Costs of Weight Loss Surgery

The costs of having weight loss surgery are made up from a number of sources:

1. Hospital charges for bed stay
2.  Hospital charges for operating theatre session
3. Equipment used in the operating theatre session. This includes the gastric band itself or for other weight loss operations, the stapling devices.
4. Professional fees charged by the surgeon, anaesthetist and assistant

Patients with Private Health Insurance

With an appropriate level of insurance cover, most hospital and equipment charges will be covered with no out of pocket. (Depending on your insurance arrangements, there may be an excess to pay). Occasionally in your operation there may be certain equipment used which is “non-rebateable” and you will have to pay part of the costs for this. The out of pocket expenses for insured patients relate mostly to professional/clinic fees charged by the surgeon, anaesthetist and assistant.

Most patients with Private Health Insurance will be out of pocket around $4000 altogether.

You should enquire of your insurance company in advance whether you are covered for these procedures and quote one of the following item numbers:

If you are found at operation to have an hiatus hernia (weak area of the diaphragm at the top of the stomach) we will need to repair this during the operation.

This will often mean the addition of a second item number (30601) although there should be no further out of pocket expenses for this if you are insured.

Note that post-operative follow-up reviews and band adjustments may attract a small out of pocket fee on each occasion.

For an estimate of total costs, you should contact us directly for a discussion of your particular circumstances and insurance coverage.

Uninsured Patients

Gastric banding surgery can be done on uninsured patients but as well as the professional fees you will have to cover the hospital charges for bed stay and the operating theatre session as well as all extra equipment charges including the band. The gastric band itself may cost in the order of $3500.

Note if you require more than one night in hospital for any reason ,your hospital charges will increase because of bed stay costs.

Most patients without Private Health Insurance will be out of pocket between $12,000 and $13,000 altogether.

An alternative is to obtain private health insurance and wait one further year to be eligible for these procedures to be covered by your policy.

If you need an hiatus hernia repair with your surgery, you may have to pay a small extra amount to cover this procedure.

It is essential to obtain a quote from your surgeon to estimate overall costs associated with gastric banding surgery if you are uninsured.

Note that post-operative follow-up reviews and band adjustments will usually attract a small out of pocket fee on each occasion.

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