Question:
my Insurance has a Co-pay of $1000.00

would they cancel my surgery if i don,t have all of this money when i go to have my surgery? and also is there a certain weight limit to have the Lap procedure done? my surgery is getting closer and i,m starting to get the last minute jitters. i,m starting to get frustrated. can anyone out there relate? patricia mcconnell.    — patricia M. (posted on July 21, 2003)

July 21, 2003
Because this is elective and not "emergency" surgery, you may be asked to pay your co-payment up front. Why not just make some calls and found out. Wouldn't it be better to know now and then work with the results to see what you need to do. Your surgeon/insurance company/hospital (whoever you owe the money too) may be able to work out a payment plan if they know ahead of time there might be a problem. If it were me, I would want to know now where I stood on the financial issue with regards to my surgery date.
   — [Deactivated Member]

July 21, 2003
My insurance has an out of pocket deductable of $500. We hit that during the pre-op tests. Now everything is paid at 100%. If you have a co-pay for surgery, this generally gets applied after the surgery, and billed from the hospital. From there you can set up a payment plan if you do not have it all. Call your ins to confirm, then call the hosptial, to make sure that you have all the facts.
   — Pookie B.

July 22, 2003
You can probably make arrangements to pay the co-pay. I seriously doubt your surgery would be cancelled for lack of a measly $1000.00, when the hospital, surgeon, et al. stand to make much more when the insurance pays! As far as weight limits on the lap procedure - it depends on your surgeon and the equipment he has. My surgeon has done lap RNY on a guy who weighed 525lbs, and I have read on this site that some surgeons have done lap surgery on even bigger folks, 600+lbs. Call your surgeon's office and ask! Good luck!
   — koogy

July 22, 2003
Considering the final bill was just short of $40,000.00 for my entire expierence, and I have had to pay just short of $850.00 so far, thats not to bad. And I would think they will let you make payments on it. As long as you are making an effort to pay it they can't do to much.
   — keller W.