what if you have NO insernce?????

i am writing this for a friend of mine who is looking in to wls. i have already had my surgery on dec 5 and i have lost 51 pound!!!! anyway my friend doesnt not have any insurence and she doesnt quilfy for medicaid or medicare! she goes to UMC in lafayette for all her medical needs. she doesnt have high blood pressure or high cholestoral (not that she knows of) and i think she shows signs of sleep apnea. but i would like to find out more information about how to help her get the wls at UMC or i would like to see if there is any state program to help her. also i would like to see how she could get a sleep study done. any help would be appreciated. thanks and god bless.

Even with insurance, coverage for weight loss surgery is not a given. A good bit of the insurance plans don't cover it and it's very hard finding doctors who will accept medicare/medicaid for wls. Medicare is a federal program and medicaid is state and those are it.

The other two options are self-pay and getting a medical needs loan. The costs for both are much less than if the surgery were covered by insurances. A few banks have programs for medical expense loans and there's a company out there called Care Credit that does nothing but medical expense loans.

I hope that helps,

Frances

thanks so much for the help

I have insurance.  No coverage.  Chose to havea  VSG which would not be covered by many groups anyway.  I took out a loan.  Compared several loans from different companies and settled on a loan from Whitney Bank (less than the Care Credit and Surgery Loans.com cost - and I have fabulous credit!). 

Sometimes, you have to make personal sacrifice to have things paid for that are important.  I will definately be hurting for the next few years to pay for this procedure.  I am definately cutting out things to allow for that.

I have no insurance but the surgery was NOT covered.  I made a loan and self-paid.  That was three years ago and I don't regret it a bit. 

Good luck to you and your friend. 

thanks!