Gastric bypass surgery cost: financial aspects & considerations

Read more about our guide on gastric bypass

Chapter 4

Gastric bypass surgery like any other bariatric surgery has many factors that affect the overall cost of the treatment. However, gastric bypass is known for its complexity and it is more costly than others, so, the surgeon, location, and type of surgery will determine the price. The right health insurance would be helpful to lower the cost as well.

Due to all those factors, the price ranges enormously worldwide. This chapter will guide you to learn more about the charges behind the costs and wallet-friendly options for you.

How much does gastric bypass cost?: Breaking down the cost

The average cost of gastric bypass cost around the globe is between 5K-35K. The breakdown of the cost goes as pre-op care, tests, surgical procedure, post-op care, and follow-up visits. The prices go up to almost 40K dollars because of different factors such as country, facility type, and bariatric surgeon reputation.

Generally, the price of the surgery cost is half of the overall price and all the other factors play the role of the other half of the price. You can discuss details and numbers by contacting your healthcare provider. They will list various options if you want to do it locally or abroad with recommendations and further details.

The true cost of gastric bypass surgery: hidden fees

The additional costs that surround the surgery cost itself are spread before, mid, and after surgery.

Before the surgery, there are a few things that should be taken care of such as consultation, blood tests, physical examination, and psychological & physical evaluation. All those steps are to assure you’re a valid candidate and for you to be prepared for the surgical step.
During the surgery, there are anesthesia fees, equipment fees, and surgeon’s fees. Each element plays a role such as the length of drug use, the quality of the equipment, and the surgeon’s experience.
After the surgery, there are follow-up expenses such as hospital stays, nursing care, medication, nutrition support, and monitoring during the recovery to scope any potential complications.

The cost combination of all these services is almost half the price of the whole treatment, meaning that the other half is the surgical procedure. That doesn’t mean you get all the services that exist but only what matters to take care of you and lessen surgical complication rates as much as possible.

Is gastric bypass covered by insurance?

Gastric bypass surgery can be covered by the health insurance company under their specific policy. It depends on the insurance plan, your health status should match the program to be able to cover a percentage of the price.

Additionally, the better the insurance plan, the fewer exclusions or limitations for surgical insurance coverage. Also, it may be accepted in different facilities. Talk to your healthcare provider before getting insurance, to see if the plan itself is acceptable in the hospital or clinic. However, there might be better plans that would have fewer coverage limitations to consider.

How to figure out if your insurance covers gastric bypass surgery?

It is simple to check if your insurance covers gastric bypass surgery and here is how:

Read the health insurance policy and see if it mentions bariatric procedure or gastric bypass coverage, whilst reading, check how much it covers and see if your health condition matches the requirements health-wise. If it matches your medical history then you can rely on it.
Directly contact your insurance provider and ask if they offer medical insurance that makes gastric bypass at a better state of price.
You can contact your doctor or the facility staff whether it’s a clinic or hospital if they are with insurance companies to ease up the process of choosing an insurance plan.

You can depend on one or all of these steps to figure out if your insurance covers this type of treatment. However, you also should match the requirements of the instance lifestyle–wise and medical status that relates to morbid obesity and medical history.

Do I match the health insurance requirements for gastric bypass?

There is a certain policy to insure hospital charges coverage by health insurance and that requires a few documents that cover your personal information related to your overall health. Your BMI (body mass index)must be 40+ or at least 35+ with overweight-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, or high blood pressure.

You are also required to have a report from your doctor that explains your medical necessity for the weight loss procedure or gastric bypass surgery if specified. That should follow up with your attempts to lose the excess body weight that didn’t work out even if it was with diet and exercise.

Finally, a note from your psychiatrist that proves your psychological evaluation for the gastric bypass surgery.

Visit your healthcare provider or doctor directly and discuss if you’re a fit candidate for gastric bypass surgery and ask for trusted evidence for the evaluation, which also goes with the other documents. However, gastric bypass surgery is a solution for severe obesity, and if you do not relate to that category then your doctor will suggest an alternative weight loss surgery.

How to pay gastric bypass without insurance

Paying for gastric bypass surgery cost without insurance straight away is also a valid but costly option. You can depend on many options such as cash which is the most common. However, you can also rely on credits, online payments, and deposits.

In some cases, if you’re looking for treatment locally, with a good credit card score, hospitals or clinical centers accept monthly payments and are willing to help you to pay according to their specific terms and conditions. However, if your credit doesn’t match the monthly payment policy, look for other payment options such as getting loans from banks or healthcare company credits that offer medical needs offers.

Keep in mind that getting loans may have conditions and interests or extra fees and requires it to be paid back on a specific date. Otherwise, they may put extra charges if not paid according to their restrictions.

Explore more budget-friendly options for your bypass surgery

One of the best ways to make your surgery more budget-friendly is to consider getting your surgery in a more affordable country. Here is a list of countries where there are competitive and lowest prices for gastric bypass surgery:

Country	The average cost in USD ($)
Turkey	5.000 – 10.000
India	4.000 – 9.000
Mexico	4.500 – 9.000
Thailand	6.500 – 13.000

When it comes to medical tourism, as a visitor you will be offered a package price that includes multiple services other than the additional services and surgery. There can be companionship, airport transportation, etc.

If you are seeking more affordable options without insurance coverage, you can take advantage of your currency in other countries to easily cover the cost of surgery. More importantly, you should check the quality of the service that is being served, you can contact your healthcare provider for that information. Better yet, you can check the countries’ reputation for medical tourism wise. For example, Turkey is known for its great service quality and hospitality in several regions with competitive prices.

With the consultation of your healthcare provider for the treatment abroad, they shall guide you through the process and ease the goal of having a better quality of life and losing excess weight.

Reference:

Knighton BJ, Yusuf CT, Ha M, et al. Insurance Coverage of Pediatric Bariatric Surgery: a Cross-Sectional Analysis of the USA. Obes Surg. 2022;32(1):123-132. doi:10.1007/s11695-021-05744-9 Link