I need financing.....I Hate Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina

I have had a consult with Dr. Byrne and  already been through all of the tests,exams, psychiatric appt. , blood work, nutrition classs, etc. the onlything left is to schedule surgery. i need financing. i pay $600.00 a month for the LOOSER insurance Company Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Bariatric Surgery is an Exclusion of their policies except the insurance pool. Please help ...Any Suggestions?

I am in the same boat with you. I have the LOOSER as well with the State and they specifically have it in their booklet that they will not cover weight loss surgery. I am interested as well in finding out if there is a way around this especially if there are health problems due to the weight.  Any advice would be appreciated.

I also have the 'looser' insurance and couldn't afford to have the surgery at MUSC (they quoted me $27500 inclusive but since when doesn't a hospital charge for extras?).  My solution was to go overseas to India for my gastric bypass this past April.  Airfare (for one), visa, procedure and hospital stay plus four days at 5* hotel was less than $13000.  I went by myself but if I had had someone go with me their airfare would have been around $1200 and that (plus some food costs at the hotel) would have been the only additional expense.  The hospital will let a guest stay free in the room (international patients get a private room and there are two beds) and there isn't a 'second person' fee at the hotel.

I know this is a 'drastic' solution but my Internist was very okay with India (said he wouldn't do post op care if I went to Mexico - which I hadn't even considered) and it was the ONLY way I could afford the surgery.  India has excellent Doctors BUT you have to know what to expect.  I never felt I wasn't getting excellent care but the hospital wasn't all decked out like MUSC.  It was clean but they don't spend money on 'can lights' and fancy pictures and don't care if the bedspreads in the room match each other.  I knew that going in so was okay with it but if you've never been overseas it might have been a surprise. 

The only thing I would have against going out of the country for the surgery is this......What if you had an complications following the surgery, it could be a problem finding someone to take care of you back here in the US  and I know that if the insurance company has a no coverage clause then they definetly won't pay for anything related to the surgery even after the fact. Sometimes taking the cheaper way out can end up being more costly in the end. It's great if everything goes as planned, but you should always plan for the unexpected also.