Here is a question that is along the same lines as the questions about unethical bandsters...

Is it right that a patient with NO insurance pays a higher price for surgery than the insurance companies pay???

My surgeon billed my insurance company about $35,000 for my surgery and the cost of the band. My insurance company only paid about $7000 total. However, cash pay price is $15,000. Surgeons will accept minimal reimbursement from insurance companies but make those with no insurance pay a higher price and call it a "discounted cash price". It IS discounted from the original $35,000 they bill, but it is 50% higher than what they get paid for folks with insurance. How is that fair???

Opinions???

Kathy

That's a great point...and one I would like to hear a doctor answer. I think if any of these doctors were bright enough to figure it out they could capture the 100s of thousands of dollars being spent in Mexico every year.

Any doctors in the house?

I have often wondered that too when I hear fellow bandsters in my support group talk about how much their insurance companies actually paid vs what I had to shell out being self pay......doesn't seem quite right. But when you are desperate for something as bad as I was...the thought never crossed my mind pre-op....only after hearing the stories of others.

That seems unethical. The doc I checked into here in the states charged 16k total 15k if paying cash.