You may be owing more than you think!

Cindy Rella Surgery: Hoping to have surgery PLEASE BEWARE!! I have insurance that has approved this surgery. They will pay 80/20 like many of yours. Sounds good? Well, what you may not know is that there is a little catch phrase called "usual and customary". This means that not only do you pay your deductible, but you will also pay the difference of anything and everything that your insurance company does not. For example...your deductible may be $2,000 per calendar year. You go in and have the surgery. You are seen by the Surgeon, Respitory therapists, to anasthesiologists, etc... So now it's time to bill the insurance company, and everybody submits their claims. Say the surgeon bills for $8,500, Respitory bills for $5,500, anasthesiologists for $4,000. Chances are, your insurance company WILL NOT pay the full balance or even 80%! They will pay what they feel is "usual and customary." So if insurance only gives $5,000 to the surgeon, guess who ends up paying the difference. YOU DO. And that goes for EVERYTHING, including your hospital stay! You can easily end up shelling out over $10,000 for this surgery and that's WITH insurance. Unfortunately, Patients usually find all this out, AFTER THE FACT. I went thru Surgilite. Guess what, they don't care about you! This is a business! You are a cash cow to them. The only thing they care about is lining their pockets. They will not put anything in writing that has to do with accepting ONLY what the insurance company pays after your deductible is met. I was told, however, "not to worry about it and to just come in and have the surgery". I said "not worry about it??? Well in a year, I may be thin, but I'll be homeless!" She then replied "I don't know what to tell ya then". Just know the money end of it BEFORE you get this done...ESPECIALLY if you're using Surgilite.

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