Was just wondering why people leave the country to have the VSG? I'm new to this . I live on New York State & have insurance. Is it because you are self pay???

Yes - for those who have no insurance or do not qualify under their insurance plan going to Mexico is significantly cheaper if you have to pay cash. It's an average of $5000 compared with 12-20+ thousand bucks at home.

i have BCBS of Louisiana and my employer has weightloss anything excluded from the policy. It was 14 grand a person here in the US. My husband and I went to Mexico had GREAT care for 12000 including air fair for the both of us.

I'd say the vast majority go to Mexico due to the price. For some of us it's the only way we can afford it... For others of us we *could* go to a low cost doctor in the USA, but we prefer the care that we can get in Mexico for a comparable price. Lastly there are some who go to Mexico because they want a certain surgeon. Aceves or Alvarez come to mind.. There are people who could easily afford care in the USA, but they WANT these particular surgeons.

For me, it is cost, my insurance won't cover it and the convenience of less hassle. I was going to get a lapband about 5 years ago, so I went through all the diet, nutrition and exercise counseling, psychological evaluation, sleep study, and colonoscopy. I don't want to do all those things again. I backed out on the lapband at the last minute because I wasn't happy with my doctor's office people. Every time I went in for an appointment, there was some issue. I waited 2 months to be scheduled, and then finally decided not to do it, for those reasons and family reasons. But now I am ready to get it done, and I know that the sleeve is a much better choice for me. I'm looking forward to my surgery in June.

The thing about Mexico is, you don't sacrifice care for price. I've had better care in MX (lap-band & revision) then I did with surgeries I've had in the states.

Revision 1/31/13 by Dr Cabrera and Venezuela in MX

Like they said above. Some of us prefer the quality and experience they offer in MX. Some of the surgeons have vast amount of more experience than US surgeon because the have been don't it much longer there. I've had 5 surgeries there and my daughter also go there. We have specific drs we trust and wouldn't do it any other way.

The surgeons don't have to charge like the US because the cost of living comparison is much lower than US.

I agree, my Dr is Board Certified. He went to school and is a real Dr, so why not? The only difference is about a mile that seperates him from the states!

My surgery would have been free if I had been willing to wait 2-7 years to have it, seriously who knows what the waiting period is now in my province. So I paid out of pocket to go to Mexico and had my surgery scheduled for 3 weeks after I placed the initial call. And that 3 weeks was only because I had to book my plane tickets 3 weeks out to get a good rate, I could have booked that week had I wanted to. No big hoops to jump through, no months of consultations.