Don't you worry about self paying?

If you self-pay, what happens if you - let's say set aside 20k for your surgery and you need an extra week in the hospital or they find out you had a hernia when they were in there? Did you just have way more set aside then you needed? I hear some of the self-pay prices and I think - yeah, i could do that in a few years, but then I consider any complication could add tons to my bill and I start thinking uhhhh, maybe not...

I had my DS with Dr. Alberto Aceves, I payed 13000.00.  The hospital was extremely clean, and I was taken care of "as if I were a queen" for six days in Almater Hospital.  I was self pay, and was going to pay 26000.00 in the states, but after months and months of researching I decided to go with Dr. Aceves.  He has an amazing reputation and was all inclusive.  I also got to spend one night in the Hotel Lucerna, as part of the package.  I stayed four extra nights there, just to make sure everything was fine before I came home.  I was there a total of eleven days, very happy to get home.  I dont beleive there is anywhere in the US where you stay six days in the hospital, unless you have complications.   My private care provider was aware of my surgery, and promised to take care of me when I returned.  You do need to have someone to order your bloodwork and such...... 

Just for comparison and thought...  I had my surgery in Los Angles, by one of the top surgeons in the state and I ended up with an infection in my incision.  It turned into a weeping mess, and started opening up the incision again.  (My surgery was open.)

After several ER visits, and 2 cultures of the bacteria, they found one of the bacterias was resistant to all but the harshest antibiotics.  It was a form of MARSA.  Well, I remember there was a young, male patient in the room next to mine with a MARSA infection on his leg!

So I got the infection from the hospital, and it festered and set in good while I stayed 5 days in the hotel.  When I drove home, in 2 days I was in the ER battling an infection that nothing seemed to kill.

So having this surgery in the USA doesn't mean you get the best of care...  that you will have less complications than having the surgery in a foreign country.

Ask what it covers.  Back "in the day", my doc had a self-pay rate that covered absolutely everything the first 6 months.  If there was a complication, it was covered, and all bloodwork and office visits were covered too.  This probably isn't the norm, but something you want to know, for it's a very valid question.

What a great option.  Most of the issues crop up in the first 6 months, and this way the surgeon can make sure you keep coming back for follow ups and monitoring.  I never thought to ask about this when I was going through my surgery.

I was a self pay at the Cleveland Clinic and they included some short term post op insurance as part of the base cost. That would have covered any complications for the first 3 months. After that they said it wouldn't be considered a surgical complication by insurance standards if something happened so I'ld be covered uner my normal insurance.

I self paid in the USA (but had Mexico already researched and ready to go if I needed to use that avenue).   And I would really check out Mexico's pricing.  I think Umberto (who is a vetted surgeon) charges 16K.  (Is there an USA surgeon plus hospital that would charge just 20K?)  The point is if you are in Mexico, and they find something, it is going to be a lot cheaper to fix it there then in the USA if you don't have insurance. 

I did have a few minor complications after I got home, and my regular health insurance picked up the cost of that.  I had regular health insurance from my job (for 4 months after the surgery), so I was lucky I could get my labs paid for and antibiotics that I needed right after surgery. 

And I would have an agreement going into surgery that if they find anything else in there, just leave it.  Just give me the DS and close it up.  Although, finding a hernia while they are already in there would not be that expensive to fix.  

You take your chances!  But generally speaking the surgeons in other countries do give better, all inclusive deals.

I was self pay and 3 days later I had to have my appendix out and it is expensive. Sometimes things do happen. Now we just pay monthly payments to everyone. My doctor does include everything and he is in the process of offering some type of insurance that would cover anything that goes wrong. It wasn't available when I had my surgery done.