Please somebody help, I need some good advice

Ok, I'm really upset right now so excuse me if I sound fumbled. I got information that the switch of doctors was approved and they will set a date. However, my insurance put a cap of $10,000 on my approval. I now have to come up with $12,000 + before they can perform the surgery. I don't know about you all but I don't have that kind of money, nor can I borrow or get a loan for that kind of money. Does anyone know of any agencies that do financing for this kind of thing? I'm really depressed, I have worked so hard for over a year for this and finally this close and I knew there would be a stopper somewhere along the way. Thanks for listening. Traci

I don't know who your insurance carrier is...but my bills were not that much. Ohio Health Choice paid my doctor's office $1800.00. They paid the Anesthesiologist around $2000.00 and my hospital bill was around $5000.00. I am left to pay $1000.00 out of pocket. Now...I had no complications....and was fairly healthy going in...meaning I had no life threatening conditions that required extra attention during the surgery. If you can travel to Columbus, maybe you should check out Dr. Price at Mid-Ohio Surgical ...see if he's in your insurance network. Good luck! Cherrie

Hi Traci, I, too, have a 10k cap on my MMOH policy. The Cleveland Center for Bariatric Surgery asks that I put down 5k at the time of pre-admission testing for additional expenses over and above the 10k from the insurance. I also found out that they do refund any amount left over after the surgery. Check into different surgeons. This surgery has great ranges in price. I know my PCP told me that CCBS is one of the least expensive, and the head surgeon there is a pioneer in the field of gastric bypass, Dr. Helmut Schreiber. Good luck!! Pamela

Traci, I don't know if this will help you or not but here where we live, we have two hospitals. One is "in network" and the other is out of network. There is also a satellite mini hospital which is considered out of network. The in network hospital is NOT our hospital of choice, for various reasons and the out of network hospital is constantly battling the insurance company. Finally, the out of network hospital and sateliite hospital decided to accept whatever the insurance company would pay for having services rendered at the out of network charge. I guess they figured by the time they whacked away what they alloted and what they didn't, they would probably come out ok. I guess what I am trying to say is, check around with various surgeons to see what they say the fee is and explain your situation. Maybe there is someone out there who will accept what you are alloted because they are out of network and well, that amount is better than nothing at all-sorta like the hospitals here. There might be someone out there who can help-don't give up-you've come WAY too far to be told no now!!!! Beth

Hey Traci, Don't give up hope You might consider the drive and check out Deaconess Hospital here in Cincinnati. Our financial management team is currently working out financing with various places. It is not set up yet, but one of us on the team will post the info once its in place. We also have a cash price that is lower than any one out there. Give us a call!!!!! 513.559.2545 Cathy Deaconess Surgical Weight Loss Center.