HUGE QUESTION, PLEASE REPLY

Okay, so my insurance pays for all my surgery but 1000.00 dollars, and that is for Dr. Jewell the assistant surgene,  Qwestion- This assistant will be in network before the End Of year and before I would have to start my deductables over again.  So should I wait till he is in network so the insurance will pay for him or pay the 1000.00 dollars and have my surgery on Oct 23, I have everything done, the money is not a issue, my parents are paying it then we are paying them back after taxes, So do I save 1000.00 and take a chance or get it done. PLEASE ALL INPUT WOULD BE GREAT..  Also I follow up with Dr. Dun****oday at 1:45pm to see the results of the DNC, wish me luck, Thanks so much and God Bless Kristy

I am not sure anyone can answer that except for you.  If I was in the same situation and IF I was POSITIVE that the assistant would be in-network BEFORE the end of the year and IF I could have a date scheduled NOW for the surgery for when the assistant is in network, I would probably wait and have it when the insurance would pay for the assistant.   But I am financially REALLY strapped and don't have anyone to front the cost for me.  So I guess you have to ask yourself if  1) can you emotionally handle waiting? 2) can you financially afford to use $1000.00 from your tax refund to pay for the surgery? Good luck--that is a tough choice!

I'm with Maddie, being financially strapped.  We always have been middle class and it seems that for the most part our country is getting like third world countries that have the upper and lower and no middle anymore.  We are now in the position of our kids getting reduced lunches at school.  So I can't have the surgery at all.  I didn't realize that BCBS/Federal wouldn't pay as much as I thought.  THEN I find out the surgeon and hospital want money upfront.  I was going to pay monthly as we do all medical bills but NO WAY could I front the $$$$ - I would just consider all of what Maddie said - I know I couldn't do it, but whatever you think best for your situation. Good Luck! Lori

It really depends on what you are comfortable doing.  For me, I spent a lot of emotional energy getting ready for surgery and I would not have chosen to postpone my surgery to save $1,000.  The emotional cost would have been too high for me, and luckily I could have afforded to pay the fee out-of-pocket.  But if you haven't been spending hours on the emotional roller coaster, agonizing over your choice and related decisions, then postpone the surgery and save the $1,000 for new clothes!  Truly, you have to just think about your options, decide what feels right for you, make a decision, and move forward.   Good luck with whatever you decide to do -  Kellie

Personally, I'd have the surgery asap but that's because I took 3 years or so to make a decision about having it, and once I did I didn't want to wait.  I'm not sure what your situation is in terms of that, or how much longer you'd really have to wait.  Also, I didn't have to pay anything up front, supposedly it was all covered.  However, I am getting a lot of bills now for anesthesia because apparently the anesthesia guy was out of network.  And thats for two surgeries.  So, my RNY, including all the testing and the IVC filter, is ending up pretty expensive.  (So far about 3500 in bills, and I haven't gotten bills for the second surgery yet).  If that might be the case for you too, then I'd save the $1000 for extra medical bills that might come up. If I had known I'd have this much to pay I'd have saved for another year probably before I had the surgery, which would have been really hard to handle emotionally. 

Krisit,  You and Alan are really the only ones who can answer that. I had to wait to have everything I could be paid for by insurance. I had to come up with $750 myself too. It was supposed to be $1500 but since I had been on the Optifast program for so long he cut my cost in half. It was a blessing. Money  is normally tight for us so any time I can have insurance cover something is better for me. As I said before, it is up to you and Alan and how long you feel like you can wait.  Blessings, Annie

I would have to be close to 100% sure that in would be in network. I would also want my date locked in for the end of the year. I just would find it very hard to Postpone the surgery as I was so mentally prepared. Good luck with making your decision