Weight loss surgery is not an alternative to diet and exercise. It is an effective tool when used alongside diet and exercise. Good eating habits and regular exercise are even more important after bariatric surgery. You need to spend every day practicing healthy behavior.

The reason for the high cost of bariatric surgery is due to many factors. The main reason insurance companies have difficulty covering bariatric surgery is the fine line that still exists between elective and required surgery in the minds of insurance companies. Also, it usually takes a few years for an insurance company to recoup its expenses with their health care savings.

Another questionable reason bariatric surgery is not covered is due to limiting competition employers have when their employee loses their excessive weight. By losing their excessive weight it can benefit the employee’s future employers.

Fewer than six  percent of those who get bariatric surgery in the U.S. pay out of pocket.  Among large employers, the vast majority require coinsuring for hospital visits.

How to Qualify for Gastric Bypass?

Gastric bypass surgery cost without insurance can be too much for some people. There are ways you can qualify for gastric bypass. When your body mass index is between 35 and 40, you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver disease or sleep apnea you qualify for bariatric surgery. You are also eligible for bariatric surgery when your body mass index is 40 or higher.

The gastric bypass surgery, Roux-en-Y, is an operation that shrinks your stomach along with the amount of calories and fat your body absorbs. This is a more powerful tool than the sleeve gastrectomy. Rerouting the GI tract leads to some positive hormonal changes, so diabetes improvement is higher as well.

This weight loss surgery is recommended for patients with severe acid reflux disease, which improves after surgery. Patients with high BMIs lose more weight with gastric bypass and their diabetes also improves significantly after surgery.

Why is Surgery Successful?

The hunger hormone ghrelin is suppressed after surgery, which limits the hunger sensation and increases satiety. Many doctors still do not know the basic requirements for surgery. Nearly 90% of physicians still refer their severely obese patients to exercise and diet. The least recommended treatment for obesity is bariatric surgery, even when it is the most successful.

Gastric Bypass Surgery Cost Without Insurance: Financing your Surgery

Reasons to finance your bariatric surgery independently include the improvement and elimination of your obesity related health problems. Your health problems significantly decrease because you have a longer and high-quality life after surgery.

Other benefits of self-pay is the increasing your options for quality of care by choosing which surgeon and where it will be performed. This makes you the executive decision maker in your weight loss process and with significantly fewer hurdles than when dealing with insurance placed measures.

You have eliminated the increased bias towards your larger size, which is a common occurrence for obese people. By no longer being severely obese you will have more positive social interactions and a high self-esteem, thus improving your mental health.

There are studies that indicate obese people who earn less money at work, therefore your weight loss surgery improves your quality of life financially as well as psychologically and physically.

There are also the increased savings a healthy sized individual has compared to the financial costs of maintaining a severely obese life. On average health care related costs drastically decrease after surgery. Patients spend at minimum $900 less each month due to reduced obesity related costs.

Surgery Statistic Breakdowns

Roughly 80% of patients pay for weight loss surgery through private insurance. 8% through Medicaid, 6% through Medicare and 6% through financed self-pay.

About 35% of patients who are eligible for bariatric surgery are either uninsured or underinsured. This indicates patients who need financial help for a lifesaving surgery is not a cosmetic choice, but life-saving.

Financing incentives that help alleviate bariatric health costs is the tax deductibility of the surgery. When bariatric surgery is more than 10% of your adjusted gross income you qualify.

Payment Plans

While gastric bypass surgery cost without insurance can be very expensive, there are payment plan options to help make it easier to afford. To find out the cost of your surgery, ask your doctor, hospital or facility how much you’ll have to pay for the surgery and any care afterward.

Inpatient or outpatient procedures have different payment plans. You should check with any other insurance you may have to see what it will pay. If you belong to a Medicare health plan, contact your plan for more information.

There may be coverage from your employer, Medicaid or Medicare supplement insurance policy. Log into the MyMedicare.gov or look at your last Medicare Summary Notice to see if you have deductibles.

Non Insurance Options

• Unsecured Medical Loan
• Secured Medical Loan
• Retirement Plan Loan
• Life Insurance Policy Loan
• Loan from family or friends
• Grants/Charity Care
• Insurance through your employer: discuss with your human resources department.

My Insurance Story

Insurance coverage for weight loss surgery is all over the place. Although many cover the surgery, the co-pays are high, and insurance companies rarely cover any follow up procedures or surgeries. Plastic surgery is hardly ever covered after surgery, even when it is completely justified due to the large amount of excessive weight lost.

Bariatric surgery coverage by insurance companies is imperative to combat the severe obesity epidemic in the U.S. This surgery treats obesity effectively and considerably.

I had bariatric surgery eighteen months ago and was able to lose 77% of my excessive weight. I would not have been able to lose that amount of weight without the intervention of surgery. I was fortunate enough to have my insurance company cover the surgery, but I know this is a luxury I am forever grateful for.

Obesity is a serious chronic disease that needs to be viewed at with compassion and understanding by the insurance companies. Unfortunately, the stigma surrounding weight loss surgery is still rampant, but with continued awareness and knowledge spreading, its impression will improve. The positive health effects of bariatric surgery are not going without notice and eventually the insurance companies will alter their thoughts, opinions and policies.

Bariatric surgery is life changing in its treatment of severe obesity.