Gastric Bypass - A Look At The Cost Of Surgery

A common question for those contemplating weight loss surgery is "what is the cost of gastric bypass surgery?" Whilst this is a frequently asked question, unfortunately it is not an easy one to answer.

Gastric bypass surgery is a full surgical procedure, requiring the services of a fairly sizeable surgical team including a surgeon, an anesthetist, a psychologist and a number of other specialists, in addition to hospitalization for commonly 2 to 3 days followed by a 2 to 6 week recovery period. Gastric bypass surgery also comes in various different forms today and Although the long-established Roux-en-Y procedure is still widely practiced, many other forms of surgery, particularly laparoscopic stomach surgery, are are increasinly being practiced.

In addition, Rather like many other kinds of surgery, gastric bypass surgery is not risk free and, Whilst many patients will cruise through the surgery, a few will develop complications either in hospital or during recovery at home which might well push up the total cost of the operation considerably.

Against this background you can see that the cost will be high and will vary widely, but just how high is it and what sort of variation can you expect?

At lower end of the scale, a relatively minor procedure, like gastric banding, without problems can be expected to cost around $20,000. This figure will increase to probably as much as $35,000 for a full gastric bypass operation. If complications do arise it is not at all easy to figure just what the additional cost would be but it would not be unreasonable to think in terms of a total figure of $50,000.

Although gastric bypass surgery is not cheap, the good news is that, for most people, a significant proportion, if not all, of this cost can be met by insurance. This will of course depend upon the type of policy you hold and the terms and conditions of the policy and might frequently involve something of an uphill struggle with your insurance provider but, nonetheless, this is certainly the first avenue that you should investigate.