How much does bariatric surgery cost?
Understanding your insurance and payment options is often one of the most difficult parts of the weight loss surgery process. Fortunately, Eleanor and our staff are well versed in the insurance process. We’re ready to help you get approved for surgery and discuss your billing and payment options.
Approval for Weight Loss Surgery
In recent years, the insurance companies have made it more difficult for prospective bariatric patients to be approved for surgery. Even though this type of surgery is considered “medically necessary” to improve your health and longevity, many insurance providers view it as cosmetic. This makes it more difficult (but by no means impossible) for you to be approved.
The key is establishing that your need for surgery is medical. Every insurance policy is different, but most require similar information to help determine your medical necessity. If you’ve discovered that you qualify for surgery based on the information on our Do I Qualify page, we should be able to work with you to ensure you’re approved for surgery. However the approval process will take some time (typically 2-6 months).
In the event of an unjustified denial of coverage, we’ll continue working with you to help overturn your insurance provider’s decision.
Insurance Options
Dr. Chau participates in the following commercial insurance plans:
- Aetna
- Amerihealth
- Cigna
- Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
- Medicare
- Oxford
- United
Through an affiliation with University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP), Dr. Chau will be enrolling in additional insurance plans in the future.
Dr. Brolin is a nonparticipating provider. This means that he has not contracted with any of the insurance carriers so he is not listed in any of the MD listings that are provided by individual insurance companies. Therefore, in order to receive insurance benefits for Dr. Brolin to perform your operation, you must have out-of-network benefits. With out-of-network benefits, you’re able to choose your own doctor and are not restricted by the list of physicians provided by your insurance company.
Occasionally Dr. Brolin is able to perform operations on HMO patients, provided none of the surgeons who participate in the insurance network are willing to perform the surgery. This is often the case with revisional surgery. Dr. Brolin does participate with Medicare, but not with Medicaid.
Self-Pay Options
If your health insurance doesn’t cover your weight loss surgery with your surgeon of choice, or fails to approve you for the procedure (or if you don’t have health insurance), NJ Bariatrics has other payment options available. Our billing specialists are happy to discuss our self-pay options and costs with you. Additionally, if money’s an issue, our rates are negotiable to establish an affordable payment plan for you.
Another benefit for individuals that self-pay is the option for a single overnight stay. The typical stay is two to three days. Dr. Brolin, one of our NJ bariatric surgeons, can readily perform both the RY gastric bypass and gastric sleeve as single overnight stay procedures.
Note that the hospital and anesthesiologist also have charges for their portion of the operation and hospitalization.
What’s Next?
The next step is extremely important and often overlooked by bariatric patients. You’ll learn what you should you look for when choosing your bariatric surgeon.
