Question:
I have insurance that pays 80% looking for estimates of what 20% will be?

   — cheryl M. (posted on December 4, 2006)

December 3, 2006
I haven't gotten my hospital bill yet, but my friend says that it was about $3,000-$4,000 for her. She worked out a payment plan with the hospital. Of course, the cost will vary depending on what part of the country you live in and what your medical providers charge.
   — Patricia R.

December 3, 2006
you will need to take into account several factors. you will need your clearances... nutritional, psychological and any other that the surgeon will require. Some require abdominal ultrasounds, primarily to check your gallbladder for stones, etc. Some require as part of their preop endoscopy and colonoscopies to be sure that you have no ulcers, etc. before going into surgery. Then when you figure the cost of the surgery... there is the cost of the surgeon, the hospital costs.. which are the charge for the surgical suite, the inpatient room, meds etc.; the cost of the testing afterwards to be sure there are no leaks... and don't forget the cost of the radiologist to read this test. There are lots of fingers in the pie. There is also the preop testing ... bloodwork, ekg, etc. Your best bet would be to check with the surgeon that you are going to, to see what his price is, then you can contact the financial dept at the hospital you will be using for a generalized guestimate of what charges you will be looking at.... hope this helps vs scares.... good luck and happy holidays....
   — Kari_K

December 4, 2006
The answer depends on what you will be paying for and the costs of your surgeon. Each surgeon's office should be able to give you a projected average cost (barring any unforseen events). The hospital can also usually give you some estimates of cost for the surgery and stay. There are many seperate bills for the surgery: the surgeon's fee, the hospital fee, the anesthesiologist fee, incidental fees (i.e. testing, medications), other physician consult fees. I paid 30%, the insurance paid 70% of my surgeons fees since he was out of network but still preapproved. The hospital I had the surgery in was in-network and my bills from the hospital were paid 100% by the insurance company at their negotated rates. The extra costs such as the anthesiologist, preop testing, medications etc, were all considered to be through the in-network hospital and were paid 100% as well. The bill from the surgeon was about 25k-30k. The hospital bills were about the same amount 25-30k to the best of my memory. I had surgery a year ago in NJ. I hope this helps.
   — pattilca

December 4, 2006
It depends on what type of surgery you are getting my friends was ten thousand dollars and that was 20% out of her pocket. Mine would have been the same if I would of had to of paid it. Of course both of our surgeries were a bit over 50,000 dollars. You kind of have to find out what the total is going to be and times it by 20% it will give you your answer.
   — nascar_angel_3_2003

December 4, 2006
As the others have said, the cost can be so different depending on where you are, the surgeon and the hospital. My total cost for lap RNY was around $30,000. I started pre-op procedures in February of 2006 so my $1,000 deductible was met quickly. My insurance paid 80% after that until I met my stop loss ($3,000 out of pocket) then it was 100%. I paid about $4,000 out of pocket for my surgery. I also have a secondary insurance that does not cover weight loss surgery but they did pay for part of my testing and also discounted the hospital charge even though they did not cover the surgery. Very involved process but as the others said, the surgeon and the hospital should be able to give you a ball park figure. Julia
   — Julia W.

December 6, 2006
My RNY Lap was $30,000. I met my max out-of-pocket and only had to pay $450.
   — Carol A.