new surgery date

My Surgery date was changed from May 20th to May 12thI am getting nervous!! But I know I am in good hands with Dr. Jossart. Little worried how much more this will cost me though with the hospital fees and copays. I had to pay a $5500. non covered program fee with Lap SF. But at least I have a $2000 stop loss limitation with Blue cross so copays can't cost me any more than that I would think.. I guess we will just have to wait and see where all the cards fall once I have the surgery and the bills start rolling in. Sigh. The Hospital called me to tell me that my co-pay there will be $1784 and that it is payable by credit card the morning I am admitted. I asked her if we could please wait till after the insurance is billed to see exactly what is owed because I may be well over my yearly maximum with the surgeons fee's and not have to owe that money.. she agreed and said she would make a note to bill me after insurance is billed. Thank goodness someone reasonable called me!! I had to finance the non covered fee and hopefully can make payments on the rest if need be.

OUch to the fees for your surgery with insurance Dona! I had to pay $7000 out to my doc because he was not a provider of BC. I did luck out with the hospital though as they were contracted!

Surgery is literally around the corner for you now....that is so exciting! Couldn't be happier for you!  

Hi Janine, Yes.. only a week to go!! I am getting excited but a bit scared too. I talked to my dad today and he said he would help me with the hospital copay so that is a big relief for me!I won't have to worry about it!Both my Doc and Hospital are in network for me.. but I have a 10% copay and $2000 deductable for the hospital. I am hoping it will be less once everything has been billed. They can only go by what has been billed so far which hasn't been much at all.  THanks for the support and I will be checking back here after my surgery when i am feeling up to it.  Dona

 Dona I'm sorry to hear that it's costing you so much for your part of this surgery, but I know from my own experience that it will be the best money you ever spent and by following all your dr.'s rules you won't have to ever spend that kind of money to be healthy again. Congratulations to you on your up coming surgery date.  I know your a little nervous since they moved your surgery up, but it's really not all that bad. I tell you I really had to ask the dr. 2 days later if he really did anything. I felt wonderful. The night of the surgery they got me up to walk and I kid you not it was so much easier to walk the halls then it was the day before  around my house. Some of the hospitals are really good about allowing you to make payments on different things and it sounds like they will if they are willing to wait till your insurance company pays. I will be sending you positive thoughts and vibes for the day of your surgery, and also a prayer that your surgery turns out perfect and you have a speedy and pain free recovery. Take care and have a wonderful day.

You are so right Jodi, You can not really put a price on your health or your life!! It is priceless. I am just fortunate that I can have this surgery done at all. I know there are a lot of people out there who need it badly and can't do it either because no insurance coverage or no money to pay for any of it let alone copays and surgeons fees. I am hoping my experience will be like yours! little to no pain and up and about soon! I think I will do OK. I had a C-section with my daughter and was up and walking 5 hours later with NO pain meds. The nurses were calling me "super mom" because I needed very little assistance from them and I wasn't wanting pain meds. So I hope this will be like that! But I am still nervous and a bit scared.. it's going to be a huge change for me... but I am as ready as I ever will be. Send all the good vibes you can!! Thanks so much ! Dona

DONA YOU HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE AND IF YOU CAN DO A CSECTION I THINK YOU HAVE THIS SURGERY MADE IN THE SHADE.  BUT SERIOUSLY GO IN TO SURGERY THAT DAY WITH A POSITIVE AND A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AND YOU WILL COME OUT THE SAME WAY. I WILL BE THINKING OF YOU ON YOUR BIG DAY AND FOR SURE YOU SHOULD START TO FEEL THOSE ADDED POSITIVE VIBES COMING TO YOU. IF YOU WEREN'T A LITTLE NERVOUS OR SCARED YOU WOULDN'T BE NORMAL. THANK GOODNESS YOUR NORMAL.  HERE COMES THE FIRST OF THE VIBES. TAKE CARE AND THINK POSITIVE ALWAYS. HAVE A WONDERFUL REST OF THE DAY AND AN EVEN BETTER TOMORROW.

Congrtulations on your new date! It really is a good thing! The sooner you have it the sooner you'll be losing weight! I had my surgery last Monday (4/28) and I am so glad I did it. No problems to speak of, and feeling better everyday. I have Blue Cross insurance, and I didn't have to pay a penny out of pocket for it, just copays at the doctors office visits ($20), we were shocked to hear that everything at the hospital was 100%. Perhaps it varies with the plans, but all in all we are happy with Blue Cross. Good luck to you! Thoughts and prayer are with you! Lisa xo xo

Hi Lisa.. yes it does vary by what plan you have.. we have a PPO. I know that Bluecross also has a POS and an HMO that I would not have had to pay hardly anything but a lot of my doctors wont take the POS or HMO Blue cross plans and I like m PCP and endocrinologist. I pay more but I get to stay with my providers and not switch. So its a trade off for me. Thanks for the support. Yes will be good to get it done and out of the way! I am just bummed it is the day after mothers day and I am not supposed to eat  the day before, just clear liquids .. ugh. oh,well.  Dona

Hi to DONAS and everyone here!  I'm new here, since I'm just getting started with all of this.  I'm concerned about my out-of-pocket money. I've been calling my insurance like crazy and I hope there is some kind of payment plan. I have Blue Cross PPO and they told my that my Ins. covers 90% of the surgery....so I'm still kinda lost with what is everything that comes with the surgery cost. I have my first doctor's appt next Monday, MAY 12th with Dr. Khalili in Beverly Hills, CA... I heard a lot of great things about him and his staff. I also went to a seminar this weekend at Cedars and he was there. I felt good, okay and confortable with his seminar and everyone there.  * DONAS- You'll be find. Breath in and out. Think about your new wordrobe...