Benefits of Paying Cash for Bariatric Surgery in Mexico
Not only is obesity an escalating global epidemic, but it is also the leading cause of disabilities around the world and one of the most neglected public health problem. So what does someone do when he or she has exhausted all other reasonable methods of weight loss, fully understands the risks and requirements of surgery but do not have health insurance to pay for their surgery and medical care for bariatric surgery?
While some insurance companies are starting to cover weight loss surgery, some procedures may not be covered by your insurance plan and depending on where you have your procedure, whether at home or abroad, patients have an option of paying cash for their weight loss surgery. However, the thing to keep in mind is that most quoted prices of under $10,000 for bariatric surgery have additional costs.
The average cost of gastric sleeve surgery is $23,000 and not everyone considering weight loss surgery can afford to pay that much money to lose weight. There are other financing options available for people without coverage. Consider the following:
Doctor Payment Plan
Your bariatric surgeon should be able to tell you if he or she works with a financial institution that that offer loans for patients who want to undergo bariatric surgery but do not have insurance coverage. These types of medical loans are known as unsecured loans because you do not put up collateral to back up the loan in case of default and can be obtained through brokers, direct lenders or through unsecured credit card.
However, getting a payment plan set up directly through your doctor is better because doctors charge little or no interest and often do not charge any additional fees and being late on a payment may not affect your credit score. Depending on who your lender is, you can get an immediate decision for loans under $35,000. Once you have been approved for the loan, the entire amount of the surgery and aftercare payment is sent to your doctor’s office directly.
Medicaid
Medicaid does cover weight loss surgery, but pre-approval is sometimes required for bariatric surgery. Your surgeon may help you submit the required information to your insurance provider to gain pre-approval and if denied he or she may assist you the appeal process if you choose to do so.
Other financing options are:
Unsecured personal loans that do not require any collateral to secure the loan, instead, you are given the loan with fees and interest rates attached
Online lenders that base your application on your credit score, income, and expenditure
Marketplace lenders who match you up with a lender who will provide you the money for your weight loss surgery. The amount can be anything between $1,000 to $40,000 and can be repaid within one to five years
Secured loans that need some form of collateral
A 401k loan where you can borrow up to half of your conferred balance. There are no credit checks required, and the interest and payments are relatively low
Loans from family and friends
It is not uncommon for an insurance company to deny your request for coverage of bariatric surgery even after an appeal but with the above payment options, there is no reason not to enjoy the benefits of this life-changing surgery. Paying cash for your bariatric procedure has its benefits such as:
- You can schedule surgery sooner since there is no third party involvement in the approval process
- There are no insurance hurdles or issues with finding in-network carriers
- You get to choose the doctor you want
- You get to choose the facility you wish to rather than an insurance approved one
- There are no risks of being turned down the last minute because of a coverage issue
- You are not required to go through various tests or counseling unless you choose to
- You do not need to prove that you have tried all other methods of weight loss
- You will get the same care no matter how you pay for your bariatric surgery: cash or insurance
While the current health care system that is a third party covers most of the costs of some operations, it incentivizes patients to overconsume when it comes to medical care but paying cash ensures that patients can see how much each particular treatment costs and can decide from various options what service is best for them. Bypassing the third party means that it can also be cheaper for a patient in a cash-based system to obtain multiple tests or procedures. The only criticism of cash only medical care is that it adversely affects the poor.
That said, weight loss surgery in Mexico can save your life as well as money regarding insurance and health-related costs. Overweight individuals and dealing with diabetes spend more money per year on direct and indirect medical expenses to treat the disease and its complications over their lifetimes.
If you or someone you know are ready to experience an extraordinary quality of life, then shedding the pounds can make a difference and research shows bariatric surgery may provide more significant long-term results for those considered severely obese. This surgery can significantly reduce a person’s risks of developing potentially fatal diseases such as some types of cancer to type 2 diabetes and heart disease that has been long connected to obesity.
Bariatric surgery is more effective overall than other forms of weight loss intervention and has proven beneficial in helping people combat sleep apnea, improve osteoarthritis-related discomfort as well as gain better cholesterol control and other risk factors for heart disease. A seemingly never-ending cycle about obesity is depression, which can be alleviated within the first year of bariatric surgery.
If you are at the point where bariatric surgery is an option, then you how draining it can be just to get through the day. This operation might just be what you need.