Anybody else struggling with money?

[elavela 3]

Hi, I finally made an account for myself after doing research. I'm only a few months in after deciding to have bariatric surgery and I've only done the sleep test. I'm 23 and I'm bascially doing this whole thing by myself and I'm struggling finacially. My fiance, his mother, and my best friend are the only ones who are supporting me through this. My parents said they don't want me to get it and are making it clear that I have to do this myself. I'm using our insurance but the co-pays are killing me. I had to make a $200 payment for the first consultion and I had to pay $500 for the first sleep study. Is anybody else going through something like this? Anybody have ideas to make extra money? Did anybody else struggle but decided it was all worth it? I'm stressing out hardcore lol!!!

[Daisee68 2,493]

Yes even with insurance, the deductibles and co-pays are a lot. I'm sorry you are struggling. I don't have any ideas for jobs but just wanted to say hang in there. If you can pull it off, it is worth it. I hate to suggest this since you are so young, but have you considered a credit card that is just for health care like CareCredit? I think there are others, but that is the only one I know by name. Not exactly sure how it works but I have a friend that had to get one to get a lot of dental work done.

[Dub 9,922]

Whith my insurance.....through the doctors in my plan......it's going to cost me $24,000 for the bypass.......plus all the copays........plus all the endoscopy cost.......plus all the nutritionist cost........plus the physiological visit cost......and the initial consulatation with the surgeon.

Yes, it is a struggle.

[Daisee68 2,493]

@@Dub - wow that is rough! With insurance?! Do you not have max out of pocket cap on your insurance? Thankfully mine had a max out of pocket of $3750 so once I hit that it has all been paid 100%.

[geronimo 52]

It is costly, but it will well be worth it. And, think about how much money you'll be saving, especially this first year. You might wind up breaking even, or at least making a huge dent in the cost of the procedure.

[James Marusek 5,244]

From the time I started the process until the surgery almost a year went by. Since this time was spread out over two calendar years, it meant that I had to pay the minimum co-pays before the insurance kicked in.

My insurance required a 6 month medically supervised weight loss and exercise program. But even though they required this, the insurance would not pay for the monthly doctor visits. What was even stranger was that they in the end paid for every other visit. I asked them why and they said the payments they made were their mistake but I didn't have to pay them back.

Dealing with the insurance can be frustrating. It is almost like they do not want you to have the surgery so they don't have to pay for it. Sometimes you just have to put blinders on and go forward no matter what.

Even when you do your homework and find doctors within your preferred network. They sometimes want to charge you the out of network rate. This happened with a pulmonologist. He was within network on their online database of in network providers, but when the bill came in they charge his fees as out of network. I called the insurance company and said he is within network per your online list of in network providers. They said our database must be wrong.

[Dub 9,922]

James, your advice above: "Sometimes you just have to put blinders on and go forward no matter what."

So very true thus far. It's been a lesson in frustration, but each setback makes me more determined to get this stuff resolved.

[katgio52 1]

Care credit will give you 0% interest up to 24 months for some medical expenses. I don't have very good dental coverage and use the card a lot. You need to talk to them because it's a certain amt before it's 0% and for how many months.

[Niki15 198]

Care credit will give you 0% interest up to 24 months for some medical expenses. I don't have very good dental coverage and use the card a lot. You need to talk to them because it's a certain amt before it's 0% and for how many months.

it also covers plastic surgery for the extra skin you may have..

[TerraCorrupt 1]

Elavela,

I don't know that I can offer any support for finding extra jobs to get the money, or anything like that. But I can say, that some people find a lot of success with crowdfunding places like GoFundMe. It's free to create the campaign, and there are no time limits on it. You can print out fliers to post at your church, or on any public place for people who see it to nab a thing so they can donate to your campaign. You can post your campaign to social media sites, and here, I imagine. I'm sure folks around here would be willing to help. Especially if you can find out what your total cost is.

It's also worth it to find out how much a self-pay surgery would cost. For my surgery, it cost $22k, and I didn't have to jump through nearly as many hoops as you do with insurance.

I hope some of this helps. Stick with it! It's going to be worth it once you have it! <3

[BackToBeautiful 95]

Elavela, hi if money is a issue and you will have to go through all types of tests, why don't you consider getting Bariatric surgery through BariatricPal with Dr. Carlos Altamirano Cano. He is a great doctor, very caring and affordable too. He will Skype or face time with you for free and if you happen to have a hernia, he will remove it for free. He charges $4199 for the gastric sleeve surgery plus you can get extra Medical Tourism insurance totaling all together at only $4399. That's what I am doing. So are many others on BariatricPal and Facebook. Why don't you go to his Facebook account at Dr Carlos Altamirano Cano and also his private group at Dr Carlos Altamirano Cano private group. Come join our family???? My name is Trisha Ann????

[ange117 93]

Assuming your bariatric center is part of a hospital, check into their financial assistance programs! I work full time but still qualified for an 80% reduction, which means I only pay $500 of my $2500 out of pocket maximum for the year.