Those No Good, Very Bad, Waiting on Insurance Blues

I am the type of person who, once I decide to do something, researches it into the ground, and then I just do it. Maybe it's that directness that comes of having been raised in the Midwest, but whatever it is does NOT instill patience when waiting for insurance to decide whether they will cover my Vertical Sleeve or not.

It is likely that they will say no. I will appeal, of course, and hopefully they'll turn around, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, as most insurance companies still consider the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy to be "investigational" even though there are years of statistics showing that it has great success, and often less complications than other weight loss surgeries.

I'm preparing materials for an appeal just in case. But I'm also researching other options - like going to Mexico. It is just not in any budget of mine to be able to self-pay in this country. My friend got the same surgery in July, 2008, right here, and ended up having to pay out of pocket. For the same surgeon I'm hoping to work with, plus the hospital bills, etc., she has had to get a loan for well over $30,000. She'll be paying for years on that. I can't make a monthly payment high enough to sustain a loan like that, not to mention that my former marriage didn't leave me in the best of credit situations - I seriously doubt I could get a loan for over $10,000. I might not be able to get one even for that.

But, I'm going to try - for a $10,000 loan, because that's about what it's going to cost me for the procedure in Mexico - including airfare, hotel, hospital, transportation, AND surgery. That's a big difference. A lot of people gasp and have a lot of fear when they hear you might opt to leave the country for surgery - especially to....Mexico?? But you know, there is risk with ANY surgery, whether it's here in this country or anywhere else in the world. And, a few of the top bariatric surgeons in the world are in...yep, Mexico. Frankly, if I have to pay for this surgery out of pocket, I'd rather do it for 1/3 of the price while recouperating in an oceanside hotel than for exhorbitant amounts of money while staring at the walls of my own apartment.

Makes me want even more to see our nation's health care system overhauled, but it's not likely to affect ME anytime soon, so I've got to deal with what I've got - first trying to get my insurance to realize this is PREVENTATIVE care, before the even more elevated cholesterol, before the Type II diabetes, the heart attacks, the further deterioration of my joints (hips, feet, and knees especially), the sleep apnea.....

We shall see - hopefully SOON! I would so love to be able to have this surgery by my birthday at the end of May, or at least have a DATE for it.

One lovely thing - my friend Jan, who is one of the few people outside of some coworkers that knows of my plans, said that if I end up going to Mexico, she could get tickets and go with me, to help, and possibly rejuvenate herself in the interim. I nearly got teary-eyed when she said that. That she'd be willing to pay for a flight, and possibly a couple of nights extra in the hotel (so she doesn't have to camp out in the hospital) for ME. I have some lovely friends.