Who could afford that?

That seems like consumer fraud to me. They should have told you what your portion should have been, but everyone signs those documents that say you'll be responsible for payment. :-(

Also, the total price seems excessive to me. I thought they were at most 40-50k total; including the Hospital stay. I don't know though. Unfortunately this is why the US has the highest rate of hospital bill bankruptcies.

I do know people who have challenged their bills and had them reduced. I'd just try and do my best to find someone or some organization you can talk to about reducing or perhaps forgiving part of the bill.

Good luck - you'll have to be a squeaky wheel !!
Good luck, I'm really surprised they did the surgery knowing you'd end up with a bill like that. Seems really unfair.

Don't get too excited until after you talk with your insurance company. I got a bill after my surgery that read I owed some huge amount and I went into panic mode and called my insurance. They assured me it was covered just to be patient.

I haven't got the whole run down on mine yet so don't know how this will pan out. But something to watch for is, on your EOE from the insurance you will see the "allowable charges" "applied to deductible" "amount paid" I could be wrong but I think the only thing they can collect is the "allowable charges" as per contract with the insurance company. Like I said I'm not positive and I don't have my final numbers on mine yet so .... good luck and hope it all washes out for you.

That is insane. My insurance paid all but $150 for the surgery minus the $15 copays for my nuts appointments. But even then, the total cost to my insurance company was about $15,000 You are being ripped off big time!!!!

My entire procedure was 52,000. That amount is insane! I would defiently make some phone calls!! Something seems fishy!

I also agree that you should take some action. First I would call the surgeons office and inquire about the pre-authorization that should have been received from insurance, then I'd call insurance and inquire as to the status of the claim. As stated before, you shouldn't have to pay anything except "Allowable" charges, this is what's considered "reasonable and customary" and is actually a standard set by Medicare. Also, if you still have a large bill, ask to see an itemized bill and make sure you're not being charged excess. You could even ask your surgeon to review the bill for operating room expenses. You'd be surprised what some hospitals try to get away with. They assume all patients use certain things, so they automatically charge for them. It's up to you to question charges. Don't freak out yet, do some work and you'll probably only be responsible for your deductible and copay's.

I wonder if it has to do with your location? I'm in Atlanta and the average cost down here is around 10-20k. Sorry you're going through that kind of stress!

Yes that seems very strange. My sleeve was about $40,000. All I had to pay was $300. Sometimes insurances make mistakes and they should've told you BEFORE the procedure what you owe and what would be covered. Please call them ASAP. Good luck!!

I'm going to call tomorrow morning and try to sort things out. I think they are over charging me and the insurance company. The fact that I was told I wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket makes me upset. If I would have know this before hand I would have went to another place or not even have it.

Talk to your insurance company, This sounds way too high. My RNY wasn't even close to that expensive!

I agree with everyone else. There is a mistake. My insurance company EXCLUDES weight loss surgery so I had to pay for mine myself. I borrowed it from my 401k so I am paying myself back with interest. Not the best financial thing to do but it is worth it for my health. My total coast was just over $25k.

Take a deeo breath VIC!! Call the surgeons office first to get the copy of the authorization from your insurance conpany--BELIEVE me, they did NOT do the surgery expecting YOU to pay--The surgeons do not pick up a band aid without knowing they will get paid!! Then, with the insurance authorization at hand, call the insurance company ! As was already said, it could be a timing issue on the billing. My whole surgery was $37,000...negotiated down to $28,000 and I paid zero. No wI know not every company covers everything but if you were told you would be covered, it will get worked out! GOOD LUCK!!

Oh Honey, like some else said be a squeeky wheel, something does not sould right here keep calling until you get a person who will go to bat for you. Best wishes and please keep us informed.

It could be something as simple as a wrong billing code number put into the system. Although it does seem to be very expensive, if you didn't have any compications.

I had complications and was in intensive care for 28 days and my bill came to right around $800,000. Out of that I was responsible for $300 to the hospital and $1200 to the surgeon.

I have an example of an EOB here. Charged amount is 1964.82 but the ALLOWABLE charges is 342.49. See the difference? This is probably what you are looking at. Make some calls and I bet things will work out.