My Dr. ruined me financially.

[FrustratedInLA 0]

Hi recently had the realize band surgery. (Beginning of September) After tons of conversations with my doctors office with regards to cost and my worries that I wouldn't be able to afford it, I was given a quote of approx. $8000 for what my share would be after my insurance, which they verified. I was also aware that I was only to have one doctor, not 2. A couple of weeks after the surgery, I came to find out that my doctor had added the new doctor from his practice to my surgery and they billed me nearly $4000 for it, in addition to the $14,900 he charged. And to make matters worse, the surgical center they swear by, billed me $76,000. And just to really add insult to injury, my insurance now won't cover any of the costs. And to really drive it home, I haven't heard one word from my surgeons office since then.. I had to call them to schedule an appointment but then I received their bills. I'm so angry that I canceled the appointment. I was due for my first fill 2 weeks ago and all that I feel like right now is a cash cow. My e-mails with q's regarding the outrageous costs, are going unanswered. My bill is close to $100K. I don't know what to do. I'm not getting the use of the piece of plastic in me and eating more because of the stress I'm under. sleeping is no longer really an option. I had to give up the lease on my car. I'm looking at a cheap, small studio apartment so that I can cut back on rent. But I feel totally helpless because of what I deem to be the intentional deception by my Dr. Now what do I do? :thumbup:

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Hi recently had the realize band surgery. (Beginning of September) After tons of conversations with my doctors office with regards to cost and my worries that I wouldn't be able to afford it, I was given a quote of approx. $8000 for what my share would be after my insurance, which they verified. I was also aware that I was only to have one doctor, not 2. A couple of weeks after the surgery, I came to find out that my doctor had added the new doctor from his practice to my surgery and they billed me nearly $4000 for it, in addition to the $14,900 he charged. And to make matters worse, the surgical center they swear by, billed me $76,000. And just to really add insult to injury, my insurance now won't cover any of the costs. And to really drive it home, I haven't heard one word from my surgeons office since then.. I had to call them to schedule an appointment but then I received their bills. I'm so angry that I canceled the appointment. I was due for my first fill 2 weeks ago and all that I feel like right now is a cash cow. My e-mails with q's regarding the outrageous costs, are going unanswered. My bill is close to $100K. I don't know what to do. I'm not getting the use of the piece of plastic in me and eating more because of the stress I'm under. sleeping is no longer really an option. I had to give up the lease on my car. I'm looking at a cheap, small studio apartment so that I can cut back on rent. But I feel totally helpless because of what I deem to be the intentional deception by my Dr. Now what do I do? :wink2:

Did you get any of the quoted costs and what you were told about one doctor in writing? That's important, but even if you didn't you need to do the following:

1) contact the doctor's office and talk to those responsible for submitting bills and see if you can get any information. Go in person if you need to and refuse to leave until you get what you want.

2) Ask for copies of everything - all pre-op test results, the operative report, the make, model and serial number of your band.

3) Ask for a complete break down of all the costs associated with your bill.

4) Call your insurance company and ask for everything that was sent to them by your doctor's office before and after the surgery, including all charges.

5) If you have no success there, then start a complaint with the hospital. Call their patient advocate service. If no success, contact the hospital administrator.

6) And finally - get an attorney. Don't say you can't afford one. You can't afford not to get one if you are being charged $100,000 when you were told $8000.

If you are willing to do the above (and more) then you might be able to be helped, if not, then there's not much you can do but pay it or file for bankruptcy.

[Chapamar 0]

I'm surprised you already gave up your car lease and are basing a decision to move because of this bill that is obviously inflated.

I would advise you to discuss it with them and if you can't reach a satisfactory agreement, then pursue legal alternatives to dispute the bill.

Also, I would get in to see another physician who can do fills for you. Otherwise, you're right, the piece of plastic isn't going to do you any good.

[HappyHomeCC 2]

I too think there are great suggestions above, also consider a news outlet and or the BBB

PGAMIKE has had a similar problem. talk to him

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Absolutely good advice everyone! Happy, that is a surefire way to get the doctor’s attention. File a report with your local medical board too, and call his office and let him know you’re doing it.

Preying on the week has been something happening since days long ago. Do not be one of the weak. Stand up for yourself, and do not let this be just another excuse to abuse yourself by overeating. You’ve made a lifelong commitment to yourself.

Like Jack, I lost the majority of my weight right post op and even before my first fill. I think too much emphasis is put on fills, and far more in tightness.

Best wishes to you!

[Vicki J 0]

Contact obesitylaw.com and ask them for advise. They are a firm that works with bariactric surgery and insurances. They don't charge you if there isn't a case and they will give you a quote if there is one. From what I hear, they are #1.

[HappyHomeCC 2]

Contact obesitylaw.com and ask them for advise. They are a firm that works with bariactric surgery and insurances. They don't charge you if there isn't a case and they will give you a quote if there is one. From what I hear, they are #1.

Obesitylaw.com I never heard of that ... that is a great idea.

[xavier 153]

PLEASE!!!! Before you do anything to indicate to the doc's office that you are planning to do something...get ALL of your records. Go through them and make sure nothing looks like it has been altered. Pay them whatever you have to to get copies of EVERYTHING! You are legally entitled to all the records and you are going to need them but they may drag their feet if they think you are talking to a lawyer or whatever. Also have your primary doc request ALL of your records because they may be more cooperative/forthcoming and less suspicious with a doctors office! Good luck to you. AFTER all the records are in your hands find a nice lawyer who wont charge you just to hear your story...I highly recommend starting your lawyer search with women lawyers...Prob not PC to say so but I think statistically less likely to see you as a place to make more $$$....good luck!

[FrustratedInLA 0]

Hello Everyone. Thank you so much all your reply's! I feel so much better knowing that I'm not alone in dealing with issues like this! Since my last post, insurance changed their mind and they will now pay $31,000 for the $76,000 Surgery Center Bill. That still leaves me with over $40K. But I requested an itemized bill from them. If they charged me $5000 for a plastic tube, then I want that plastic tube! But I'm ready for a fight. I already told them that I will not pay that. I also told my doctor that. The insurance paid $900 for the assistant surgeons $4000 bill. So my doctors office told me that I won't have to pay for the balance. How about that. But I got my gloves out of the closest, I dusted them off and I'm taking them for a trial run! I'm done with other people dictating my life and having fears run my life. I have my first fill appointment today with another doctor that I found, so I'm actually excited and scared at the same time! But thank you for all the support - I wish I'd found this board prior to my surgery!

[Headhunter 6]

Frustrated:

I have been through some horrendous experiences with Doctors and Medical Cnters myself, I understand what you are going through.

There has been some good advice given here.

What I have found over the 8 years I've spent dealing with corrupt doctors and medical centers is that they HATE bad publicity. You need to make it very clear to them that you will call them out VERY PUBLICLY on their dirty dealings. You can do this in a number of ways. PM me if you want more info.

Also, please tell us the Doctor you are dealing with; One of the real values of a forum like this is that we are able to warn other potential patients about Doctors that have "done us wrong".

It IS important that you gather ALL of your documentation. You ARE entitled to ALL of your medical records, and that includes ALL correspondence with you that they have on record. Make sure you request ALL of it. Often times, they will begin to change their "tune" when you ask for your records, because they know a lawsuit is coming. It's even better if you have a friend who is an Attorney who can request your records on his/her letterhead. THAT makes them stand up and take notice.

Also, you need to sit down and write everything out while it is fresh in your mind. Dates, times, who you spoke with.....EVERYTHING. You may forget some of the details as times goes on, and you want to have a record of EVERYTHING that has happened.

Again; there are LOTS of ways to make them do the right thing. It will require some wotk on your part, but it IS do-able.

Keep us posted on your progress with this; This kind of behavior by Drs affects ALL of us!

HH

[Cate18 0]

It sounds to me that what happened was that the doctor's office billed under the assumption it was being picked up by insurance. As you may know, hospitals charge different amounts for insurance and self-pay accounts. They will often charge a ridiculous amount for a syringe or a plastic tube if they know insurance is going to pay for it to offset different costs. But usually if your insurance company won't pay the whole amount they'll write off the difference (USUALLY). They just cut their losses in an effort to try to get the insurance company to pay as much as they will. So it sounds like when your insurance company said they weren't going to pay it looked like you had to pay much more than you actually did.

Something vaguely similar happened to me. I found that it's just best to let the insurance company and the hospital duke it out until they come to a final bill, THEN I start making my calls. I'm glad to hear things have been sorted out with you ! Best of luck on your weight loss, and hopefully a less stressful experience !

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Interesting point cate, and I think you might be right.

Something similar happened to me with my dental insurance. I have Delta Dental and recently needed to have a root canal and crown placed.

When I went to the endodontist the root canal cost me about 120+ dollars. That’s fine and all but I really expected to pay more than that. My insurance covered the rest. However when it came to getting my crown placed I received a statement from DD that the total of everything was about 2,000 dollars! I expected to pay something on my final dental visit but was charged nothing.

I think DD and my Dentist were working out payments and things. I was never billed anything else.

So, that might be the case. OP hang in there, something like this might be going on right now too.

[Shirley V 0]

I went to an office in SoCal (getslim) they ran a bunch of tests and told me there was no cost to me TG I marked that on my paperwork before signing. I got a bill fo 10,000.00 for just one procedure. I contacted obesitylaw.com and they took care of everything. I then contacted the medical board. Hang in there and exersise the anger off