Got my bill .......

Got my bill from the surgery $12,000+ fortunately I'm only liable for $900+.  That's just for the surgeon.  The hospital bill is a lot more and I'm responsible for $4,000. and it will NOT count towards my out-of-pocket expense for my insurance because even though it was medically necessary for me to have the surgery, they still consider it elective.  Nice huh?  Oh well.  They'll get a monthly payment and that's the best I can do.  As long as I pay something towards it.

Yikes! Glad you can take it in stride-- that'd send me into sheer panic. (Mainly because I have so much other debt). Good luck chipping away at it. 

The secret is to communicate with their customer service and set up an agreement on what you can pay monthly.  Last year I had a ton of co-pays, overlooked one for less than $150 and they turned it over to a collection agency.

Yep, the first thing I did was call them and set up a payment plan.  They try to argue with me on it as far as how much, but in the end I just tell them......it's this amount or nothing.  I tell them that I also have a house payment and do need to eat and have utilities.  As long as I'm paying something, there's nothing they can do.  Believe me, no one wants to pay this off and get it off my back sooner than me.  I am currently also  paying on 2 other hospital bills from prior to the surgery and I tell them to look those up and see proof that I do make payments and pay as much as I can.  They usually settle down after that.

I'm glad that they'll take payments.  My out of pocket for my RNY was $750, and they let me set up a payment plan, paying $50 a month with no interest.  I could've paid it outright, but if they'd do that for me, why not?

Absolutely agree with you.  Why take your emergency fund.  Make payments, as long as there's no interest, it will get paid off.  What ticks me off, is I know for a fact that there are people out there that get it paid for free and clear.  Oh well, that's life.

My son just had surgery and has to pay $400 for his CT scan - it'll go to collections if it goes past 60 days    I told them to offer the hospital $100 per month.  Both he and my grandson had ear surgery this year so they've probably met their limits now.  Sucks!

Mine was about the same... I made payments...

Best investment you will probably ever make in yourself. Just pay it off however you are able.  At least your ins paid something...mine didn't cover anything to do with WLS. Sometimes we have to do what we have to do! Good luck with your recovery, weight loss and paying off the bill.

Thank you.  Yes I'm very fortunate to have insurance and have a large amount of the entire billed paid for.  Believe me, it was the last thing I wanted to do was to have this surgery.  I'm so mad at myself for allowing myself to get into this predicament.  But, it is what it is.  I swore I would not pay one more dime to WW because while WW worked as far as losing the weight, I always reverted back to old habits and could not keep it off.