cost of surgery!??

I have been reading on this forum the cost of gastric sleeve surgery, and I have also googled it. The average cost is anywhere between 8 and 20 thousand. I went for my pre-registration and insurance visit at the hospital and the cost of my surgery is 70,000!! Could that be accurate? I am thinking of calling the hospital to double check. Either way, I only have my co-pay and deductable which is the same no matter what, but still. $70,000 seemed REALLY high.

Doesn't hurt to call and double check, but it sounds like a classic case of jacking up the charges for the insurance company. That way, when the insurance co doesn't pay the full amount, they can write off the difference on their taxes. My surgery is going to cost $8750 in Mexico. My husband's was about $17000 total here in Atlanta by the time he paid for his clearances and stuff.

I was a cash pay so I priced the docs I was interested in. I only looked at very reputable and experienced docs. One in Palm Springs was $24,000 cash, in Orange county, $15,000 and the one in Mexico was $9995. I am sure that the price charged to the insurance is higher but then they have a negotiated rate with them so they write the rest of it off. $70,000 does seem excessive.

That sounds very high.  I was a self-pay.  My surgeon's fee was $4500.00.  The hospital offered a self-pay "package" of $15,000 which covered the anesthesiologist, three day hospital stay, all the other fees connected to the procedure, etc.

I know that prices will vary depending on the city but 70K is a lot more than 20K!

My hospital billed $44k and was paid $6k by BS of CA.  If you are a cash patient, you must negotiate.

I self paid $12,000 but it was performed at a surgical center which is much cheaper than a hospital. Dr. Nick Nicholson out of Dallas is amazing! Price includes everything pre and post op too!

Hosp billed BCBS tx $56k, BCBS tx paid them $17k plus my share $3k.

I'm sure my surgery is atleast that much or maybe more.  I spent four days at the University of PA Hospital one of the top hospitals in the nation.  Thank heavens I have good healthcare insurance!

Oh and I only spent one night in the hospital!!

I paid $14,500 here in Austin with Dr. Ganta. It included a year of follow up with him, the anesthesiologist, 1 night hospital stay, etc. It did not include lab work, but did, as I recall, include the fitness consult, nutritional and pysche eval.