Medical financing?

Hi everybody, I am thinking about taking out a loan to cover the cost of my DS with the Rabkins ($32K with no complications). I would then fight Aetna for reimbursement. Has anyone used this type of financing? Would you recommend it? It is becoming clear to me that if I wait for Aetna to give me the go ahead it will likely be years before I can have my surgery and I want to do it before my health gets any worse. I am grateful for any info you can share. Thank you in advance, Laura

I'm using insurance money I got for damage to my house. The problem with self-pay is that a) it's expensive and b) there's no guarantee Aetna will ever reimburse you. Since you're considering self-pay, have you thought of going out of the country? My expenses including everything - flights, hotel, spending money, hospital, doctor - the whole nine yards, will be about $15k - $9300 of that is medical & the rest is travel expenses & souvenirs. Suzanne can tell you what her expenses were for her surgeon in Belgium, and someone (my mind is a blank right now) is going to Dr Ungson in Hermosillo, Mexico for about $12k. Since you'd be looking for reimbursement anyway, I don't think it matters if you go in network or out of network.

Thanks for you response. I have thought about going out of abroad for my surgery but I am pretty sure there is no chance of Aetna reimbursing me if I use an out of country surgeon. Also my parents want to be there as does Brian's mother and I will need to bring Alice so it would get really expensive to bring all of those people. I am not ruling out going to one of these excellent out of country surgeons but I want to try for reimbursement. Thanks again, Laura

Not really - when you're considering $15k plus an extra $3000 for two more plane tickets and an extra hotel room, it's still half of the cost you're considering now. Find out if Aetna pays anything for out of network doctors. http://www.drmarchesini.com/DoctorM.htm Dr Marchesini, for example, is qualified for the practice of surgery in the United States. He simply resides in another country. His standards are up to ours, and since it's reimbursement, you'd have a decent argument for why you chose the $10k surgery instead of the $35k one. You might want to consult with one of the attorneys and get their opinion. If they think you'd have a chance going out of the country, you might as well. www.obesitylawyer.com Dr. Payam Shayani, M.D., J.D. www.obesitylawyers.com Gary Viscio

I split the costs for my self-pay/in US DS amongst three different credit cards. I have kept rotating cards as I pay it down when I get low-interest or zero-interest balance transfer offers. I have actually paid very little interest on it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks Carolyn, Credit cards are a possibility. Right now I only have two with a combined limit of about $18K but that is because I've refused to get more. I suppose I could apply for more if this looks like a better way to do this than getting a medical loan. I'm going to make some calls tomorrow to see what kind of interest rates they offer. Back in the '80s I used my credit cards to finance some TV pilots I produced. Of course the TV shows went nowhere and it took me forever to get the cards paid off. I've been a little shy of credit cards since then. Not that paying for life saving surgery is anything like making tv failed shows. Laura

Also do not forget that medical expenses more than 10% of your income are deductible on your federal income tax--I got a big chunk of it back to start paying down the credit cards right away.

I expect Aetna to be approveing my ds, they requested i go to a in net provider for consult in stead of the in net rny spurgion, who submitted for me requestting a out of net assist for the ds. next if your going to self pay, set up a health care reimbursement account, makes the whole thing tax deductable. dollar 1, and when you self pay you will be paying retail, instead of wholsale prices, that Aetna will be reimbursing, you will be beat even if you get them to reimburse. dont give up yet.

Health Care Reimbursement account works for those who can do it. For those of us who need every dollar of our paycheck that won't work. So here's another suggestion. IF you have a 401K you can borrow against it for "certain" medical expenses. In this case certain means so long as it is 7.5% or greater than your gross income. That amount is the amount for any medical cost deduction if you are going to itemize on Form 1040 Sure they take 20% out of the proceeds and at tax time you can be penalized another 10% if you take this before age 59 1/2 BUT if the amount is high enough and you have other items to itemize such as mortgage interest, property taxes etc that 30% will be reduced drastically. Also if you have to pay it back yo are repaying yourself instead of a bank or credit card company. Another piece to this is most 401K plans will not allow you to contribute anywhere from 6 months to a year after you do a "hardship" withdrawal , which is what this would be classified under. NONE THE LESS.... I look at it this way, if I don't have this surgery I will never live long enough to utilize the 401K anyways

Thanks Patt, Alas, I am, and have always been, self employed, so no 401K. Brian does have one but it is no where near big enough to cover this surgery and since we are not married I am not sure if it could even be used for my surgery. Still this is good information for others for whom it may be a good option. Laura