What are the costs???

I'm just starting to check into the cost of surgery. Will probably have it in Spokane from the dr's at Rockwood Clinic. I have Group Health Cooperative insurance. Was wondering if anyone could tell me what they paid to have their surgery done. I know you pay your med provider deductible, but what else?? What are the hidden costs? Need to find out asap as I have a mtg with another dr in another state for same thing. Trying to compare costs! Thanks!

My Group Health policy wouldn't cover the surgery so I went to Dr. Pennings in Post Falls and he is awesome. Bariatrics Northwest is his clinic. The whole program was around 22,500. If you have a choice, I would choose Dr. Pennings over ANYONE at Rockwood Clinic, they used to be my primary clinic. Hope insurance covers it for you. Good Luck

If this doesn't totally scare you, I'm going to Dr. Marchesini in Brazil. My insurance wouldn't pay anything. Total cost, including surgeon, hospital, all other medical aspects, hotel, flight, passports and visas for two, miscellaneous ... everything ... will be $12-$13,000. Self-pay here in the states, even in Idaho where it's a bit lower than other states, was still to prohibitive for me. If you can get your insurance to cover it for you, though, that's great! If you're interested, drmarchesini.com can give you great information. There's also a Dr. Marchesini patient forum here, and a Yahoo group. However, I just assumed you're having the DS. If you're having the RNY, everything would be different, and Dr. M doesn't do the RNY. (If you haven't researched the differences between the two surgeries, please do before you jump into the RNY.) Good luck! Amanda

I am paying for my own duodenal switch operation. There is a 10% Hosiptal discount for cash up front. Hospital - $18,900 (includes discount)(4 days) Surgeon - $6471 (includes $971 for gallbladder removal) Surgeon Assist - $1294 (includes $194 for gallbladder removal) Anesthesiologist - $1000 - $1800 Insurance might pay for gallbladder removal.