The Cost of Lap Band Surgery Unreasonable?

The costs of medical care are reaching unmanageable levels.  The problem has become so severe that it is one of the goals of the new, proposed health care legislation to limit the expansion of those costs.

Yet, those who have been informed that weight loss surgery may be appropriate for them, the reality of the cost of lap band surgery may be overwhelming.  To make matters worse, many insurance policies – particularly low cost policies – will not help to defray the cost of a gastric lap band surgery at all. With the average gastric bypass surgery cost exceeding that of $15,000, it can leave patients in the quandary of not getting the surgery or assuming significant debt. In recognition of the huge burden that self-financing patients can face when trying to pursue surgery, companies like Medical Tourism facilitators have developed.

Medical Tourism companies are healthcare facilitation services, meaning that they help patients to arrange medical procedures abroad where the cost are not so stifling.

Many people do not realize that many of the weight loss surgeries commonly performed today were actually developed in Latin America.  Argentina, in particular, has been a leader in the field of weight loss procedures.

They usually develop strategic relationships with a number of healthcare facilities in Mexico and Latin America where the gastric bypass cost is profoundly lower (up to 80%) than in the U.S. By only working with facilities that meet the standards set out by the patient safety group called the Joint Commission International, patients are provided with access to affordable and safe weight loss procedures.