Dr. Boyce's program fee question

Dr. Boyce and his program are well worth the program fee but I am so glad Dr. Houston did not have a program fee.   You are going to love your DS - it is the most amazing journey you can go on.  

First let me say that even though it says that Dr Boyce is my surgeon, he did not do my surgery.  He is my post op surgeon.  I had my surgeery in middle Tennessee.  Matt Mancini at UT is a phenom of a surgeon and a great guy as well.  Many of you that know me know that he was my husband's surgeon through his long illness last year. Matt will be the first to tell you though that the downfall in his program is the followup.  That is where that program fee comes in.  Boyce's group can afford to be much freer with their time due to that fee. You really do get a lot more attention from Boyce's group that 1st year.  You really do get what you pay for.  Some insurance companies will pay for part of it, but not many. 

Unfortunately, there are those who can't afford it and those who won't afford it.  For those who can't afford it, I wish there were something that could be done, and I think that is why they started the 'payment' plan.  But for those who won't afford it, maybe you should take a look at the whole business of weight loss surgery.  This is NOT a quick fix.  It is not easy, cheap, or painless.  It is a lifetime commitment.  The surgery is just a tool in an arsenal of tools you are being given to prepare you to lose the weight and KEEP it off.  I struggle with this everyday.  This is why good follow up and good support are so, so important.  $3000 is a drop in the bucket to the $25,000-$30,000 the surgery costs and can easily be completely wasted if you don't have good follow up.

Unfortunately when my husband asked if they would code it out so we could get our insurance company to pay for it, they refused..so we went elsewhere. We can't afford that much. Where we are going now does not have a program fee at all and we still get the support mentioned as to access to a nurse/etc. Yes, we have to do all ours long distance but if we had to wait til we saved for the program fee, we would be into 2015 getting our surgery.

Liz