Aftercare fee???

Does anyone know if it is routine for to be charged an aftercare fee of $2,000 to $5000 for revision surgery from RNY to DS in addition to what your insurance will pay?? or is this just a Michigan thing??

When you say aftercare do you mean follow up appts. with your surgeon, support, etc. 

I've seen revision surgeons in California charge simiiar fees.

Hey Debbie thanks for responding...yes that is what they (Dr. office) refer to it as. Thats exactly what it is supposed to be for.   I don't even know if my insurance will approve me for this...I hope so. This is all so overwhelming... I really want the DS revision but if there is a fee I don't know. Thank God for the revision board and you guys...thanks again.

Hey Debbie what type of revision are you going to get? and what do you suggest??

I had an RNY in March 2002 - I lost 175 lbs, stayed there for about 5 minutes and the weight started piling back on.  I've come to the conclusion that a purely restrictive procedure doesn't work for me, I also need the malabsorption.  So I'm revising from an RNY to DS.   Check out www.dsfacts.com or www.duodenalswitch.com.  Also feel free to PM me if I can answer any questions.

Take care,

Debbie

Hi Debbie, me again... did it take a long time to get approved through your insurance. I hear that DS is not as easily approved as the RNY revision...I have Federal BC/BS you think I will have a problem...I just dont want to settle for a revision that isn't gonna benefit me..I dont ever want to have to ever go through this again, and I want to reach my goal wt. I know from reading the boards that revision to the DS has a high success rate and thats what I want. I dont care about the fee. 

I hear what you're saying.  Unfortunately my insurance didn't approve me so I'm self paying.  They'll be happy to approve an RNY revision, but why the hell would I want to revise a surgery that failed me.  I hope you'll have better luck.  There certainly are those out there that do have insurance companies that will cover it.

I don't think the aftercare fee charge is a Michigan thing, I think it's a surgeon thing. Lots of revision surgeons do NOT charge any sort of program fee.

I think you should post this question on the DS board.

On the Fed BC/BS, my understanding is they use the guideline for whatever state you are having surgery in. For example, if you are having surgery in MI, they will use BC/BS of MI guidelines for revision. If you are going to KY, they will use KY's...etc, etc. This is definitely something to research before you submit. Some states BC/BS will not cover the DS, or have strict guidelines.

HTH