Self-Pay Patients? I have so many questions.

 I feel like I have bombarded the boards with questions. I am sorry. I hope I am not getting on anyone's nerves. I am a total newbie. :( 

I am self-pay. I have come up with enough to cover my surgery, hospital costs, and pre-op tests. 

The two things I did not factor into the cost was having a psych eval completed and cardio test. I am having the worst luck finding a psych eval for under $525. That is the LOWEST I could find in Memphis, TN. 

Does anyone know an estimated range I should expect the cardio test thing to be??

I am excited. I don't wait to wait another half a year to get this done. I am miserable being this size. I keep trying and failing. 

I'm currently on a diet to lose lbs and shrink my liver. It was suggested by the Patient Advocate from my doctor's office. 

My psy evaluation was that price also but the psy let me do it in payment, also the hosp. will do a charge for some of the test.

I saw this as a link above the Obesityhelp site yesterday.  I have no idea if they are for real, licensed, anything.  Please let us know.  $100 Bariatric Psychiatric Evaluations.  Hopefuly it's not a scam. 

 Hi, Sonja..  Not a scam..  They accept insurance or $100 cash (payment plan if needed. Tests administered online, personal evaluation one-on-one.   

Also, you should most certainly ask everyone for a cash pay.   It will amount to thousands.  

The hear exam depends a lot on your health & risk factors.  It may not be more than an EKG or as pricey as a nuclear medicine perfusion scan. 

If you haven't settled on a surgeon, call as many as possible to get cash prices.   I wish you luck.  

Try to negotiate a discount up front, especially if you pay cash/credit.  My insurance only covered 50% of the hospital, but I called and negotiated a 40% discount and paid that in full.

i just can't get over how pricy that is.  I am obviously not charging enough.  Gracious!  I can imagine that if someone starting charging that in my area everyone would follow suit.  also, to charge that, I am assuming the folks doing them have additional training and exposure to WLS which is honestly a good thing.  There are some people doing them close to me who honestly have no idea.  Do you travel regularly anywhere?  Another area might have a different fee structure.  But really, $525 is a drop in the bucket in terms of overall surgery cost, and the incredible change you will be offered with surgery.  So, if you really can't find another option, just do it. 

When are you thinking of having surgery?  I don't know what your liver shrinking diet is but there is no way I could have stuck to mine for an extended period of time.  It was way too restrictive.

I find out my date this Friday hopefully. :) *fingers crossed*

i know that in comparison to the surgery costs that $525 isn't much but I'm having a difficult time coming up with more money. You know? But you're right.. I will probably have to bite the bullet and figure something out.

I have a colleague in Nashville. He doesn't do them, but let me send him an email and see if he knows someone who does pre-op psych evals for less than that.  (We don't charge nearly that, but I'm in Ohio.)

I will PM you with any suggestion he has.

Lora

Thank you so much!!

I too live in Memphis!  Just had my RNY on 3/18.  Which doctor are you using?