truthbetold

Any doctor who will accept what insurance pays for bariatric surgery if you are blue cross or blue shield ppo in california ($1000 for lapband which includes 3 months of follow up visits) is doing as many surgeries as he can in a day and will not be following your weight loss closely. they will see you as little as possible because they do not get paid! they will be doing your surgery as fast as possible because they do not get paid! you get what you pay for. any doctor who specializes in this and has built a practice around it will be charging the patient. do your research. ask how much your doctor gets reimbursed by insurance for your surgery and then do the math relative to the work involved to take care of you. funny how people will pay up for the nice car but not their own health.

Most PPO insurances pay $1000 for the band surgery and do not pay for fills during the first three months after surgery. If you choose a doctor who will accept this without a program fee, just remember when you have a bad experience, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR... just like everything else in life. Quality Healthcare is not free. After surgery, how will your follow up visits be? How often can you go into the office to get a fill? How hard is it to get an appointment? What support system is in place to help me adjust with the band? What happens if I have a complication in the future? What are the chances the doctor will be around for me to find him? What is the doctor's reputation? What do previous patients say about the doctor? How long has the doctor been around? What is the success rate of the doctor's patients? What are the doctor's complication rates? I had surgery with Dr. Oliak in 2010 as a PPO patient and paid the program fee. It was worth every penny. I lost 90% of my excess weight, I can get in usually the same week I call for an appointment, the clinical staff is first class and I receive the specialized support I need. I have spoken to many patients who started elsewhere to save a few dollars, only to switch to Dr. Oliak after the poor quality of service they received. I have the peace of mind that this doctor will be around for 20+ more years and if I ever have an issue with my surgery, he will take care of me. This is your life, people. Place more value on the different types of healthcare available to you. This is the best investment you will ever make.