I have federal bc/bs. I was banded August 2008. When I called the insurance told me they paid like any other surgery. I paid co-pay for all the pre test and doctors and ended up paying the doctor $150.00 and the hospital $1800.00 out of pocket. There were a few smaller bills for antheoligist(?). The only thing that concerned me, was that the hospital charged $23,000.00. I was only there 6 hours from start to finish. The $1,800 was my 15 percent after the insurance pays it's 85percent