Anyone have any good tips for self-payers?

I'm not sure what you are looking for but here is my tips lol.

1. Think of it as an investment. When my hubby and I calculated the cost of my weight watchers, diets and such I knew over 20 years the 18 grand for lapband would pay for itself.

2. I no longer go out to eat. If I do I eat a couple bites of hubby's or get an app. Major Major savings here. We would go out at least 3 nights a week and I went out for lunch every day. This alone save me approximately 240 a month in dinners and 150 in lunches. I used 7.50 per lunch and 20 bucks per dinner to come to an average. I know I spent more than that for sure. So that's 2880 a year. Just in going out my lapband will pay for itself in approx 6 and a quarter years. I also stopped getting my daily dunkin donut coffee and bagel.. which I didnt even calculate here.

3. I have a 2007 cadillac cts and spent at least double my lapband cost and it will probably only last me maybe 10 years.. this new body of mine will last me my whole life, I added years to me. I no longer have chest pains, shortness of breathe and I am HOT now lol.

So my tips are realize that the costs out of pocket now will all work out. I actally think I am saving money by spending the money on lapband! I conviced my hubby of this so much he let me spend anothe 18 grand on a tummy tuck and breast lift with implants.. :Yawn:

Allie said it best!

I am self pay and I put the $9950 cost on a credit card that gives me airline miles, then immediately shifted the balance to a zero interest credit card. If I don't get it paid off by the time the regular interest rate goes into effect, I'll just transfer it again to a new zero interest card. Good luck!

Remember if your insurance doesn't pay to put the lapband in, it won't pay to take it out or if something goes wrong. So try to have a rainy day fund.

Make sure you check out the aftercare. You most likely won't be seeing your surgeon after your post-op checkup. You want to be confident in your choice, so check everything out and attend meetings. Talk to current and former patients if possible.

Also remember to make sure that you take advice about the lapband from lapband people only. Bypass folks are not the same.

You are never going to be able to ask all the right questions beforehand. Until you experience it, you don't really know what details to ask.

I'm not sure what you are looking for but here is my tips lol.

1. Think of it as an investment. When my hubby and I calculated the cost of my weight watchers, diets and such I knew over 20 years the 18 grand for LAP-BAND® would pay for itself.

2. I no longer go out to eat. If I do I eat a couple bites of hubby's or get an app. Major Major savings here. We would go out at least 3 nights a week and I went out for lunch every day. This alone save me approximately 240 a month in dinners and 150 in lunches. I used 7.50 per lunch and 20 bucks per dinner to come to an average. I know I spent more than that for sure. So that's 2880 a year. Just in going out my LAP-BAND® will pay for itself in approx 6 and a quarter years. I also stopped getting my daily dunkin donut coffee and bagel.. which I didnt even calculate here.

3. I have a 2007 cadillac cts and spent at least double my LAP-BAND® cost and it will probably only last me maybe 10 years.. this new body of mine will last me my whole life, I added years to me. I no longer have chest pains, shortness of breathe and I am HOT now lol.

So my tips are realize that the costs out of pocket now will all work out. I actally think I am saving money by spending the money on LAP-BAND®! I conviced my hubby of this so much he let me spend anothe 18 grand on a tummy tuck and breast lift with implants.. :biggrin:

If you don't mind me asking - how much was your tummy tuck and breast lift with implants?

I used a medical negotiating company to negotiate my bill down from the original fee. They take 35% of the savings but i used it for my anethesia bill and ended up saving $415 after the fee. The bill was originally $2068 and they got it down to $1400. I'm definitely going to have them do my hospital bill. Any savings is better than none and I don't have to try to figure out how much to ask for a discount or why I should get one.

You could also consider the cost of healthcare for comorbidities if you have any. Or the ones that we would have developed...I know I save money on food because now I eat so little...WELL WORTH IT overall. And it is a great motivator to stay on track..

The one sort of annoying thing I have found out very recently: At 315 pounds I was uninsurable. At 172 with a band installed, I am also uninsurable. No private insurance company will take me on as the band has made me high risk. I continue to be one of the millions of uninsured Americans, albeit a MUCH healthier one. I guess when the economy improves I might be able to find a job that offers health insurance. Until then I just continue to help my Dad's business and keep my fingers crossed.

Still, I would do it over again regardless of the inablitly to get individual insurance.

Word of Caution to all self payers. I was a self pay over a year ago. My insurance would not cover my surgery. At 9 months post op I had 2 hospital stays, surgery, and 2 ER visits. My tubing was wrapped around an intestine. Then my tubing got stuck in scar tissue. I am now at 15 months and have ran test for the last week . I have an eroded esophagas and tubing stuck again.

Guess what, if insurance doesn't pay for surgery then they don't pay for complications either. I've lost 95 pounds and my life savings along with it trying to save my life from the complications of this band. People just think about the initial cost because we don't want to believe that anything will go wrong. I would take back every pound I lost to have my health back.

My advise is if insurance doesn't cover it than RUN. Don't get yourselves in my situation. Actually at this point the best advise I could give anyone is Don't Do It . Losing the weight is not worth losing your life to complications. Look into the complication rate of this surgery. I wish I had.

I am sorry this happened to you. Everything has its risks. I am self-pay and know that if any happens it's going to be expensive. I did mine for GERD treatment and have been so much happier with it. I was sick and miserable and in pain all the time before I got it and was given no other choice than to stay on meds that didn't really help and told there was nothing else they could do. I did check out the serious complication rate before I did it and found it to be around 6% or so. I have myself checked out on a regular basis being paranoid like I am. I hope you get to feel better and recover well and still reach your goals.

Maybe with this new insurance law, they won't be able to decline insurance for the band as a preexisting condition.

What if the insurance company started covering lapband after I had the surgery as a self payer? Would they then cover complications?

That depends on the insurance plan. You would have to let them know you had the band and make sure they didn't exclude it for being pre-existing. Usually with employers nothing is excluded as pre-existing, as long as it's actually covered by the plan. Otherwise insurance companies try and make as sure as they can that they are not going to have to pay anything for you.

Another good thing to check is if your Doctor (self pay or not) will cover complications after surgery. The complications with your tubing wrapping around your intestine sounds extremely rare and abnormal, so if you had a guarantee in writing from the Dr that did your surgery initially, he should fix this or remove the band for you. Even if you have to fly far away to wherever you had the surgery done, it would be cheaper than trying to find a surgeon close to you to fix the problem. I am scheduled for my band on 10/28/11 and I have, in writing, something that says complications are covered if they are not caused by self destruction (like overeating until you slip)

I was self pay and verified with my current health carrier that they WOULD cover any complications after p;acement

Word of Caution to all self payers. I was a self pay over a year ago. My insurance would not cover my surgery. At 9 months post op I had 2 hospital stays, surgery, and 2 ER visits. My tubing was wrapped around an intestine. Then my tubing got stuck in scar tissue. I am now at 15 months and have ran test for the last week . I have an eroded esophagas and tubing stuck again.

Guess what, if insurance doesn't pay for surgery then they don't pay for complications either. I've lost 95 pounds and my life savings along with it trying to save my life from the complications of this band. People just think about the initial cost because we don't want to believe that anything will go wrong. I would take back every pound I lost to have my health back.

My advise is if insurance doesn't cover it than RUN. Don't get yourselves in my situation. Actually at this point the best advise I could give anyone is Don't Do It . Losing the weight is not worth losing your life to complications. Look into the complication rate of this surgery. I wish I had.

My tip for self payers is this-You can take the surgery off on your taxes.I believe te rule is if your weight loss surgery expenses are more than 7.5% of your total income,then they can be included as a deduction.Keep all yo9ur receipts and learn more about this via web search or through your tax preparer.My Mom found out about this for me by looking in a 2011 Almanac.