things about her. I am going to go to her for my fills after my trip to be banded in Mexico.

hey fran...who was your doc in mexico? i am surprised that he would do such a thing!! Sure glad you got a refund!!

Amy, Dr. G's office gave you that info over the phone? they made me go to a seminar at Dade City Hospital to get info in Jan and told me that was the only way I could get it. Maybe I should call them like I have never been there? lol

Was $17k for 1 or 2 night stay? this was a 2 night stay, maybe the hospital started charging more? did the other charges I put down seem right? After researching I don't see why a 2 day stay - I live 20 min from the office and about 25 from the hospital.

Im telling you when they told us that, my mouth fell open because I had already checked out some drs on the east coast and se coast near miami.

The highest I had gotten until Dr G was $19,000, so I started searching OUT of the US :grouphug:

I saw Dr. Jessee's website, but they never emailed me back and no one could answer my questions that I called about well enough, so I put her on a back burner - do you know how much she is?

I have no clue what is a good amount for fills, because I just couldn't get past the pricing to bein with lol so I said $250 a fill and 4-6 fills the first year.

First of all let me start by saying Dr. Grossbard is very straight forward and doesn't beat around the bush. Some people call him cocky, but I would say he is confident. He doesn't sugar coat anything and I like that in a person.

Second, if you have surgery done at the Pasco Regional Medical Center in Dade City and are doing self pay, the cost is around $17k not $24k. The $17,000 includes follow up appointments every month for 1 year. He requires you come in to see him once a month for the first year and does fills for free within the first year. After the 1st year he charges $100 for an office visit and $200 if you get a fill during those visits.

I attended his seminar last night and he is the man that will be doing my surgery as soon as I get on my wife's insurance.

Jukebox Is the 17k for one or two night hospital stay?

Not sure why Dade City Hospital now (PRMC) would quote that price to me - maybe that was for RNY? [ponders]

I know I have seen where it is more than LBS, this was at the beginning stage of my research, so maybe I misunderstood that it was for RNY instead of LBS - that's why I asked on here to see if anyone had used him or knew his price.

ive heard Dr. G called cocky too - not sure why though, when I question this statement, I get things like - well he just acts that way?

He knows his stuff and is a great doctor - and done some nice things for people that have PM'd me about him.

I have a question about appointments every month - what are they for? I have read that normally you get a fill about every 6 weeks, did he say what the need for monthly visits were?

$200 is less than what others have said they paid for him to do fills on LBT- maybe he has come down in pricing?

Do you live in FL? Im just wondering what Ins you have that pays for the procedure if you live in FL?

According to Dr. G, almost all of his patients don't have any stay in the hospital - they go home the same day. Dr. G. said that Pasco Regional MC only does lap band not RNY. He said the appointments every month for 1 year are just to see you face to face and to see how you are doing. He said that is the only inconvenience to having surgery there, but he does require you see him every month. Regarding Insurance Dr. G. said that currently there are NO insurance companies in the state of Florida that cover weight loss surgery. My wife's insurance is through her job and it is Empire Blue Cross / Blue Shield out of New York.

Yes I live just outside of Temple Terrace in Tampa.

WOW now I am even more confused than ever [holds head in confusion]

So you do not even have to stay in the hospital overnight.

Maybe I have my hospitals and who I talked to totally mixed up....I used to live 3 min from Dade City Hospital (PRMC) and I called them when I saw an article in the paper...then I started asking questions.

Of course when I found out how much it would be self-pay I started searching all over FL for pricing and I see I have some mixed up information , then I got info for Mexico since it was so much cheaper.

I need to start from scratch and make new notes on who what where and how much. Im glad you posted and cleared this up since no one else had all of the correct information.

Right on the insurers in FL , I was told from BCBSFL. Hopefully one day this will change.

We switched to United American Insurance, and the home office said it was covered as long as it was a by a board certified surgeon and medically necessary - there is a 6mth wait to have it done per their policy.

i got that price from the patient care coordinator when i called the office. she scheduled me for a time to come to the seminar. i said i needed to get financing set up and needed the total amount charged by them to do this. she said to tell the financing company that i need a total of $18k. that it was $17k, and having a bit extra was always good incase additional tests had to be run.

that is how i got the figure. i never went to the seminar because i chose to have it done in Mexico with a doc with tons of exp. i am sure dr. g is a fine surgeon, but i prefer someone who has been doing it longer, and i found that was cheaper. that to me was an all around good choice.

i think dr. jessee for the surgery package is about $17k as well. i will be going to her for support meetings, fills, etc after mexico. i think she charges a bit more than most for fills, but i have heard she is phenomenal to work with and well worth all the costs.

Personally, I don't find Dr. G cocky at all. As a matter of fact, when I have expressed my gratitude to him for everything he has done for me, he acts a little bashful. He and his staff are exceptional. I received exellent care at Dade City Hospital.

Lisa-the Mexican surgeon that I had was Daniel Huacuz. I have heard really good things about Dr. Ortiz. Had I had the extra money, I would have chosen Ortiz over Huacuz, but there was about a $2000 difference in their price. I ended up paying alot more that the difference when the first band had to be removed. Good Luck with your choice, but from everything that I've been through, I wouldn't let ANY doctor touch me but Grossbard.

Make sure if you are planning to be banded in Mexico and go to Dr. G in Florida you clear that AHEAD of time with him. Many bandsters have done the same and he refused them as patients.

Sure is funny that if you really wanted Dr. G you could have the surgery in CanCun for $13000 and a swanky pad for a week yet he charges double for the states?