Surgery out of state..

Okay so who here had surgery outside of the state they reside in raise your hand! now who here also paid for that surgery out of pocket keep your hands raised... I hope I am not the only one with their hand raised right now.  I have been talking to my PCP and she says it not a good idea to have my surgery out of state because there won't be any doctors down here that will see me because it was another doctor that did the surgery and that becuase I am paying out of pocket it will only cost me a ton more down the line when complications arise...  So how (if there is anyone out there) did you deal with all this? Oh and i am getting a Lap. RNY

I had my surgery out of state, but barely.  They dealth with my insurance company all the time.  I paid $1800 for my surgery, as my policy at that time was an 80/20 with an out of pocket max of $1800.

I'm having my surgery out of state... and I had to go self-pay...however I'm in a little bit different situation than you're describing.  If you know the geography of northern oregon and southern washington... Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA are right next to each other...with just a big river seperating them.  So even though I'm an oregon resident, i'm having my surgery in washington.  Also, my surgeon is also based out of oregon and he has a business relationship with the hospital in washington.  I was referred to washington because they had a package deal for self-payers... if I stayed in oregon and went the insurance route, the costs would have been almost double that of going self-pay.   I think most people would recommend that you stick close to your surgeon atleast for the first couple of years post-op.  Than again, many people don't have a choice because of their geography...some even go to a different country and risk issues with complications... it's really a decision you need to make for yourself.  Are you willing to risk dealing with a local doctor if you do have complications?  Are you wanting to go the most inexpensive route?  For me, if I lived my life constantly worrying about things I had no control over, I wouldn't get very far.  Therefore, i'd go for the choice of being the cost effectively for me while getting the best care possible... worry about the complications later because they may or may not happen...  Think of it like taking a road trip from NY to LA...  Are you going to load a big SUV with food rations, 3 spare tires, emergency kits, GPS, blankets, etc just because you MIGHT run into problem along the way?  Or are you going to load up a fuel economy car and give a call to AAA if you run into a problem?  I'd go with the latter.

It is very hard to get health insurance after having gastric bypass surgery.  If I were you I would get a job with health insurance. It would save you a ton money

I have a job with health insurance, they don't cover the surgery.

thats really gay! I don't know. I quit my job and found one that coverd... But if you can pay for, then do it! And if you have health insurance right now it shouldn't be a problem to keep that after surgery