Self pay$?$?$?$?$

I'm from northern Mo. and looks like self pay as Insurance is not budging. Was wondering if anyone knows cost of self pay in Ark., what doc's, hospital . I'm do not want open surgery If possible.. Thanks in advance for al you help Bob

Hi Bob, I had open at the Bariatric Center at St. Vincents in Little Rock. I was self-pay and mine was around $15,000.00. I believe open is around $20,000.00. They have three surgeons there but only two do the open. they are Dr. Gibbs and Dr. Luttrell. I believe both of these surgeons work out of Baptist hospital as well. St. Vincents phone is 1-800-982-3799. Web address is www.stvincentobesitysurgery.com. Erin

Sorry Bob, I meant to say that I think two of them do lap rny but I'm not positive. I forgot to mention that Dr. Baker also does this surgery. Erin

Hi Bob, My surgery was broken down as follows surgeon fee no gallbladder removal 3600.00 , St. Vincent's Hospital for a 3 day stay 9400, anesthesia 1400.00 with out epidural. The pricing is relatively the same with Dr. Baker who is at Baptist except his surgeon fee starts at 4200.00 and for the price of the hospital you can stay up to six days. But the anesthesia was cheaper around 600.00 so that balanced out the total bottom line. ( don't forget to add around 1400.00 for epidural ) If I would have wanted lap it would have been an additional 5000.00 regardless of which hospital, and to be honest I don't know if St. Vincent's is equipped for that or not. I was self pay that figured a lot into my decision. Of course hind sights is 20/20 and certainly wish I would have gone with the lap. Also I would not recommend St. Vincent's to anyone. Too many things happened to even mention, so check out Baptist. I know that is where Dr. Baker, Dr. Luttrell, Dr. Gibbs use. I hope this helps.

Bob, I had open rny last Aug.with Dr. Ozment. He doesn't like lap because you cannot see what's going on in there. He's done over 8,000 surgeries in his carrer and is one of the best in the nation. The recovery time is not that different and the lap is more expensive. Look into the pros and cons and try to attend a seminar before you make the decision. I was sure I would only have lap until I really knew the facts. He's over the Bariatric Center at St. Vincents. Vicki

Bob, check out Dr. Lambert in Batesville, AR. He and his staff are wonderful and so is the hopsital. My insurance had a $4,000.00 cap on the surgery, so the rest was self pay. I took out a 10,000.00 loan and it covered all of the doctor and hospital expense. I was very pleased with my care. Susan