Confused in Adelaide

Hi all,
I looked into the public system here in Adelaide and only investigated the RAH. I found that they only perform gastric bypass and that there is a fairly long wait.

I have also looked into having gastric sleeve surgery done privately as I do have private insurance.

I found that the Wakefield Hospital Obesity Clinic is approx $2500 which is the gap but on top of that you have to pay for the surgeons assistant (a few hundred dollars), the anesthetist (another few hundred dollars), then you also have to pay to see the surgeon ($100+), the dietician (++$$), the psychiatrist ($100+), the exercise person (+$$) and the Opti-Fast diet. I also had to keep in mind that all these extra expenses may be on more than one occasion depending on your case. By the time I added all the money it was well over $3000. It wasn't clear but you may also have to pay for post dr appointments also. To be honest the money was a concern but the vibe I got made me look into getting another opinion.

I then looked into the Ashford Obesity Clinic as this was referred to me by a friend. I went there and have not yet paid a cent. I have met with my surgeon (Dr Ben Teague) twice now and another Dr once. This has all been bulk billed. I have a surgery date of the 3rd of June and know that I have to pay $2800 one week before. This money covers everything to do with the surgery, so no additional costs for anesthetists or surgical assistants. All my post op appts are also covered. The only additional outlay is for the dietician which is $30 (group session) and my understanding is you only attend once before and once after surgery. Unfortunately for me, my case is a little more involved because of pre-existing health issues so I have been seeing the dietician individually and therefore it has cost me more, but my private cover has paid a small amount towards these visits. I suppose the only other outlay with Ashford is the Opti-Fast or in my case a Protein Powder Substitute.
All in all I suppose I found the Ashford Clinic more affordable, and as much as it shouldn't be about the money it has to be sometimes. I also MUST add that the Dr's and Staff have been marvelous and I couldn't ask for anything more.

I hope this may help with your decisions, but it is definitely worth looking around and maybe getting a few opinions, as I am certainly glad I did this.
Good Luck...

Stop115 wrote:

Hi, Dr Michael France is also a $2500 gap depending on your private health cover. The anaesthatist was only $150 gap if I recall correctly.

Worth ringing around the surgeons and discussing your situation briefly with the receptionist to see if they offer any payment plans etc...

Good luck with your decision making process.

True.... you could make a few calls and check with the general rates and some plans probably. Also,
I read through your signature and you have been doing great. It's a good motivation for people like us.

Stop115 wrote:

Hi, Dr Michael France is also a $2500 gap depending on your private health cover. The anaesthatist was only $150 gap if I recall correctly.

Worth ringing around the surgeons and discussing your situation briefly with the receptionist to see if they offer any payment plans etc...

Good luck with your decision making process.

Hi, Have my ope date 30th May in Ashford (Adelaide) with Dr France.
I have top cover with Medibank Private and the costs are as follows:
$2300 for the surgeon.(Dr France)
$500 for the anethsetic
plus $500 excess for the health fund.....
sucks that you pay all this private health and you still are so much out of pocket...

I have also discovered today by spending time making calls around to various suregons offices in SA that those who say they have NO GAP lol lol. Well they call it out of pocket expenses and most are around the $2,300 to $2,500 mark.

Yet when i spoke to various Private health funds they all swore black and blue if a doc is on their no gap list then u dont pay anything. They couldnmt believe docs still charging these amounts when they are getting money from medicare plus the health funds then plus the patients.

Yes i know its better than paying say $15,000 etc etc without health cover but makes one wonder why say they are no gap when they are not.

Im now deciding between joining Bupa or Hcf.

Thanks god for this site and all the information all its members add.

Thank you all.

I have an appointment booked with Dr France late may.

Heres hoping for a lotto win before then :)

Hi, Dr Michael France is also a $2500 gap depending on your private health cover. The anaesthatist was only $150 gap if I recall correctly.

Worth ringing around the surgeons and discussing your situation briefly with the receptionist to see if they offer any payment plans etc...

Good luck with your decision making process.

Dr D'onofrio is a $2500 gap and if you get surgery done on the Friday the gas man doesn't charge a gap. The only other expense is any hospital excess you have.

Sadly a Gap fee of $2500 is about right, then also add on Gap for them putting you to sleep and you are looking at around $3000. I've never heard of any surgeon lowering that fee, or allowing you to pay it off after. I know with my Surgeon i had to pay my gap a few days before I was done.

Have you any super you could apply for? Or Family members who could help you out

smiles

Mandy

I don't know about lowering fees but i have heard some doctors will allow you to pay it off over several payments before op or some have a pay half now b4 op pay rest after.
I also think if your doctor was any good he/she would be able to arrange op within a reasonable time to allow altered fees/payment structure. May be worth having a chat to them.

I do already have private health insurance but have been told that the Gap payment is still around $2500 OUCH!!!!!!!!

I am so not waiting 2 years for surgery. defeats the whole purpose of the operation then. It means another two years of not being able to play with my kids properly and not feeling good in myself.

Unfortunately do to a bad marriage break up and resulting bankruptcy borrowing money is not an option.

Has anyone had any luck with doctors lowing their fees on compassionate grounds?


Thanks for you help.

k8nco

Flinders, Royal Adelaide and QEH all have obesity clinics which eventually would see you get surgery, I was attending QEH myself, when I decided to go private. QEH gives its patients Gastric Bypass, as I beleive does Royal Adelaide

smiles

Mandy

I have had friends get done via public. One is weighing up the band vs sleeve at the moment, she only waited 2 yrs. The other just had her band out after complications and is waiting to see what will now happen. I think Flinders is the only hospital here that do public. You need to get on the wait list asap. 12mths is a hard enough waiting for PHI to kick in but 2 or up to 5yrs? Alot of weight could be gained in that time.

I saw Dr D'onofrio in Nth Adelaide, he operates out of Calvary Nth Adelaide. He is brilliant. Can be blunt however he gets what he wants for his patients. For his patients if you have your op on a Friday, gas guy is free.

I would be getting quotes from PHI companies and contacting your super fund (if you have super). I don't know you money situ but can you get an advanced payment from centrelink or borrow money?

Good luck :)

Hi Confused,

In my opinion the sleeve is the best thing you will ever do for yourself, and in turn your family.

Now being done on the public system yes, we have members who have been done this way, some are sleeved but the majority of public system seems to be bypass, which is a slightly longer recovery time, but also achieves great results.

My advice would be, get yourself placed on the wait for public, your wait will be anything from two years to five, start to finish. Waits differ from hospital to hospital. At the same time investigate Private Health cover, and if manageable take cover and wait your 12 month waiting period while starting your pre-op appts, the other thing you can also do is if you have any super funds, you can apply for early release of those funds under medical grounds.

Welcome to the forum, and please ask any question at all

smiles

Mandy

Hi confused - welcome to the forum. I can't help you with information, although there is a lot of help here, even about other sources of funding.

I hope it works out for you, I have no regrets other than I wish I had done it sooner.

All the best-

OCM

Hi,

Ive just joined today. I had a long app with my GP yesterday where she has strongly advised that I look in to this surgery. I have in the past had family and friend who have tried banding with no success at all. In fact they have put on weight.

I have had a look at the story on the ACA website about the surgery and I guess my main concerns are cost and recovery.

As a single parent of two very young children I dont have the spare funds to be paying out thousands in gap payments but at the same time at 156kg i dont have the time to waste either.

Has anyone had this done through the public system in Adelaide and what have the wait times been like?

My doctor also mentioned that she thinks I have lipodema as well which just adds to it all.

if anyone has any advice etc for me Id be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :)