Hello all,

I am brand new tonight! I have finally committed to the lap band and will begin my consults in October and be banded the first part of November. I am discouraged as I feel as if I have the only insurance that does not cover any weight related care as if it is cosmetic and not life saving! I also seem to have a lower BMI than most. I am 38 with many, many co-morbitities! 17,000. for the surgery and I don't know what aftercare and fills costs?

any help would be appreciated. I am also afraid to die!:rose: am I alone?

Thanks your help is invaluable.

K

I also paid myself. I had my surgery in the Dominican Republic (where I'm from), and paid about 7,500.00 fills included for life.

Insurance does not cover bariatric surgeries in my country. it was the best decision of my life. I used my savings. While I'm losing weight I'm saving for the plastic surgeries I may need after I'm done.

Go for the surgery, I feel so much better and so much healthy.

We should be able to deduct the cost on our taxes right, as long as our doctor says it is medically needed and it meets the IRS criteria of the 7.5% of your income or whatever (which should meet the criteria for most of us, and those who don't probably can afford to pay cash with no problem anyway). I am trying to add that as a positive to the cash paying side of things.

I had never thought about the tax write off. You probably just saved me a bundle.Thanks .I am going to call my tax lady Monday.

Everyone should be sure to check. The IRS defined Obesity as a disease years ago and they approved the deduction for Obesity surgery in like 2004. Finally the IRS does something nice : )

But if you finance it, you can only deduct what you pay that year, right? So not likely to exceed the 7.5%. Or am I wrong about that?

Where, may I ask, do you go for a loan for the lap band surgery. I just found out my insurance will not pay.

Thanks.

Where, may I ask, do you go for a loan for the lap band surgery. I just found out my insurance will not pay.

Thanks.

Your doctors office should have info on the financing options..

I was banded in Monterrey Mexico with Dr. Romberto Rumbaut, he was wonderful, the Dr.s here in Washington who do my fills say they love his work, and had some great things to say about him. My cost was $9,500 . with a lower BMI I wouldn't worry to much about CS. The one good thing about having the band is that the weight loss is 1-2 lbs. a week so slow weight loss means less saggy skin...

I was banded in Monterrey Mexico with Dr. Romberto Rumbaut, he was wonderful, the Dr.s here in Washington who do my fills say they love his work, and had some great things to say about him. My cost was $9,500 . with a lower BMI I wouldn't worry to much about CS. The one good thing about having the band is that the weight loss is 1-2 lbs. a week so slow weight loss means less saggy skin...

Kimmy - the sagging skin issue is not about weight loss so much as genetics - It depends on how long your are overweght and how streachable your skin is and age Think of a plastic trash bag - put a little trash in and then take it out - the bag didn't streach that much and it recovered - now put in tons of trash - take it out and the bag is streached - same goes for your skin.... You can look at some 20 yrs old and their skin bounces right back and for some it doesn't - it DNA not how fast you lose the weight..

I also paid on my own, but I did it in Monterray, Mexico with Dr Rodriques. It was $7900 for everything except airfare. Since I am from West Virginia, I will need to also pay for fills, which I have not done yet. My surgery was 10/1 this year.

I paid $16,750.00, plus incidentals, (that was three years ago, who know what it is now). Would do it again in a heart beat .

My insurance is considering paying for it. But I have craptastic student insurance. They originally denied it but I've written numerous letters (from myself and ones that my doctors signed) and sent them medical records and called a couple of times a week. They are now reviewing it. ha. The surgeon is also sending a letter of medical necessisity. I'm hoping they will come through at the last minute. I just scheduled surgery for Jan. 7th and plan to continue to call them as often as possible. If denied, I'm prepared to pay out of pocket. Going to school up here is so expensive, I'm just looking at it like another semester of school! I was told the total cost would be $24,000 which includes your first year of care afterwards. Seems a lot higher than what everyone else is paying. But then, everything seems more expensive here anyway.

:confused:Hello friends,

I am sorry to have been gone so long. I am still awaiting my psych appt., nutrition, consult with doc, and hope to be banded mid November. OK, I have a totally new fear I am hoping someone can help me with. My insurance does not cover this operation or any complications that may arise. That is scary enough but then... I heard someone say that they had lost 100 pounds and had to pay an enormous fortune in plastic surgery to fix all of the loose skin! I don't have an enormous fortune, In fact I am taking out a loan for surgery! Does anyone know anything about this?

K

I noticed she hasn't posted in a while but in case your still reading this thread I wanted to offer up an idea:

I did pay cash for my surgery 9950.00 in Mexico plus fight for my hubby and I so I totally understand. The insurance that I have now does pay for it but I had it done before I became an employee with the county so guess what they wont pay for any of the follow up care either since they didn't pay for the proceedure. But about the Plastic Surgery a couple of thoughts. First do you or your husband have a health savings account through your employment? My husband does so we signed up for it as an "extra" We have medical through me and he carries a minimal medical plan through his job to be eligible for the HSA... SO what it does is allows us to save money for anything medical related and use it when needed. Shawns company matches 100% of his contribution to a certian amount. So each paycheck he contributes 50 his employer matches the 50 which means I have 200 a month being saved for my PS when the time comes. So work is going to be paying half the cost of my surgery and we will be paying the other half through our contributions. For that matter anyone with patience could use the same concept to save for their surgery.

Also I have read numerous different places about insurance covering some procedures for health related medical reasons that stem from major weightloss. The trick is documentation, documentation, documentation...with your MD so he/she has a strong case to submit to your insurance co. skin irritation, rashes or what ever could be contributed to lose skin as the problem should be documented with your MD if your going to try to go this route. From everything I have read it's about getting the procedure away from "cosmetic" and into " for health purposes"

Just a couple of thoughts/ideas it really put my mind at ease when I started saving through the HSA.

Hi there!

I was also a self-payer. My insurance used to cover the surgery, but discontinued this practice a year or two ago. (Really stupid in my opinion; patients who lose large amounts of weight would reduce the cost of weight-related health issues such as diabetes, breathing problems, arthritis, etc.). I know--don't get me started! Grrr!

In any case, you are most definitely not alone!!!

You are not alone. My Dad and I are paying cash because we feel the same way - we have to do something and insurance will not pay for it.