Preop testing for self pay in the states

[Chunkysoup 75]

For those of you who did self pay surgery in the states, what preop testing did your Dr require? I go for my initial consult on 4/16/18 and was just wondering what all was required from other Dr's who had self pay patients. Thank you!!

[GassyGurl 428]

I gave the requirements to my PCP and insurance covered it. I had to have bloodwork, ekg and psych eval. I didn't need anything else because of my age (46) and medical history.

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[Chunkysoup 75]

2 minutes ago, GassyGurl said:

I gave the requirements to my PCP and insurance covered it. I had to have bloodwork, ekg and psych eval. I didn't need anything else because of my age (46) and medical history.

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Good to know, thank you for your response! I too am hoping my insurance will pick up the pre-op testing.

[frust8 963]

Have them fudge a little, put down testing for other reasons than WLS since your insurance didn't see fit to cover weight loss. Even if it's billed as a to rule out condition X, the insurance dudes might do it that way. Just a,little advice[emoji14]

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[Mattymatt 491]

Have them fudge a little, put down testing for other reasons than WLS since your insurance didn't see fit to cover weight loss. Even if it's billed as a to rule out condition X, the insurance dudes might it that way. Just a,little advice[emoji14]

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They did this for me to cover the cost of the A1C test.

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[Chunkysoup 75]

Yeah I would imagine that they would want to help out in any way they can to get what they can covered by insurance because that ultimately makes it easier on a self pay patient which means we will have enough money to go through with the surgery!

Cost is a big reason why I posed this question. During the seminar the surgeon said pre-op testing runs around $2500. And I was like woah! I've got my financing in place for the surgery but I wasn't counting on an additional $2500 for pre op testing. But I'm sure that each patient is different as far as what will be required based on health history and payment status etc. I am hoping that I don't have to do all of the pre op stuff that insurance patients have to do. Because without insurance covering it, it will add up fast!

[GassyGurl 428]

I think if you go to MX, testing is included. Staying here in the US, all the little things add up. I had probably $400 in preop copay, 3 tanks of gas to drive to FL, 5 nights hotel ($600ish), and probably 40 prescriptions. Plus food for hubby. Then surgery was $8899. The deal breaker for me and MX was the extra nights I would need to stay to accommodate flight times. I couldn't do same day flights and make it there by the 'need to be here by...' times. Same thing to come home. They said to get flights after 2, but there was like 1 flight at 8pm, that got home at like 2am, then a 2 hour drive home. It just was more convenient to drive to Florida. I think total cost was $1500 more to do it in the US for me.

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[Chunkysoup 75]

12 minutes ago, GassyGurl said:

I think if you go to MX, testing is included. Staying here in the US, all the little things add up. I had probably $400 in preop copay, 3 tanks of gas to drive to FL, 5 nights hotel ($600ish), and probably 40 prescriptions. Plus food for hubby. Then surgery was $8899. The deal breaker for me and MX was the extra nights I would need to stay to accommodate flight times. I couldn't do same day flights and make it there by the 'need to be here by...' times. Same thing to come home. They said to get flights after 2, but there was like 1 flight at 8pm, that got home at like 2am, then a 2 hour drive home. It just was more convenient to drive to Florida. I think total cost was $1500 more to do it in the US for me.

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I'm just flat out too chicken to travel to MX. Nobody in my family would support that decision. I've just barely gotten my husband to support having it done in the states. But really I thought paying cash for the surgery was going to be 20K + because that's how much one of my local bariatric hospitals charge. Then I started googling cash pay gastric surgery in OK because I saw that you had yours done in FL for what I thought was a pretty reasonable price. I found a surgeon and hospital who will do it for $10,000 and they are only 2 hours away from me. It was then that I actually had some hope. I can't swing $25K but I think I knew I could finance the $10,000. Then I realized that there is potentially another $2500 to pay! I'm really going to be stretching it. I am thankful that they are relatively close to me.

[brookie 89]

im in mo & i was self paying but all my pre op tests & follow up visits were all included in my price.i only had to pay for consultation & psych evaluation

[Chunkysoup 75]

I think my price includes a year of follow ups (which I don’t know how many follow ups I will have during that time), the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and hospital fees. I will find out more on Monday when I go for consult. Really hoping I don’t actually have to spend 2k on preop testing. [emoji16]

[brookie 89]

i dont thnk u will,maybe $200 but not $2,000

[Chunkysoup 75]

That sounds much more manageable!

[brookie 89]

chunkysoup,just wanted to let u know i just got a surprise bill for $1,200 that i wasnt expecting.apparently my upper gi was not included in my pkg but of course no one pointed that out to me,even though i had receptionist go over anything that could come up over & beyond the pkg price.just make sure u ask lots of questions about what big bills could come up.

[Chunkysoup 75]

6 hours ago, brookie said:

chunkysoup,just wanted to let u know i just got a surprise bill for $1,200 that i wasnt expecting.apparently my upper gi was not included in my pkg but of course no one pointed that out to me,even though i had receptionist go over anything that could come up over & beyond the pkg price.just make sure u ask lots of questions about what big bills could come up.

Geez that is a huge bill! Thank you, I will be sure to ask lots of questions!

[redhead_che 824]

On 4/12/2018 at 9:33 PM, brookie said:

im in mo & i was self paying but all my pre op tests & follow up visits were all included in my price.i only had to pay for consultation & psych evaluation

Also in MO. All of my costs were included, my psych eval too. I did pay for the initial visit with the surgeon.