I'm looking at getting my band done by Dr Bowen through the Wesley and I just wondered if anyone else here did and how much were the out of pocket expenses? Also, if you have health insurance, how much did they cover? I know some cover more than others. I'm with HBA and they only cover upto 50% of the doctor's bill.

Michelle

Hi Michelle, have you joined the BrisBanders group? They might have some insight...

I was banded almost 3 years ago, and my total out of pocket (after Medicare + private cover) was like $1800... But I am sure things have gone up since then.

Hi Chickie,

I have joined the group, I just thought there might be some people here who aren't there From what I can find out, it sure has gone up!

Hi Michelle,

Blair did my surgery in October 06 and I'm with HBA. I accessed my Super for the out of pocket expenses. I got $6,500 out, probably should have made it about $7,000 but you get a 20% rebate on any amounts of your out of pocket over $1500 on your tax. I got $900 back on my tax. I'm not sure if HBA have changed their policy but I didn't have to pay out of pocket for the assistant surgeon and they covered the whole amount of Blair's fee that has an item number. Blair does have a $4500 fee on top of that which cannot be claimed on your health insurance. There are cheaper surgeons and I'm sure they're good but I didn't really look into any others. I've always been happy with my decision.

Good luck with it all

Vicky

I was originally going to go with Dr Blair Bowden but I found him a little expensive...so I looked down the road to Dr John Copp at Greenslopes (operates out of St Andrew's Private at Ipswich too) and in total after getting my rebates back I paid about $3800.... I cannot sing the praises enough of Dr John....a very approachable surgeon with a sense of humour (hard to find) and his staff are fantastic. Also all his visits for fills are bulk billed so no out of pocket expenses after.

I couldn't agree more. Dr Copp is awesome