I went to my first visit with the surgeon and am going tomorrow to do my psch evaluation. I am wondering if i should go or not, I am also supposed to go Friday for blood work and test. I have Aetna EPO insurance and the doctor is not going to submit anything to my insurance company until after all test are completed. Any suggestions.

Why would you not go to the tests? Have you not decided this is what you want? Seems to me that may be the case. Regardless of whether you self-pay or go through insurance you have to submit to all the pre-op tests (blood work, ekg, stress, psych, and whatever else they can think up) before any surgeon worth his salt will touch you with a ten foot pole. Sounds to me like you may need to sit down and do more research to educate yourself...so you are comfortable with your decision.

You mentioned submiting ins claims....

are you concerned insurance won't cover it?

If so, call them and see if they do.

are you concerned you'll have to pay out of pocket until the claims are submitted?

Nah, you just pay your normal copay

And if your insurance won't cover it are you concerned you'll have to pay out of pocket?

You may...but the tests and all will be covered.

I am definetly sure i want to do this, My insurance does cover this. I just don't want to be stuck with a lot of bills. I am looking forward to changing my life.

BOURGA,

it really depends on the type of ins plan you have. Do you know if you have a deductable? Do you know if you are responsible for a percentage of the procedure? For me this will be very costly my doc charges a program fee of 2800, my portion of the surgery is 1500 my ins deductable is 250 my psy eval is 200...

I hope this helps and good luck Lana

bourgda,

I think I understand what your saying. You don't want to go thru all of these tests and the expense of them if there is a chance that your insurance will deny the surgery at the end. As long as you have referrals from your primary for the pre-op consults they should be covered by your insurance. At least that has been my experience with Aetna, I actually consulted two seperate surgeon's and had my pulmonology, nutritionist, psych eval, Upper GI and US and all of it was covered by Aetna pre-op. Just had to pay the copays. Hope this helps.

I went to my first visit with the surgeon and am going tomorrow to do my psch evaluation. I am wondering if i should go or not, I am also supposed to go Friday for blood work and test. I have Aetna EPO insurance and the doctor is not going to submit anything to my insurance company until after all test are completed. Any suggestions.

That's sounds strange to me. I know insurance companies are all different. I have BCBS Fed and I was submitted and approved before I had to do all the pre-op testing. Maybe you could call your insurance company and make sure the testing will be covered, just to give you peace of mind.

I certainly understand the financial aspect of your concerns, especially this time of year. Hope everything works out for you.