Negotiating the cost of lapband

[comtemplating 0]

Hi- I am going to self-pay for the lapband surgery and was wondering if anyone has ever negotiated the price if they too self-paid? The current price I was given is $15,000. Any thoughts?

[31andnew 0]

I would like to know if that has worked too. I think cash would bring you a second look. I know that when you finance thru one of the health/surgical finance companies, your surgeon still pays a fee to the lending company. Now I would think that if you had cash, ultimately eliminating the financing company, you may have a firm leg to stand on.

Keep me posted.

[cattoy71 0]

I was self-pay and paid 17k.

My doctor said that it is a reduced cost from what insurance companies get billed....something like over 30k billed if insurance covers the costs.

I can't imagine you are likely to get the costs down so that it's a significant savings.

[Jaffa 5]

I think they are wondering if you "self-pay" and the price is good for self financing or credit card, could you maybe do even better with literally a check.

I can tell you that it wouldn't save them much. Even if you pay by credit card, the band usually charges them about 1.8-3.6%. It depends on several things what the rate is, but lets say it is 4%. That is really only 600 dollars on a 15000 bill. Chances are they are only paying 300-400 for the bank card fee.

[TR2 0]

I am currently navigating the financing. I have Anthem Blue Cross PPO but unfortunately my employer did not purchase the plan that includes bariatric surgery. I am a nurse and my employer was willing to give me a professional discount for the hospital fees of 10% since I will be a cash patient. When I have my first surgeon visit I intend to ask for a professional discount. The cash price for everything without discount is $17000.

[atenciym 0]

Where are you from? The cost of lapband in Colorado is around $9900 for self pay. Just a thought!

[comtemplating 0]

I am in Arizona. Wow- that is a significant difference in price. I've never been to Colorado. I wish it was an option but I have two small children so I don't know how I could make that happen- still trying to figure out how to make this happen without leaving town. Great suggestion/option though for other possible self-payers!!!

[cattoy71 0]

I think they are wondering if you "self-pay" and the price is good for self financing or credit card, could you maybe do even better with literally a check.

I can tell you that it wouldn't save them much. Even if you pay by credit card, the band usually charges them about 1.8-3.6%. It depends on several things what the rate is, but lets say it is 4%. That is really only 600 dollars on a 15000 bill. Chances are they are only paying 300-400 for the bank card fee.

I paid my surgeon's fees (surgery plus 5 years of fills and follow up) of 7500k in cash and there was absolutely no other discount.

I financed the rest of the hospital and anesthesia fees through CapitalOne at a 2.99% APR. The fees were supposed to be an additional 9500k....the weird thing is that I only have receipts for and only paid 8500k. Still can't figure out what happened there but I'm trying to get to the bottom of it since I claimed it on my taxes.

[Cingulus 0]

I am paying $16K. I found US prices ranging from $10-18K. Mexico and India between $6-7K. I finally picked the doctor I felt most comfortable with here in the states.

[Laptastic 0]

I'm in Colorado. Paid $9950 on my airline miles card (may as well get some miles), immediately transferred the balance to a 0% interest card, and will transfer what I don't manage to pay off before 0% expires in eighteen months, to a new 0% card. The $9950 includes fills for three months, with any additional fills costing only $15 each.

It may be worth the travel cost to come to Colorado. Not as cheap as Mexico, but not a foreign country either.

[Chris61 0]

Keep in mind you can use your flex spending account, tax it off on your taxes after you meet the 7.5% agi of your income. I would also talk to all the doctors and the hospital and see what they will allow.

Chris

[Losing 2 0]

I called all around the place. Colorado for $9950 was my very first choice. I added up a flight from Chicago for myself and another - 2 nights hotel and it was going to be very well worth it. The folks there were sooooo very nice! The only thing was - they only took one of my financing options [surgeryloans.com] and it fell through - my fault there. Even tho.. surgeryloans is a really great and very easy option.

In my area, the self pay cost was $17,5k to $24k. So, I drove three hours to Michigan for $10,5k. Well worth getting it done, using careone credit.

After having called 10-12 places around the globe, I received many quotes from places and when I asked them if they could do any lower of a price - I was ALWAYS given the true story of how much they will charge an insurance company - anywhere from $25 to $30k +. So, getting the surgery done for under $20 is actually a real deal.

But, it never hurts to call, call and call and try. It is soooo very worth it.

Best of luck to you.