Help, Self-Pay Fears

umonica · February 11, 2004

My insurance will not pay so I'm going to be self-pay. I'm having it done here in the states which cost way more. My question to others is did you have a fear that something could go wrong and your hospital bill could sky-rocket!

Did any other self-pay people have this fear. I wondering if there are complication down the road... what will happen will I have to self-pay for complication down the road.

anyone else have this fear

BEBBLY · February 11, 2004

Hi I was also a self-pay. I went down to Mexico and I feared the same things. I was so pleased with my doctor and the staff. I was not charged a penny more than what I was told. They even paid for an extra night stay for my parents. Make sure if you are self-paying in the states, you get something in writing from your doctor and the hospital. Unfortunately they are not as honest as we think.

Good Luck,

Mary

claraluz · February 11, 2004

I was self-pay here in the states, too and asked this same question. I also wanted to know what would happen on down the road should there be an obstruction - would the insurance cover that? Luckily, the doctor that does fills for my surgeon has the band herself and had exactly that happen to her. The answer she gave was that even though her insurance company did not pay for the banding, they did pay for the emergency surgery when her band "slipped" as that was not an elective surgery, but a medical emergency. I wouldn't necessarily take this as gospel, but it makes sense to me. As far as my fee for the surgery, the deal with the hospital was that my $14,000 covered everything and anything that would be needed within the first 48 hours. Which seemed fair to me. I think there is some small financial risk involved with this, just as there is some physical risk. But there isn't much in this world that is risk free.

Nancy