THE PROCESS

[heynowkc 329]

I will have surgery this coming Wednesday, Dec 17th 2014. My first appointment with the surgeon was Dec 15th 2013. So it will be 13 months almost exactly for me. My insurance company requires a 12-month education program before you can qualify. It begins with the first visit with the surgeon if they recommend you for surgery. Even my surgeon was surprised at how long my insurance makes you wait. I have Anthem BCBS for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

When starting the process, the 12-month wait completely had me deflated. It felt like 12 months would be FOREVER to wait. But here I am and it's been 13 months. So... I guess it's a pain while you're going through it but will ultimately be worth it.

Out of pocket costs will be a 300 dollar deductible, plus many co-pays at the surgeon's office, and their required nutrition/exercise specialist/behavior specialist visits and pre and post-op diet, and post-op Vitamins, which is not covered by insurance. This is very pricey. I think my first visit was 250 back in February, then I paid 300 for the pre/post-op diet (Bariatric Advantage brand), 86 for post-op vitamins, and then a few hundred more (I feel terrible, I just paid this about a week ago. I should remember the amount!) for some post-surgical education. (Not sure why this is not covered!) In total I THINK that's like 1496 out of pocket not including the later follow-up visits post-surgery. So... a LOT! However, I was smart and set my flex-spending account to my max out of pocket for the year, and used a Care Credit card for my out of pocket expenses not billed to insurance (the supplements, etc.) If I hadn't done both things, I would never be able to afford the out of pocket costs. Thankfully my insurance pays everything else.

Edited December 13, 2014 by heynowkc

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I had $400 deductable, $200 for the nutrition class, plus the various copays at $45 a pop. I bought my own Vitamins and supplements but I don't think they were over $100.

I have Keystone 65 BCBS

Edited December 14, 2014 by BLERDgirl