Out of pocket

[kewlshort1 4]

I am having my surgery done at the hospital I work at. Because the surgeon and staff work at the same hospital as me, they are familiar with our insurance coverage and what is/isn't covered, what the requirements are, etc. As a result, I never bothered talking to the insurance company themselves about the requirements. After looking at my insurance website yesterday (Humana), I found they have a bariatric department that deals with all weight loss options. I called them today to get the specifics on my plan, and found them extremely helpful. Not only did she verify everything with me over the phone, she emailed me the documents as well while we were talking. She also sent me their links to Humana's educational videos that covered a lot of information: comparisons between the various weight loss surgeries, as well as specifics on each one. Obviously, I had already researched myself, but I still found it quite informative.

The best part was my coverage though. First, I never knew exactly how much the surgery would cost me out of pocket. Stupid, I know. I knew the insurance would cover surgery, at least in part, and that was good enough for me. Frankly, I'd beg, borrow and/or steal to afford this! BUT that won't be necessary... my insurance (not know for being all that great) covers my surgery 100% with a copayment of $200. I was giddy when I was told that I'm so anxious to get my approval! Especially now that I know I'm not going to be stuck with a huge bill, I sure wish I had done this 2 years ago before I gained the 80 lbs I've put on since my ex walked out on us. That would have put me just that much close to my goal. But, alas.... then again, I've had that extra time to really soul search, research and prepare myself for this. I'm definitely ready now

[*~*Free2Bme*~* 2]

That's great!! My ins has an exclusion policy so, I'll be writing a $14000 check in a couple of weeks

[kewlshort1 4]

Holy crow!! That hurts to think about. I'm afraid if my insurance didn't cover it, I would be unable to afford it. My policy says that WLS is excluded, but then says unless authorized by Humana. I initially thought it would not be an option, but then found that our hospital performs the surgery. That's when I did some more digging and found that it really just meant "excluded unless you jump through the hoops". I used to work for Motorola, and had BCBS of IL and had several coworkers that had the surgery with nothing out of pocket. At the time, I had no children, and had just lost 80 lbs on my own, so it wasn't even considered. Unfortunately, I gained it back and then some

Those of you that are self pay, are you able to get credit to cover this? Or are you having to come up with it all in advance?