Has anyone been a self-pay gastric sleeve patient and had a very good doctor for approximately $5000 or less? I prefer to stay in and around $5000 but don't want a bad doctor either. Plz share costs, doctors and experiences. Thanks in advance!

I self-payed for both my daughter's bypass and my sleeve surgery. I think that $5,000 is really, really low. I've seen Mexico prices that low, but I personally would never have surgery in Mexico. Our price was inclusive of doctor's visits, hospital, anesthesiologist, meds, pathology, and post-op GI. My daughter's was slightly more than $20K. Mine was about $19K. We have insurance, but unfortunately it has a bariatric surgery exclusion. Just FYI, if you have access to retirement funds, such as a 401-K, you can take a hardship withdrawal without penalty for uncovered medical expenses, and you can write medical expenses over 10% of your AGI off on your taxes. You did not say where you are from. I am in Southern California, so that is where our doctor is.

I will say that self-pay speeds up the process quite a bit. There still are tests required prior to surgery clearance (and those are not included in the cost). Chest x-ray, EKG, Doctor's clearance, Upper GI or Endoscopy, blood work, and Psych Eval. But there are no long waits for surgery if you get those done promptly.

Edited April 18, 201412 yr by DarlaHood

Oh ok

Thx