Insurance search is on....
I can speak to this. You want insurance that will cover the surgery adn ALL of the post op bloodwork. This is where I went wrong to great finacial deteriment.
Here is my messed up surgery.
APWU covered all but 2K of my surgery! Yay! But they didnt cover the post op vitamin and hormone labs. DEspite having insurance, I was billed $728 for each of those blood draws and I had 8 that year due to endocrinology/bariatric/general practioner evaluations (I got really sick and the NP thought I had hepatitius because I had recently eaten at a red lobster linked to hepatitus outbreak). Yep! I PAID ABOUT 8K for blood work. Cheap ass insurance can be really bad.
So now, I got ANTHEM bluecross/blue shield Federal government version. A friend with a deteriorating liver (who needs lots of labs and often) recommended them. I just got my first statement. Basically the lab charged $821 for the work, the insurance allowed $100 but because they are a preferred lab in excess of $700 in charges "disappears." Previously with the APWU, I would have had to pay that $700 despite being in network with a preferred provider.
So get on the phone with the insurance company rep adn ASK. You dont want to watch 8K just disappear from your coffers due to routine post op care. Seriously, it takes 10 minutes to draw ones blood and the fact that $700 can just be "written off" gives one an idea as to the "pure profit" that the lab is making.
RNY Surgery: 12/31/2013;
Current weight (2/27/2015) 139lbs, ~14% body fat
Three pounds below Goal!!! Yay !
Thanks for all the replies.. Let me clarify when i say Obama insurance i say it because i had to get this insurance so i would not be fined at the next tax year.
I am self employed and insurance can come out to be a expensive monthly bill added to many others i pay, but thru the new Obama care it is less expensive. I am looking into other insurance companies. Thanks again.
Please read your policy carefully and closely; my insurance policy didn't cover "weight loss programs" which turns out to be Weigh****chers, etc., but does cover bariatric surgical procedures. The weightloss programs don't work, so that's why they aren't covered.
It's awfully easy to read too fast and misunderstand. There's a reason why insurance companies like to make their policies difficult to understand.