In need of Information

Hey you guys, I'll be moving up to Portland sometime at the end of the month, or beginning of Jan. and I want to get the Lap-Band done there.. I just don't know where to start. For starters I don't have any health insurance, and if I were to get some sort of a plan I don't know which plan would actually cover the surgery and how long it will take to go through the whole process.. My only other option is to be able to find a location that has a financial plan, or has some sort of payment plan. I would appreciate any information you guys can offer, as I feel very lost moving to a new state and not knowing where to begin.

There is one surgeon in Coos Bay that's doing band specials for $10,000. There are several credit companies that also extend a medical line of credit (Capital One has one from what I recall). Here's his website: http://www.northwestbariatricsurgery.com/ Most plans will have issues with pre-existing conditions so you may run into problems with that if you don't already have a job lined up (you can't have a lapse in insurance if you have a pre-existing condition and want it covered). As far as which plans cover it, they're all individual and specific to the company. In my case my insurance didn't cover it but my husband's did (they no longer do after they realized they had the "loop hole" that allowed me to get my surgery). You actually may look at working for Burgerville. As I understand it they have a fairly decent insurance option that's open to part time employees. I don't know, however, if their policy covers ANY type of WLS. Good luck. Lori

My insurance required too many hoops to jump through and too much time. I opted for surgery in Brazil. I had a RNY with a band (different than the surgery that is common here). My surgery was 4/19/06. I've gone from 237 to 144 and couldn't be happier. My surgery cost $8500 including all the pre-op testing. It's not for everyone, but it's an option. Good luck. It's been an amazing journey!

Cherry, I live in Oregon and used the surgeon in Coos Bay, Steven Tersigni that is mentioned by another member. There is also a clinic in Portland, Dr. Emma Patterson. It generally takes 6 months of preparation through the Portland Clinic if you are going through insurance, I don't know how long it would take with that clinic if you made a payment plan. It took approximately three months to go through the necessary steps for my insurance plan with the Coos Bay Clinic and Dr. Tersigni. I can tell you that if you end up with BCBS of Oregon as an insurance carrier, the only clinic they will allow to do the procedure in the state at this time is Dr. Patterson in Portland. I can tell you that Dr. Tersigni and the Coos Bay Hospital are very flexible with payment arrangements and he is an excellent surgeon and the hospital took excellent care of me - very attentative. One more note - Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene just opened a brand new WLS clinic, you may want to check that out too. Good Luck!

OHSU is an option also. You will probably find that Brazil (or out of country) may be the most cost effective. http://www.ohsuhealth.com/SurgicalWeightReduction/getting-started.html http://www.drmarchesini.com/ Best wishes to you and yours Isha 366/151/170 sw cw gw -215 pounds gone forever ! www.duodenalswitch.com Eat NORMAL and Lose

Thank you guys for all the help. I will look into all my options before deciding, that and I need to settle into life in Oregon. Being a California girl, i'm not used to weather other than hot =P, and cold for me is under 70.. lol. Anyways, I'm leaning towards Capital One, once I fix my credit I'll look into getting the loan from them. And I've taken a note of all available doctors nearby, so I'll look into those to see which one i'm more comfortable with. Again thank you all so much, you've been very helpful.