I am scheduled for surgery on July 18th. Today I got a letter from the hospital that said they confirmed my benefits and expect I will have approximately $500 owed out of pocket. They want me to pay this now or at the time of registration. I have had many surgeries and have never had a hospital ask for money up front. Has anyone else been required to pay?

I have Kaiser and I have relatively low co-pays except for emergency visits which are $100 a pop. But, bariatric surgery is $500 co-pay up front. I checked my coverage right away, first to see if they covered it, and saw the cost then. To me, it beats $10K out of pocket (on the cheap side) if I had to pay for it without insurance.

Good luck with your surgery, hope all goes smoothly!

Thanks for all the replies. I feel much better hearing this is pretty standard practice.

I didn't have to pay the hospital up front, but I did have to pay my surgeon the difference that the insurance didn't cover prior to surgery. Now I got a bill for 2600 from the hospital, can we say payment plan? LOL

I am scheduled for surgery on July 18th. Today I got a letter from the hospital that said they confirmed my benefits and expect I will have approximately $500 owed out of pocket. They want me to pay this now or at the time of registration. I have had many surgeries and have never had a hospital ask for money up front. Has anyone else been required to pay?

yup me too, I had to give $10,000.00 up front and $5,500.00 to the surgeon up front. Yup this is common practice for self pay.

My surgery hasn't been scheduled yet, however, I've gotten a call from admitting at Providence Hospital that Tricare covers everything except an $11.00/day copay. I can't complain too much about that. From what I'm gathering, I'm pretty lucky. Good luck to you!

I had to pay 523.36 for my 20% copayment to the surgeon - I also expect to get a bill for anesthesiologist later. This caught me off guard because my insurance plan says the surgery is 100% coverage when done at thier centers of excellence... Funny how 100% coverage isn't :-/

Sorry you have to pay, that stinks. I too have to pay some upfront costs for educational workshops, nutrition. It comes to about $900 and the insurance won't pay for educational sessions. That said, I was so afraid my insurance wouldn't cover any thing and that I'd have to self pay, I'm OK with it. I had set aside some money in a flexible spending account, FSA, assuming I'd have to pay the whole thing.

I am scheduled for surgery on July 18th. Today I got a letter from the hospital that said they confirmed my benefits and expect I will have approximately $500 owed out of pocket. They want me to pay this now or at the time of registration. I have had many surgeries and have never had a hospital ask for money up front. Has anyone else been required to pay?

I am scheduled for surgery on July 18th. Today I got a letter from the hospital that said they confirmed my benefits and expect I will have approximately $500 owed out of pocket. They want me to pay this now or at the time of registration. I have had many surgeries and have never had a hospital ask for money up front. Has anyone else been required to pay?

i had to pay $3500 before they would schedule the date, but i am self pay. my surgery is on the 19th good luck!

It's not just for elective surgeries that upfront payment is expected. My dh had rotator cuff surgery last year, and we had to pay the surgeon a month before surgery and the hospital required payment when I checked him in on the spot. We were notified in advance so we were expecting it. Vanderbilt hasn't asked for money yet, but I go Monday for my pre-surgery consult so they may ask for it then.

Any surgery that is not done on an emergency basis is considered elective. Just an FYI.

Any surgery that is not done on an emergency basis is considered elective. Just an FYI.

oh lol I didn't know that

I have insurance and they are asking for the co-pays that will cover my surgery and the pre-op testing (I have to pay one copay for each). However, the hospital is 'running a special' (who knew hospitals did that!?) and are giving me a discount on both fees. I have to pay both co-pays less the discount on the day of my pre-op testing because they don't want me to bring any valuables, including credit cards or cash on the day of surgery.

I have to pay whatever I have left of my out of pocket expenses which will be $1500 before surgery.

I started this process a year ago and just got my insurance approval last week. Before they will even set up an appoint for me to get face-to-face with the surgeon and set a date, I had to pay my 30% and sign a contract with the hospital (and the check will have to clear!). Luckily, I knew going in that this would be expected and I am grateful that I was able to get a loan for my part, which is a little over $6,000.00. It's a lot, but I feel so lucky to have this opportunity.

And it's not that the surgeons are so standoff-ish -- they aren't. They come to support group meetings and do the info sessions and some preadmission testing (EGD). I think they just have to make sure the patients are as committed to this tool/lifestyle change as they are to helping us with it.

BTW, I'm new to posting, long-time lurker. Hoping to make lots of friends and join the loser's bench soon!

I am not scheduled yet but I am self pay and the total should be around $20,000..................thanks to my dear husband it will be paid up front. They do give a cash discount.