I just looked on my BCBS online account and it says that the bill for my surgery was $26,075! I thought it was like $12,000. I stayed 1 night in the hospital yes but geez. No wonder self payers go to Mexico!

P.S. Had my first follow-up and got to start Protein shakes today...YIPEEE It felt so good to get something with some Vitamins in it. Monday I can eat wet tuna, cottage cheese, string cheese, yogurt and decaf unsweet tea ----> all sugar and/or fat free of course. :drool: A lady that had surgery the same day I did already lost 22 lbs! Amazing this band is. :teeth_smile:

I looked at my UHC and the total cost for mine was $43,000. I'm so not kidding. My dad says the insurance only pays a portion because they work out some kind of a deal. I don't understand the point of overbilling and still not getting paid the whole thing, but I guess I don't need to. :grouphug:

I think my hospital stay alone was over $30k for one night! The actual surgery was only $15k I believe.

Ugh thats just so obscene, and a personal beef for me - especially w/BCBS. Both my husband and I "tried" to go the Ins route w/BCBS and got denied. So our outta pocket payment was $30k the day of our surgeries and they jack up ONE lapband to $26k..Amazing.

Sorry - just a rant of mine, not sorry I went self pay - just annoyed when I see Ins charge what they charge.

I had out-patient surgery. Still, the hospital billed me for an extra $8,000. The agreement was for $18,000 not $26,000. I called my doc's office. I was told they were not supposed to charge me for it. They gave me the # and person to call at the hospital. I did and that took care of it. Look at the contract you signed. It should state if there are other charges. Hospitals are notorious for overbilling. If no one calls they get more money. Also your doc's office should be abe to advise you.

Well my DH and I own a private ambulance service and I do the billing so maybe I can sort of make sense to this medical billing crapola. The hospital have contracts with all different insurance companies, 1000's of them. The contracts specify how much they will pay for each procedure and then the rest is to be wrote off as a contractual adjustment. THe numbers seem high but there are so many patients that either don't pay their bills or have Medicaid which pays about 10% of the bill that the hospitals have to make it up through the private insurances. I will bet that if you were self pay that price would have been ALOT cheaper. Nontheless you are very lucky that your insurance paid it. :biggrin2:

Most providers (hospitals) have contracts with Reprice Vendors, basically, the reprice vendor pays the hospital a lower fee thats been previously neogoiated with the hospital and the insurance company, then the reprice vendor bills the hospital their fee.

In my case, I had surgery here in El Paso, TX and the insurance company was billed 44K, huge bill, right? The reprice vendor actually paid the hospital 22K, then billed the insurance company at the lower rate, plus their cut, I am sure.

I thank God everyday that I have insurance. There is NO WAY on my budget that I would have been able to afford this band. There is a new hospital in Juarez, MX, (sister city to El Paso, I live right on the border) and they are billing 8500.00 for the surgery, which is, in my humble opinion, a decent price.

-A

Yes Angelica, I forgot to mention that the hospital only gets a portion of what they actually bill out. I know for us for instance if we transport a patient from point A to point B and we go 5 miles I may bill Medicare 400.00 but the contract we have with them will only allow 200.00 and they only pay 80% of that so we are looking at 180.00 for a 400.00 charge. Not even 50%!! So I hope that is a lot clearer.

My self pay was $17,000-$18,000.... in Springfield MO. It is cheaper for self pay (with my doc) than Ins. "cost"... they rarely pay the full "cost".

No wonder self payers go to Mexico!

My husband's surgery was $8000 in Mexico and BCBS paid $7900, just to go to the other end of the spectrum.

Check this out!

My DH and I both had this surgery (within the last month). I was required to stay overnight (with antibiotics in my IV) while he was allowed to go home the same day. Our bills, both over $42,000 were within $500.00 of each other.

I find it hard to believe that our bills were so close when I was there almost a full day longer!!??

Also...ALWAYS negotiate medical bills (call the office manager). Just because they say you "owe" a certain amount doesn't mean you will have to pay that amount. We pay in cash as much as possible and have successfully negotiated many medical bills (not for this surgery...but just a head's up!). As stated in another post above...insurance companies only end up paying a portion of the bill...so can you!!(they negotiated our surgery prices to around $17,000 each).

Has anyone else shared this experience? My surgery was on 3/5. From that day until my post-op appointment on 3/10 I was on clear liquids only. Until my next appointment on 3/24 I am only to drink 3 EAS shakes per day. That is only 330 calories a day. I'm feeling almost back to normal and am pretty sure I have physical hunger AND head hunger. I think I really need some encouragement.

My doctor had me on clear liquids for the first 7 days, and then full liquids for the next 14 days. However, I was not limited in what full liquids I wanted, nor how often I wanted them. I was probably taking in about 600 calories per day during the liquids phase. Are you sure you aren't allowed other liquids besides the shakes?

I just wanted to clarify that I was self-pay. The doc has worked an agreement with the hospital for $18,000 with no extra charges for immediate complications. I thought that was fair. That was in my contract. Thanks.

I had my surgery at a Center of Excellence in Scottsdale Arizona and my total for self pay was just under $16,000.00 (and that included all my pre-op testing and fills for a year after surgery) $26K sounds mighty high!!!

It still seems to me, that those non payers and the ridiculous amount of overbilling is what is causing my insurance premiums to go up, and them to cover less.

There are people in my husbands company who choose not to buy the insurance that the company offers, and when they need a Dr. they hit the county hospital ER, where they cannot be sent away----and those of us who opt to pay the outreageous premiums each paycheck, just pay their way too!

Not sure what the "right" way is, but our insurance and medical system is in shambles!!!

BCBS and I went round and round until I finally opted to self pay----and I spent just over $7K in Mexico, by the time I spent my out of pocket maximum, which they would have required, I was only out about 4 thousand bucks--was well worth not waiting another year-----but that is what they wanted me to do! Pay it myself, and continue to pay my monthly premiums!!!

Kat