Hello all I'm fairly new to this forum and to the whole VSG. My question is were ya'll able to make payment plans? I have health insurance through my husband so its the family plan United Healthcare choice plus. My deductible is 2,000 and I pay 30% of whatever the cost of the operation(UHC pays 70%). The thing is IDK the cost yet since I am so early in the VSG process. What is the average cost in Dallas, Texas and were you able to pay the remainder in payments? Does anybody know Dr. Colleen Kennedy in Dallas? I'm sure I missed something but these are my questions. Thank you in advance VSG community!

I asked my insurance company upfront if I could make payments for what was left over. It was 80/20. They said yes. I would think they should be abler to tell you. I paid 1,400 at time of surgery for the deductable Then I owed 3,800. I made a payment plan with them for 150.00 a month. I could pay more if I have it but for now 150.00.

The insurance company pays the doctor and then you owe your portion to the insurance company. Now this is just my insurance company. I know a lot of people have different options and different insurance companies.

I am in Houston TX and my surgery was 18,000 with hospital stay etc. I have seen cheaper but seems to be about 9,000-18,000 depending on doctor and hospital. I picked a doctor that had been doing them for a long time. I have blue cross blue shield here in Texas.

Thank you very informative, I'll give my health insurance company a call on the 1st since my plan will be changing to the 2,000 deductible and 70/30. I was going based on a friends experience she had to pay all of it since she had a revision from lap-band to VSG and she said her operation was 10,000 and she was financed. So I was basing my costs on her costs which were probably cheaper since she had no health insurance and was paying the full price.

My surgeon office told me no. I had to pay 20% of the surgeons fee's upfront (about $500) and my deductible ($1100). They told me they had a contract with the insurance companies and required that. I got a bill from the hospital after the surgery for about $500 (which I haven't paid yet but will with my FLEX spending in 2014).

But considering when all was said and done it was almost $30,000 to get this done. I'm not complaining that much. lol

Plus you also need to consider all of the co-payments and prescription fills. That was probably an additional couple hundred through this whole process.

I have Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Thank you for your advice. My copay's are 20$ and 35$ for specialists visits. What visits did your insurance not cover if I may ask? I will need the ECG, Psych eval, Dietitian, Sleep study, endoscopy etc.

I have UHC and my deductible was $500 and maximum out of pocket was $1,000.

Any services i had performed at the hospital I paid the amount they estimated it would cost prior to the procedure. This included EGD and motility study.

The hospital called me to let me know what my estimated charges would be for the surgery. I paid that on the morning of the surgery during the admission process.

Any other procedures I had before I met my deductible had to be paid. I also incurred co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions even though I had met my deductible.

The best thing you can do is check with your surgeon's office and the hospital where your surgery is occurring so you are familiar with their financial procedures..

Edited December 29, 201312 yr by ribearty

Thank you for your advice. My copay's are 20$ and 35$ for specialists visits. What visits did your insurance not cover if I may ask? I will need the ECG, Psych eval, Dietitian, sleep study, endoscopy etc.

$25 for my initial surgeon consultation.

$25 for Psyche Eval.

$25 for Pulmonologist (sp?)

$25 for second surgeon visit.

$25 for bloodwork panel (but then I got another bill from them for $85, not sure why)

$20 for Primary Care Physician Clearance

$149 for my first Upper GI (was applied to my deductible)

$104 for my nutritionist consult (I never visited her or talked to her again, what a colossal waste of time and money), plus I received an extra bill after visiting her for $89.. don't know why. *eye roll*

$25 for my final surgeon visit.

Plus about $20-$30 in after surgery prescriptions.

I hope I'm not forgetting anything.

I rechecked with UHC and my deductible is 2000 per famiy deductible and 10,000 per family. So basically I will pay 1,000 deductible and 5,000 out of pocket. My deductible goes towards my out of pocket! Yay. So basically the most Ill pay this year is 5000 for me.