$600 just to see the doctor???

Months ago, before I found OH, I had decided to have the lap band procedure. I did a great deal of research, sat through seminars from three local groups, and thought I had found the right group and surgeon for the job. That was then, this is now...

After finding OH a whole new world of opportunities opened up for me. I found dozens of qualified local surgeons, new treatments, explored the lap band procedure further and decided on a duodenal switch instead.

Here's the problem. Pasadena Laproscopic Surgeons, the group I had decided to go with earlier, charges a $600 consultation fee... just to get face time with the doctor. Since I had decided to go with them I bit the bullet and paid the cash. Now that I've discovered OH and the wealth of knowledge herein, I feel like I got screwed. The consult took aprox. one hour. Half the time with the doctor, the other half w/ nurses and their insurance organizer.

So, my questions is...

Is $600 an unreasonable consultation fee for a first visit?

Hello Frankurban with the freaky hair-do!

In my opinion, yep, you got screwed IF it was a consult fee only.  Most all docs give a free consult, at least that has been my experience.

See if you can get the $$ back, or at least a portion of it.  If not, just bless the $$ and then release it and move on.

Good luck!!

The first surgeon I was going to see charged $500 but insurance would have paid for it, if WLS had been covered. It wasn't and that led me on a different path and a different surgeon who only charged $395 even though he had better stats and more experience with the surgery type I ended up with.

I find with the bariatric stuff, prices can vary wildly and you don't always get what you pay for.

Hi there,
Dr Lourie was my surgeon.  I had a $500 up front fee.  It did apply to the surgery costs.  While it was charged and paid during the consultation process, I can tell you that it was applied to my costs.  I was very satisfied with my experience.  I would inquire further if you havent already.   I did however have insurance and ultimatly recieved a partial refund of my $500 when the insurance paid them.  I cant tell you about the cash patient options sorry.  I hope things work out for you.  But again I cant say enough great things about this surgeon or his staff.

Frank its sucks you had to pay it BUT in the long run a small price to pay to make sure you have the best chance of success in the long run. Frankly, IMO, your NEW Dr is worth 100x that per hour.

My guess is you can write it off next years taxes but I doubt you'll see any refund for it.

Thanks for all of your insight!

I'm going to consider this an adventure on the road to wellness :)