As everyone knows, medical care is expensive. Stomach reduction surgery is no exception. This procedure is considered a major surgery and incurs all of the costs associated with surgeon fees, operating room costs and hospital bills.
The actual cost of this surgery will vary among patients due to the individual costs accrued while recovering in the hospital. Overall, the cost of the surgery could range from $12,000 to $21,000. This fee may or may not be covered by insurance.
When insurance does pay, it usually only covers a portion of the gastric banding cost, such as 80 percent of the fees. The patient must also absorb the cost of the insurance deductible. The amount the insurance company will pay depends upon the type of insurance coverage the patient has. Therefore, even when an insurance company gives approval for stomach reduction surgery, the patient may still be required to pay several thousand dollars as part of his co-pay agreement.
Insurance coverage for the surgery depends upon several things. There must be a documented medical need for the surgery and there should be a consensus among the medical team that the patient will lose weight and keep it off because of the operation.
Even though the physicians qualify the patient and submit the required paperwork, the ultimate decision on whether insurance will cover the surgery lies with the insurance company itself. The company may elect to pay or they can deny payment. Since stomach reduction surgery is not an emergency surgery, approval from the insurance company is required upfront.
Patients choose this surgery as a last resort, after diets have failed. These patients must be morbidly obese, so it appears that medical qualification would be a given. However, due to the increasing popularity of the surgery today, insurance companies are being hit hard and therefore, they are making it more difficult to qualify.
In instances where insurance denies coverage for the stomach reduction surgery, patients must find their own financing options or pay cash out-of-pocket. There are finance companies that specialize in making loans for medical procedures although these require qualification like any other type of loan does.
Gastric banding costs may seem excessive, but the cost of not having the surgery may be even more costly. Morbidly obese people risk early deaths from medical complications brought on by being overweight. In addition, a person who is overweight usually costs an insurance company more money in the long run due to poor health conditions that require doctor visits and hospitalizations.
Patients who need this surgery but avoid discussing the issue with a doctor due to lack of finances, should still seek medical advice. The doctors who perform the surgery are experts in both the medical aspects of the procedure and how to secure coverage for the patient.
Tags: costs, gastric band prices, gastric banding, Gastric Banding Cost, gastric bands