I am a Self Pay patient.....how did others finance?

[interfaceamy]

Hi,

I know I am asking a lot of questions today but I REALLY appreciate the input!

I am insured but WLS is an exclusion on my policy so this surgery will be self pay. I am willing to invest the money into myself but I am seeking advice on the best way to do this. I have thought about borrowing from my retirement, taking a personal loan, etc. How did other self pay patients handle this? Unfortunately I do not have 18K that I can just use for this.

[Angella67]

I was self pay and had mine done in Mexico for a little less than $4000.

[HGfromOmaha]

I would say it depends on the cost of your surgery, how much you have to borrow, and how soon are you hoping to have this done. 401K's are an option but you need to be aware of the amount of money you'll lose at the back-end. If you're young enough where you don't think it will matter or don't plan on ever retiring, then that's an option. I would look into a local credit union to see if they have options available for medical surgery. They are usually very good about those loans. Or, you can always ask family members to help you out if your family has resources.

[tinadago]

I was also self pay. It costs $11600 here in Michigan, with a great doctor. I paid $5000 out of my savings and took out a personal loan for $7000. Its a four year loan with a payment of $170 pr month. I didn't think that was too terrible. For ME and my health.
If you can travel to Michigan, it's a lot less than $18K....

[Romaniangel]

I travelled to Tijuana Mexico, in canada it's $20,000. There was no way I could afford that! But I could afford the $4400.00 best decision in my life

[amyswisher]

I also went the Mx route, but even that amount was hard for me. I (luckily) have amazing and supportive parents. My mom cashed out a small life insurance policy that she had on me...got $3200 from that. They added the rest for me. My surgery will be $4750 (high BMI), air for me and my boyfriend $818, and our passport cards were around $120...good luck!!

[Katiecarr]

Im going to Mexico! I was/am in the same boat, INS. does' t cover it at all! So when I really started researching, I landed on Mexico. I looked at other options, but what we decided on, is taking a loan out of our 401k, some plans will let you take a personal loan for "hardship" reasons. There is no interest for us. Ours will let you take it out over 5 years. I don't plan on taking that long to pay it back, but the option is there. I've recently changed my plans a little and am taking hubby along, we are heading to Puerto Vallarta having surgery with Dr. Lopez. Im getting excited that this is all coming together. We will be adding 1-2 extra days on the front of our trip to enjoy some time together. So that should be nice!! We had our passport appointments yesterday! They have confirmed my surgery date for May 15th!!! Which will be right around the corner! I wish you lots of luck. Let me know if you have any questions. BTW is it a little higher to go to PV for your surgery, but we are traveling so far anyway, we decided to splurge a little! It's costing $5200 in PV for the surgery!

[Chonda]

I went to Mexico and had mine done. No complications of any kind and would do it a 100 time again! My cost was $4200 plus my airfare and my passport.. so for less than $5000 I have a new tummy and am very happy with my decision.. have lost 50lbs since Feb 17...

[sHellsBells]

I am off to Mexico Friday for mine! I'm lower bmi, but as Romaniangel stated, 20 G and over 5 years wait here in canada wasn't an option for me. I am going with dr quinones. $4500 plus 1600 airfare for me and my friend. The exchange rate was really bad though. The $4500 actually ended up costing me $5200. I sure hope it's worth it all in the end!!

[interfaceamy]

My husband is very tentative about me having the surgery out of country. I also share some of his concerns. The thought of doing it much cheaper is very appealing but there are definite concerns. Who does your followup? What if you have issues? Who would you work with?

[Sleeveless in Seattle]

I had mine done in the states, self pay for $18,500 plus about another $400 for testing (most of the testing was covered my insurance even though wls is an exclusion). We took the money from retirement as a loan with about 2% interest. The interest goes straight to the retirement so we are paying ourselves interest. The payments come straight out of the paycheck. Best choice for our family.

[sHellsBells]

From my understanding Mexico really is on the forefront with this surgery. Follow up will be done here by family dr, and if I have any issues (God forbid) I will go to my local hospital. I am getting a Zip drive of my surgery and I receive all documentation from the surgery and labs to bring home as well. I have also personally had 4 friends have the surgery, 3 in Mexico and one in Canada. No difference in how fabulous they're all doing. The one from Canada was done 2 years ago and her husband went early this year to Mexico for it. They're both equally as healthy. For me, equivalent care, expediant scheduling, only 2 surgeries a day (Dr Q) and 1/2 to 3/4 the cost? No brainer.

[Blutopaz]

I was a self pay - look into Care Credit which is how I paid the surgeon - $7000.00 and $11,000 I paid to the hospital using savings and credit cards. There is about another $1000-$2000 that goes into testing, supplies, etc.

[one4sailn]

I am also one who went to Mexico. I am almost totally debt free, so I wanted to stay as far away from loans or credit as possible. I saved a bit, then the rest was from my tax return. Airfare and surgery was less than $5000. Do your research on the bariatric centers in Mexico. There are several wonderful surgeons who are doing far more procedures then some of the U.S. surgeons, meaning a bit more experience in several cases.

[christine53]

I also went to Mexico to a international Certified Hospital. Would never pay the prices here or get the wonderful care I received in Mexico. Just got back also having Plastic surgery.