ok guys,

just got my bill from my surgery. I have BCBS. My main question is how much did the actual band itself cost??? THe bill for JUST THE BAND itself is over 7000. anyone else have a different rate. I just want to be sure that I am not getting screwed here. Its not very fun at the moment!

thanks

I really don't know how much the band itself costs but I'm sure it isn't $7,000. I went to Mexico for my surgery and the total cost for it installed was $7,000.

My surgery will cost us $15,500 for the whole thing. Including all of the doctors visits, surgery, fills the WHOLE thing. The band itself could NO WAY be that much!

My band kit was listed on the insurance bill as being almost $8,000. :thumbup: Fortunately, insurance gets to eat most of that.

someone just posted a video on here the other day called sunday program or something and in the video the doc said the band cost $3,000

I have bcbs and i work for them too and mine was round 8000 as well, if you go to an in network provider then the discounts the ins. get is huge, then you percentage comes off the final cost after ins. discounts, my total surgery bill was like 24,503 , but after discounts insurance paid 9067.00 and my portion was 488.91, so i think they have to mark up to get anything out of the claim they submit.

I have BCBS but my insurance doesn't cover the band due to my husband's company negotiating it away for a cheaper premium. I have a preliminary cost from the hospital for $3,700 for the actual band.

My doc told me the band cost around $3,000

It is all inflated. My bill was $57,000 but after the discount it was about 15K. If I was self pay it would have been. You guessed it 15K. very little of this is real numbers. My guess based on what I have read is about 3k. 5K to the surgeon 2 K to the anesthesia group 5 K to the hosptial which leaves about 3K in real dollars.

I don't know at all but I would be very surprised to actually know that the band cost anyone 3000 to 8000. I saw it in my Dr.s office, and it is only a small piece of plastic. What you see on your bill is the cost plus mark up. This is typical in many businesses but especially anything medical.

The band cost me $4700. I'm sure my doctor got a bulk discount based on volume though. Depending on how many your provider uses, it could vary widely.

My total bill was $34,750.00 I paid $150.00.

Wow big difference in prices!!!

I handle the medical benefits for our company and went to a seminar in September on Medical Tourism. The speaker said that medical devices do not cost the same for every country. So to confuse the issue, if you got the band in another country, the cost may vary.

It is not all that uncommon in this country that doctors fees paid by an uninsured patient have very little to do with what is billed to an insurance company. There is some"allowable standard" and doctors charge as close to that as they can to maximize what they actually get paid. I paid for my banding out of pocket since my insurance did not cover it. $15,000. And I am absolutely sure if they had billed my insurance company it would have been MUCH more. Why do I say that? They tried to bill my insurance for my first fill visit...$469. It was, of course, denied because I have no coverage for weight loss surgery or follow-up. What will have to pay for a fill visit after the first year (which was included in the $15,000)? $125.

Look at Explanations of Benefits that you've received on other claims. There is often a "discount" applied. And the EOB usually states specifically what you are responsible for so that a doctor cannot come back to you for that larger amount!

This is why insurance is so crazy!!!

I am not sure what mine cost - i was banded 5 weeks ago but my insurance covered all of it 100% so i have not seen a bill.