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?

1 minute ago, G8trgrl said:

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.

That’s really nice to hear that you had a good experience, even with no insurance coverage. I am just struggling with the affordability of it without at least SOME coverage from insurance. I am now looking into the best options for financing.

2 minutes ago, LillsDaisy said:

That’s really nice to hear that you had a good experience, even with no insurance coverage. I am just struggling with the affordability of it without at least SOME coverage from insurance. I am now looking into the best options for financing.

I looked in to Blossom before I eventually had my surgery almost a month ago at the University of Colorado Surgical Weight Loss Center. I called and pushed on their insurance lady really hard, and she finally admitted that they are not "in-network" for ANY insurance, but use out-of-network benefits for testing, etc., to bring the cost down. Since my plan does not have out-of-network benefits, that was a nonstarter for me.

After that disappointment, I worked with my insurance company and the UC Surgical Weight Loss Center to get expedited approval. It was very quick since I had a couple of decades of weight loss attempts documented with my doctor. My first appointment with them was on April 30, and I had the surgery on July 16, about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I'm down 22.5# so far. I am very pleased with the care and follow-up I've received. Dr. Jonathan Schoen and his team are outstanding.

18 minutes ago, LillsDaisy said:

That’s really nice to hear that you had a good experience, even with no insurance coverage. I am just struggling with the affordability of it without at least SOME coverage from insurance. I am now looking into the best options for financing.

I had to refinance my house in order to pay for it. I am blessed to have a house so that I was able to refinance it.

On 8/9/2020 at 1:46 PM, G8trgrl said:

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.

Just had my surgery with Blossom today. Alot of nausea initally. I am 5 hrs out and it is gone. Stomach is sore, but tolerable. I also used companion care. She is vert caring. I highly recommen Blossom.

Well, BLOSSOM didn't get the chance to earn my business and I wanted them to.

I have MEDICARE and found out earlier this month whenever I inquired with BLOSSOM that they don't take it. Their cash price for the Safe Gastric Sleeve is almost $17,000. I was going to look at buying an INDIVIDUAL health insurance plan the 15TH OF FEBRUARY through BCBS here in Florida, since the market opens back up then, so I looked at them online last night.

I called Blossom back today to talk to them about it and they handed me over to one of their insurance professionals. I had previously been told that they bill all of their procedures OUT-OF-NETWORK if your insurance doesn't cover Bariatric surgery. Which is fine. Get this...... Now they tell me that they ONLY ACCEPT Employer health insurance plans. They DO NOT accept INDIVIDUALS health insurance plans. What is up with that?

Luckily I had previously found Dr. Shillingford in Boca Raton, Florida that does an All Inclusive Self-Pay Gastric Sleeve for those that insurance doesn't cover of $10,000; and, that includes two (2) days in the hospital. He has done over 5,000 Bariatric procedures over his career and this was my "Plan B". Disappointed in Blossom here. Wanted the experience. As they say, everything aligns for a reason.

I went to dr Shillingford in December 2018 and it was the best thing I’ve ever done . $10k all in , surgery went perfect and I am down 60lbs . He is the best !

Lolo 2020.....

I have a few questions for you. Should I ask publibly? Or how can we chat. Glad to be able to interact. ????

On 12/23/2018 at 10:17 PM, Niabird said:

Did you do it? I signed on with them for February

Congratulations on your surgery date. I went to Blossom in August 2020. They have a great program. VSG is a great tool to help with weight loss, but you have to do the work. Let me know if you have any questions.

On 1/29/2021 at 9:31 PM, Florida Guy said:

Well, BLOSSOM didn't get the chance to earn my business and I wanted them to.

I have MEDICARE and found out earlier this month whenever I inquired with BLOSSOM that they don't take it. Their cash price for the Safe Gastric Sleeve is almost $17,000. I was going to look at buying an INDIVIDUAL health insurance plan the 15TH OF FEBRUARY through BCBS here in Florida, since the market opens back up then, so I looked at them online last night.

I called Blossom back today to talk to them about it and they handed me over to one of their insurance professionals. I had previously been told that they bill all of their procedures OUT-OF-NETWORK if your insurance doesn't cover Bariatric surgery. Which is fine. Get this...... Now they tell me that they ONLY ACCEPT Employer health insurance plans. They DO NOT accept INDIVIDUALS health insurance plans. What is up with that?

Luckily I had previously found Dr. Shillingford in Boca Raton, Florida that does an All Inclusive Self-Pay Gastric Sleeve for those that insurance doesn't cover of $10,000; and, that includes two (2) days in the hospital. He has done over 5,000 Bariatric procedures over his career and this was my "Plan B". Disappointed in Blossom here. Wanted the experience. As they say, everything aligns for a reason.

I used Blossom in August 2020. I have Anthem Blue Cross insurance. Before I agreed to the vsg, Blossom took my insurance info. I paid $9000. To date, my insurance has paid over $10k. I had a great experience with Blossom. Sorry it didn't work out for you. Good luck on your weight loss journey.

I started my phone calls to BLossom after my insurance denied my surgery locally. I learned that many insurance companies do not cover VSG because they are deeming it cosmetic. Ridiculous! So I googled bariatric surgery without insurance. of course, Mexico came up and others in US, but BLossom appeared the most professional. Some of the websites of others literally looked my ten year old made them. Once I got the courage to call and ask questions, I had a fastTrak coordinator. Blossom is top notch from the first phone call. I watched every video they had on youtube. I felt like i knew everyone ahead of time. THey provide blood work, ekg, stress test, EGD to check esophagus all before surgery. During surgery, they repair any hernias that might be there since obese people usually have one. The night of surgery, a night nurse comes to the HOTEL and gives you IV fluids and checks on you. Day after, another in person IV treatment and central line is removed. Everyone is so kind and supportive. I am SO glad I went. I am only 4 days out and even though I am tired, I have no regrets.

BTW, when I went 6/11-6/17, covid restrictions were lessened, so your companion can come to visits and surgery now. In our hotel, I had groceries delivered so i had my shakes and food for my daughter.

On 06/19/2021 at 20:59, Drinkwine28 said:

I started my phone calls to BLossom after my insurance denied my surgery locally. I learned that many insurance companies do not cover VSG because they are deeming it cosmetic. Ridiculous! So I googled bariatric surgery without insurance. of course, Mexico came up and others in US, but BLossom appeared the most professional. Some of the websites of others literally looked my ten year old made them. Once I got the courage to call and ask questions, I had a fastTrak coordinator. Blossom is top notch from the first phone call. I watched every video they had on youtube. I felt like i knew everyone ahead of time. THey provide blood work, ekg, stress test, EGD to check esophagus all before surgery. During surgery, they repair any hernias that might be there since obese people usually have one. The night of surgery, a night nurse comes to the HOTEL and gives you IV fluids and checks on you. Day after, another in person IV treatment and central line is removed. Everyone is so kind and supportive. I am SO glad I went. I am only 4 days out and even though I am tired, I have no regrets.

BTW, when I went 6/11-6/17, covid restrictions were lessened, so your companion can come to visits and surgery now. In our hotel, I had groceries delivered so i had my shakes and food for my daughter.

Congrats on your surgery!!! How long did the process take from initial phone call to surgery? I have my last six month weight management program required visit Wednesday for insurance and I am trying to come up with a backup plan if they deny me for some dumb reason! Best wishes in your continued recovery!

On 12/23/2018 at 10:17 PM, Niabird said:

Did you do it? I signed on with them for February

Congratulations on your surgery date. I went to Blossom in August 2020. They have a great program. VSG is a great tool to help with weight loss, but you have to do the work. Let me know if you have any questions.

I believe my initial call to Blossom was May-June timeframe. Surgery date was August 2020. The reason my surgery date took a few months was because they had a back log due to being shut down with Covid. I highly recommend using Blossom.

11 hours ago, mamabear_2_2 said:

Congrats on your surgery!!! How long did the process take from initial phone call to surgery? I have my last six month weight management program required visit Wednesday for insurance and I am trying to come up with a backup plan if they deny me for some dumb reason! Best wishes in your continued recovery!

It's quick! I called in October and still needed time to decide. Once I did, I needed it to be in June because I wanted my kids to be done with school before I went. Karissa was my coordinator and she answered all my questions and made my schedule. I'm not sure if they have busier times over others, but It is a matter of a month or two I would guess.

Did anyone who was self pay get tested for nicotine at Blossom?