I have done some research on several surgeries including MGB. I am not a medical person so please do your own research, but this might give you a start.  So far, I don't think any insurance covers it.  My insurance company calls it experimental, but my surgeon's office said that it is just a twist on an older surgery.  My surgeon won't do it because it involves making a "loop" or a bend or something in the intestine.  He believes that could cause harm, e.g. hernias or something.  I am not sure exactly because I didn't dig that deep once I realized it wasn't covered. Apparently, there is only one doctors' group that does the MGB and they have several offices around the country (I think, in Michigan, Texas and maybe one of the Carolinas).  The web site the last person posted is their site.  These docs are based in Henderson, NV and the main guy is Dr. Rutledge.  I seriously considered going to Dr. Rutledge, because I could stay with my sister who lives in Henderson, but I decided for reasons of follow-up, concerns about the surgery and several other reasons to go with the RNY close to home. I am lucky because we have a star surgeon locally.  If there is a complication I want to be near my surgeon. You may not have that luxury.

They boast a shorter recovery time, a shorter time under the knife and better results.  I don't think the results are verified yet scientifically since these docs are the only ones doing it, but they seem to have done a number of them.  When I checked into the actual time of surgery Dr. Rutledge's time isn't much better than an RNY my surgeon Dr. de la Torre does in St. Louis (he will be doing my RNY).  Right now, the RNY is the "gold standard" of bariatric surgeries, in addition to the lap band which is done by many for patients who have objections to stapling off such a large portion of their stomachs. It does appear that Dr. Rutledge charges much less for the MGB surgery than good RNY surgeons charge for theirs, but I didn't check to see what other services an MGB patient might be charged.   As an aside, Dr. Rutledge's web site is just a mess of text.  I felt like it was just a quickly thrown up bunch of words.  For some reason that just bothers me. I will say one thing, as an attorney I found it much easier to practice in a field where there were many other attorneys to bounce ideas off of.  When I started practicing in an area where I was one of the few I felt less secure because I didn't have anyone to consult with.  Two brains are better than one, three brains are better than two, etc.  ALL surgeons need the support of their associations, they learn from the experience of others and they compare notes all the time.  Dr. Rutledge may be a genius, but he doesn't have enough other bariatric surgeons in the country to learn from and share experiences.  This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't try a surgery where the surgeons don't have a lot of support, just like I wouldn't buy a car in its first model year.

These are just my thoughts.  If you are interested in MGB contact the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons at:  http://www.asbs.org/index.shtml or the National Institutes of Health NIH) at:  http://www.nih.gov/.  I would call them and ask questions because there is not much on the Internet other than the Dr. Rutledge and his group. Hope this helped.