I just got a call from the billing department of the hospital asking for my insurance information. I told them I was self-pay. She explained that they were going to bill the insurance for the "HIATAL HERNIA REPAIR".

I understand that it's not uncommon to find one during the lap band procedure, but I'm a little upset that it was NEVER mentioned to me post-op. I didn't even know they did it until this call.......

For those of you that had a hernia repair at the same time, did it change your post op directions at all?

I'm wondering now, if they can bill for the anesthesiologist and recovery as part of the hernia repair.....hmmmmmmm.....could it be that I might get some money back?

HAHAHAHAHAHA.......yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt.

Anyway, just wondering what some of you experiences were......

Hernias are common with obese folks since obesity is a big cause of hiatal hernias.

US docs usually do charge for that single suture to fix them.

You might get some money back if your insurance does not require prior auth for the procedure.

I was banded March 20. The surgeon informed me, only after I inquired, any complications of the surgery, that I too had a hiatal hernia; and that he repaired it during surgery. I saw him on 2 occassions before he told me that. Interesting....

He did say that the only difference in recovery is more pressure in the chest during recovery. I believe the regular post-op diet takes care of that healing also. I knew I had heart burn prior to surgery, but didn't realize it was probably due to a hiatal hernia.

It will be interesting to see if insurance picks up some of the surgery. I would keep the pressure on them. Good luck.

cc

I'm very interested to hear how this plays out because I had the exact same experience (although my doc showed me pics of the hernia before and after in my 1st post-op visit). And I like your idea of getting some of the other fees too. Do let us know what happens! If I hear from my insurance company first, I'll do the same.

I've got an appointment on Friday and I'm going to stop in to the financial office and chat with them......we'll see what happens. My insurance company is usually pretty easy to work with, but they just happen to have an exclusion for WLS, so who knows what will happen....worth a shot, that's for sure.

During our informational seminar, it was explained to us that hiatal hernias are very common and very easy to fix when they are already in there for band placement. I didn't know I had one and had it fixed. I have not had any issues with acid reflux since the surgery and no special post op directions related to the repair.

I also got a call from the surgery center who did my surgery. I told them I was self pay and that my surgeon did the repair as part of my banding. I referred them to my doctor, who told them it was part of my self pay fee and was not to be persued with my insurance company. They dropped the matter.