I am not rich, I don't have the money to drive out to cooperstown all the time. That's 126 miles EACH DIRECTION! I don't even know if my car will make it that far. That is my ONLY option though because I can't afford to pay out of pocket. I really just want to give up and go crawl in a hole. This is bs.

Is that for just the surgery? Maybe you can go to a closer doc for the follow up visits? Maybe your primary care doc can do them, I dont see why not, it isnt rocket science to weigh someone and ask what they eat etc. I would call the insurance and ask for sure. Best of luck to you!

My insurance company required my surgery to be at a Center of Excellence which was 3 1/2 hours away. They paid for the hotel for my parents and for the gas to get to the hospital. Thankfully my Dr. has an office 20 min from me that he sees patients at every 2 months. I have only had to see my Dr. 3 times so far since my surgery 9 months ago. Check with your insurance about reimbursement of travel expense. Hope this helps and I wish you the best.

I went to a local doctor, so my experience is different, but I just wanted to say that I agree with the others - you should be able to just go to your primary care doctor for followups & only to Cooperstown once every 3-6 months or if there are more serious issues that your primary care can't handle. My followups are every 6 weeks for the first year, but not all doctors do that. There are tons of people who go to Mexico or even other states for surgery & then just see a local doctor if they need anything. I would talk to the doctor in Cooperstown and explain the distance issue and see if they're fine with you following up by phone or less often & go from there.

As others have already suggested, see if you can do some of it locally. It's going to depend on your insurance, and to a tiny degree your surgeon. Mostly insurance, I'd guess. E.g. pre-op diagnostic stuff can generally be done at any in-network facility, unless your surgeon requires it be done through him or a team he works with. Post-op visits are so few, and are usually for you & for the surgeon. i.e. not mandated by insurance.

My commute to work is about 500 miles a week, right around 100 miles per day, so 126 miles one way doesn't sound that bad to me, considering it would be so few times, but do you have any other options? E.g. a bus, or a rideshare program, or someone you can get a ride with, or a metro, etc? If you can't do it then you can't, but you'll need to make sure you can find local care if/when needed.

I am not rich, I don't have the money to drive out to cooperstown all the time. That's 126 miles EACH DIRECTION! I don't even know if my car will make it that far. That is my ONLY option though because I can't afford to pay out of pocket. I really just want to give up and go crawl in a hole. This is bs.

Look at the bright side of it..at least you have insurance and don't have to travel out of the country. many would love to be in your shoes. Count it all joy. Good luck on your journey.

It just annoys me that I have 8 hospitals in a 1/2 hour radius of my house that perform the surgery. Most of them are centers of excellence which is a requirement of my insurance, but I have to use a hospital 126 miles away.