After wading through insurance crud, I looked into self-paying and doing it thru Blossom Bariatric's Fast Track program in Las Vegas. My cost would be $6300 all-inclusive, including hotel and transport between hotel and facility for the five days.

The selling points include convenience as opposed to the options available with my insurance (closest hospital covered by insurance is a 6-hr drive vs. a 90-min flight to LV), no worries about losing weight before the procedure and getting declined (I'm borderline 40BMI), and no 3- or 6-month waiting period.

I have three concerns:

1) Post-surgery followup and care.

2) The "safe sleeve" procedure they do... I can find very little information about it.

3) Not being able to meet the surgeon prior to committing to surgery at the facility.

So... has anybody out there had the "safe sleeve" procedure through Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas?

On 5/3/2020 at 3:47 PM, Machta said:

Everythinganna, thanks for your message. I'm in Colorado, so Las Vegas is a lot closer than Florida! But I'll keep that in mind.

Were there any issues with covid - airline, hotel or surgical site? Not sure if the site is open due to Covid.

On 5/19/2020 at 8:42 PM, G8trgrl said:

I know how you feel. They take Cigna, but my employer does not approve weight loss surgery.

I am from NJ and seriously thinking about going to Blossom. My insurane does cover weight loss surgery, but only with a BMI of 40. Not sure how much would be covered by my insurance.

Has anyone had gastric bypass thru Blossom? Can it be done similar to fast track?

57 minutes ago, BSNJ said:

I am from NJ and seriously thinking about going to Blossom. My insurane does cover weight loss surgery, but only with a BMI of 40. Not sure how much would be covered by my insurance.

It’s possible that your insurance might cover part of it at Blossom. It certainly can’t hurt to try.

1 hour ago, BSNJ said:

Were there any issues with covid - airline, hotel or surgical site? Not sure if the site is open due to Covid.

They started doing surgeries again a couple of weeks ago. I’m flying with United. They are not filling the middle seats. Blossom booked me at the hotel. They just called me today with their Covid-screening questions. My daughter is going with me, but she will have to stay at the hotel during my appointments and surgery.

On 5/3/2020 at 3:47 PM, Machta said:

Everythinganna, thanks for your message. I'm in Colorado, so Las Vegas is a lot closer than Florida! But I'll keep that in mind.

Were there any issues with covid - airline, hotel or surgical site? Not sure if the site is open due to Covid.

Thanks for the reply. Just a little nervous flying right now. How long did the process take from when your initial contact to Blossom until you recieved your surgery date?

18 minutes ago, BSNJ said:

Thanks for the reply. Just a little nervous flying right now. How long did the process take from when your initial contact to Blossom until you recieved your surgery date?

I believe 3 months. But, I wanted surgery in June because of my work schedule. They can get you in faster if you want.

I had my surgery at Blossom back in May. I am now 7 weeks postop. I could not recommend Blossom enough. From the moment I called to get all of the information all the way to the day we left Vegas, I feel the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. They are still calling me and checking up on me to see how I am doing.

Just a note for the ones of you out there that do not think your insurance will cover this, you still need to call and find out if you are considering Blossom. They file this differently with your insurance company. My insurance company paid thousands and thousands for my surgery and the other things that had to be done. I only had to pay $6000 out of pocket. I did the fast track program which is done in 4 days. What I paid out of pocket, covered everything for my surgery, the medications you will need after surgery, all of the compression socks, the hotel and the ground transportation to and from the doctors offices and the airport if needed.

For those of you that have had your surgeries at Blossom, do they keep in touch with you after surgery to make sure you are on track? Do they refer you to someone local to you? I really like what I see with Blossom, just a little nervous that after surgery the communication stops.

On 5/1/2020 at 8:00 PM, Machta said:

Hello, all. Does anyone have another follow-up to report on their procedure at Blossom? I'm seriously considering them.

I have a couple of questions -- do you have a support person along? My husband would most likely go with me.

At the hotel, are there any meals included? I know that I'll be on a special diet before and after, but what's available for him?

Thanks in advance -- I sure appreciate it!

I had my surgery with them. They are *fantastic*.

I had a support person. They stayed at the hotel with me, and sat in the waiting room while I was having my surgery. They drove me back to the hotel, though Blossom provides chauffeurs if you need one.

With the hotel, the room is covered, but meals are not included. They *do* have a breakfast/dinner thing in the cafeteria downstairs, but it's first come first serve with the other guests. There are a few restaurants within walking distance. I brought my own food and kept it in the mini fridge (I was on a special diet as well), and my partner walked to get food a few times a day.

It was nice, honestly. Blossom is really supportive and helpful, the people that drive are really safe and cautious and kind, the hotel staff was amazing (they use two different hotels for their patients, but they're very close to one another).

I paid cash price for it (15,500), and I even had Dr. Sakata perform my gallbladder surgery when that failed on me a month later.

4 hours ago, klwilliams said:

For those of you that have had your surgeries at Blossom, do they keep in touch with you after surgery to make sure you are on track? Do they refer you to someone local to you? I really like what I see with Blossom, just a little nervous that after surgery the communication stops.

They checked in on me throughout the first month, and I had the ability to contact my surgeon when and if I had an emergency or just a question. I live locally, so I am not certain about what they do out of state, but they would personally call me once a week for a while.

If you have questions or problems, you can call them, too. They get back to you pretty quickly, and I do exchange emails with the nutritionist still occasionally. They set it up so you can stay in touch easily.

What I am curious to know is: To those of you who have already had/paid for the surgery, what kind of insurance did you have?

I have switched insurance 3 times this year due to COVID and switching jobs, and with each of the insurances I have checked with Blossom - they still tell me I have to pay $15,500 out of pocket for fast track. Is there some kind of magical insurance out there that I’m missing that will cover some of the cost?

Looking in to more local options for less money (I am in FL) but I like that with Blossom there doesn’t appear to be many hoops to cross - it appears if you have the money you can have the surgery.

I live in Florida. I had my surgery done at Blossom because my insurance wouldn’t cover it. Blossom could do the surgery when it was convenient to me. They were awesome! I have no regrets.

5 minutes ago, LillsDaisy said:

What I am curious to know is: To those of you who have already had/paid for the surgery, what kind of insurance did you have?

I have switched insurance 3 times this year due to COVID and switching jobs, and with each of the insurances I have checked with Blossom - they still tell me I have to pay $15,500 out of pocket for fast track. Is there some kind of magical insurance out there that I’m missing that will cover some of the cost?

Looking in to more local options for less money (I am in FL) but I like that with Blossom there doesn’t appear to be many hoops to cross - it appears if you have the money you can have the surgery.

I have Anthem Blue Cross. My cost with Blossom is $10,000.