Cash Pay & Financing
Many insurance companies still do not cover any type of bariatric surgery, but there are alternatives.
CASH PAY PRICING
For our current Cash Pay pricing, please contact our Patient Care Coordinator:
 Kim Sipes
318.222.3132 xt. 1
318.222.4282 direct
krsipes@comcast.net
FINANCING COMPANIES
*We are not affiliated with any of the above companies
LOCAL BANK OR CREDIT UNION
- Check with your local bank or credit union for a personal loan
FORMS OF PAYMENT ACCEPTED
- Cash, Check, Money Order, Cashier's Check,
& Credit Cards (Mastercard, Visa, AmEx, Discover)
TAX DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSES
Many of your medical expenses can be tax deductible. If your surgery, medications, and other medical services exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) then you could qualify.
Please visit www.irs.gov/publications/p502/index.html for more information!
WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY PAYS FOR ITSELF
Dr. Merriman reminds his prospective patients, "When a patient is considering a self-pay or financing plan for Weight Loss Surgery, it is important to take into account what this disease is currently costing you in terms of medications and other healthcare costs for problems such as diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea and joint issues which may be caused by or are at least made worse by your obesity."
A recent study shows that surgery can pay for itself in just over 2 years:
Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN) today announced a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases that found the cost of a gastric banding weight-loss surgery procedure, such as Allergan's LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System, was offset by reductions in obesity-related medical costs within 2.25 years for surgery eligible patients with diabetes, and within four years of the procedure for all surgery eligible patients.
The article goes on to say:
"Although the gastric banding procedure is associated with upfront costs, our analysis shows that those costs are recovered in a relatively short period of time, particularly for obese patients with diabetes," said study lead author Eric A. Finkelstein, Ph.D., of Duke University and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.
Source:
IRVINE, Calif., June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ www.redorbit.com/news/health |
