What Determines the Prices of Lap Band?
The price of lap band procedures can vary widely. There are many factors that weigh into the cost. Factors that will weigh in the cost of your lap band include:
Location: Where you have the surgery performed will matter.
A location such as the United States will cost more than Mexico for instance.
The Doctor performing the surgery:
That only makes sense, right? A doctor with thousands of successful procedures under his belt will have a strong stable of statistics to establish his success rate.
Having done more procedures this doctor is more experienced and likely to make better decisions if the going gets tough. A doctor with less experience may be just as good technically, but you will pay for the experience.
Who is paying:
If your insurance will cover it, well then you don’t care too much, but if you are going out of pocket then it matters a great deal.
What fees are included in the price you are quoted:
Does the price just cover surgery, or does it include the necessary pre surgery exams and post surgery follow-ups? How about fills? Other expenses you may incur. X-rays, travel expenses, hospital fees, anesthesia, post surgery counseling.
Some of these are optional, but a lot are not. Some are fairly standard in a country or local, while others vary. The plane ticket to India, or trip to Mexico will increase the travel expense portion, but if you live in Houston and have it done locally, travel is minimal.
What Pre-Ope tests need to be done:
The necessary tests often include blood tests, electrocardiograph (EKG), chest X-rays, sleep apnea screening, and an echocardiogram. How expensive this may be depends on how you are billed.
Trends over time for the cost of lap band are downward. As procedures are perfected and more standardized and better economies of scale are reached the cost naturally will come down. This is also good in that it makes it more attractive to insurance companies and over time will increase the number of carriers covering the cost of lap band surgery.
Other non-cost considerations:
Studies done by national institutes have shown that there is an increase in the quality of life beyond the weightloss and the health benefits it acheives.
People that have lost weight via lap band rate their quality of life higher, say they have access to better paying jobs and feel less discriminated against.
All of these things should be weighed in any decision you make regarding lap band or other bariatric surgery.
These are just a handful of the things you should consider. You’ll want to read our lap band cost page to get a better handle on the expenses of lap band and what drives them.
Back from Cost of Lap Band to Lap Band Pre-op
Back from Cost of Lap Band to Lap Band
Read this for lap band questions or this for questions to ask your surgeon
