Paying for WLS

[ana6009 0]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is in the right place, but I had questions about how you all paid/are paying for surgery? I've been looking at self-pay options, financing, and CareCredit. After waffling back and forth for the last year, I have decided I do want to pursue surgery. My insurance will not cover it. So, I am looking at all my options. I'm still a little wary, only because I also am set to being graduate school in the next year and I am afraid of blowing up my finances. I'm just looking for stories of how you all made it work when it was not covered by insurance. Covid is also making it difficult. I had considered traveling to Mexico, but it doesn't look like that is going to work. I don't know that I feel good about traveling like that. Then, someone mentioned Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas for a lower priced, good, self-pay option. Anyway, any input would be appreciated. I want this. I just am not quite sure how I'll make it happen.

Thanks in advance!

[mattk53 124]

I have good insurance so I didn't have to deal with this, but I know Mexico is very popular among the self-pay crowd. I would search for info on the left top hand corner of this page. Good luck!

[Teres36 49]

My insurance was going to make me jump through so many hoops and take about a year to approve after that. I chose to self pay. Doctor, hospital and anesthesia was $11500. I had it done in West Texas.

[Officially Not Fatty Matty 461]

I had mine done for $4300 in Nuevo Laredo and my wife had hers done in Piedras Negras with Dr Alverez and it was around $8000. I went the costco route and she wanted Whole Foods :) the difference between the two? Surgery wise I’d say very little. Her facility is much nicer with the “hotel” and hospital an all in one location, more people dedicated to her post op care. An extra night in the hospital. Mine was a night in a local hotel and one night in the public hospital in the city. With both I personally felt just as comfortable as any US hospital I’ve been in. She was not happy with my place because the language barrier, it didn’t concern me, I used google translate if I needed to and in the end it all worked out absolutely fine. Doctors are human and like any profession you have ones who care and ones who don’t, ones who excel and ones who just do the bare minimum. Infections and complications can and do happen anywhere, but in general this is a pretty quick and easy procedure. She’s still recovering (had hers done today) and I’m 4 weeks out and feeling great.

[Nelly Catano 3]

My sister and I wen to Tijuana MX. We had it done with VIVE plastics and we had a great experience with them. We each paid 4000 including the medicine and stuff the gave us to take home. We had ours Done like a month ago and i do not regret it one bit. At the beginning i hated it because it was all liquids, but then i was like its all in my mind. I know i can do it, and so far so good.

[mattk53 124]

6 hours ago, Teres36 said:

My insurance was going to make me jump through so many hoops and take about a year to approve after that. I chose to self pay. Doctor, hospital and anesthesia was $11500. I had it done in West Texas.

It's definitely a process! Mine took a total of 15 months and tons of tests! But I didn't have $11,500 burning a hole in my pocket.

[New&Improved 1,780]

11 hours ago, ana6009 said:

Hi all,

Not sure if this is in the right place, but I had questions about how you all paid/are paying for surgery? I've been looking at self-pay options, financing, and CareCredit. After waffling back and forth for the last year, I have decided I do want to pursue surgery. My insurance will not cover it. So, I am looking at all my options. I'm still a little wary, only because I also am set to being graduate school in the next year and I am afraid of blowing up my finances. I'm just looking for stories of how you all made it work when it was not covered by insurance. Covid is also making it difficult. I had considered traveling to Mexico, but it doesn't look like that is going to work. I don't know that I feel good about traveling like that. Then, someone mentioned Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas for a lower priced, good, self-pay option. Anyway, any input would be appreciated. I want this. I just am not quite sure how I'll make it happen.

Thanks in advance!

Obviously depends on how much money you have to spare

[ana6009 0]

Thank you all so much for responding! I’ve been thinking about the Mexico route because I’ve heard of so many people who’ve had good experiences. I’m just a little concerned about traveling right now. I guess if I could road trip it wouldn’t be so bad.

@MIKEYY84lol. Very little money to spare. I’m just finally mentally (as much as possible this early) ready to do it. I wish my insurance would cover it, but they will not. Plus, with self-pay I don’t have to wait as long.

Even with self-pay, I would probably have to finance. Unless I went to Mexico.

It’s just helpful to hear how other people have made it happen

[crystaldawn81 13]

Personal loan. I paid 9000 for mine in Birmingham Alabama.

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[JordanKylie 83]

I paid for as much as I could with my savings (which wasn't very much[emoji23][emoji24]) and then did the rest with care credit. Thankfully my hospital participates in the no interest program with care credit. My only thought to you would be to be wary of care credit if your hospital isn't part of the no interest program as their interest in my opinion is a little high, and I think you could get a better deal maybe with just an old fashioned personal loan. I'd def compare interest rates. Oh! And I think a few credit cards have a no interest for x amount of months deal you could look into? Just a few thoughts.

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[ChubRub 1,702]

I don't know anything about it other than a board member had plastic surgery there (and liked it), but BariatricPal has a hospital in Mexico.

https://bariatricpalhospitalmx.com/

Definitely worth checking out!

[Chris1345 19]

My insurance doesn’t cover it either. I took out a personal loan and am paying with that. To me, it’s worth the investment. My surgery date is next Thursday!

[Luv2cruz 20]

I had my surgery in May at Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas. They filed it with my insurance and out of pocket only had to pay $6000. I scheduled it several months in advance, so I was able to put money back into a separate account to go towards it. I was able to save up enough and was able to pay it off two weeks prior to my surgery.

[New&Improved 1,780]

I had insurance with a gap of $4000- which covered everything and all surgeon appointments for life