Tag: <span>Cost</span>

Covered by health insurance? You might still be paying €4,000!mufid majnun lvcjywuhqlg unsplash
Published Tue, 23rd Feb 2021

Covered by health insurance? You might still be paying €4,000!

I was shocked to read today on the Bariatric Banter Facebook group that bariatric patients of some hospitals are being charged up-front fees of €4,000 or more – and that’s for people who are fully covered for the surgery by their health insurance!

The fees being charged by hospitals such as the Bons Secours and Blackrock Clinic, and are supposed to cover the cost of 2 years of follow-up after-care. But instead of charging people for these appointments as they happen, these hospitals demand full payment ahead of surgery.

This image captured by a bariatric patient of the Bons Secours in Cork shows the charges:

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In this case, the €4k fee is to cover the cost of dealing with complications and potential emergency corrective surgery – but these are things that many patients may not need.

They do say that some of the money can be reclaimed through a patient’s health insurance – presumably when receipts are issued for outpatient consultant and dietician visits. But even so, four thousand seems very expensive.

I had my surgery in St Vincent’s Private, and they charge people for each after-care appointment as it happens. So far I’ve had one follow-up with the surgeon at 6 weeks, and a session with the dietician at 3 months. I’ve also got a second dietician session organised in a couple of weeks for my 6 month. And I get to pay of each of those separately – and claim back 50% of the cost from my health insurance. But I can’t see the cumulative cost of all the follow-ups coming any where near €4,000!

Surgery

After Care Cost Private Hospitals

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Irish people seeking cheaper weight loss surgery abroadAirport 519020 1920
Published Fri, 8th Jan 2021

Irish people seeking cheaper weight loss surgery abroad

One of the things I’ve learned from reading the Facebook groups is that there’s a lot of Irish people going abroad to get bariatric surgery.

The waiting list for getting weight loss surgery on the public health system is often years, and for those that don’t have private health insurance and are willing to self-pay, then the cheaper surgical prices abroad can seem tempting.

If you have private health insurance in Ireland, and you meet the requirements such as having a BMI over 40, then you will most likely be covered for surgery. However if you don’t have insurance, or you don’t meet the requirements, then the standard cost of around €15,000 in the Irish private hospitals for a gastric bypass can prompt people to look for cheaper options.

Some of the prices quoted for gastric sleeves and bypasses are in the range:

  • Turkey – €2,975 to €3,400
  • Lithuania – €5,500
  • Latvia – €5,370
  • Czech Republic – €4,500
  • Belgium – €4,300
  • Poland – €6,000

All of those prices are significantly cheaper than Ireland – even when you add the cost of flights on top!

Dr Bodnar in Letterkenny

Another option closer to home is a Dr Bodnar who operates out of Letterkenny General Hospital. He is reported to perform gastric sleeves for around €6,000 and gastric bypasses for €7,500.

That might be an option for people who worry about travelling abroad.

Surgery

Abroad Cost Dr Bodnar Surgery

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Getting my bloods doneSyringe 1574486 1920
Published Tue, 3rd Nov 2020

Getting my bloods done

I went to my GP yesterday to get my bloods done. This is part of the regular blood tests that I’ll have to get done, to check that the vitamin and mineral levels in blood are good following my bariatric surgery.

My bariatric team requires that I get bloods done:

  • Every 3 months for the first year
  • Every 6 months for the second year
  • Once a year thereafter

I could get my bloods done in the private hospital where I had my operation, but that’s really expensive. I’ve done it in the past, and it’s cost me around €70-100 for each visit. And the public hospital phlebotomy clinics are a bit hit and miss in terms of how long you have to wait.

It’s much easier for me to visit the nurse in my local GP surgery. It does cost me €35 to visit, but the benefit is that the surgery is only a 5 minute walk from my house, so it’s a quick visit.

I also needed to get an injection of Neo-Cytamen (vitamin B12) so I got that done as part of the same appointment. And for an added bonus the nurse also gave me a seasonal flu shot for free as well. So I have ended up with many holes in my arms!

Blood test protocol following bariatric surgery

  • FBC
  • U&E
  • LFTs (including Albumin)
  • Thyroid function tests (TSH, free T4)
  • Bone profile (calcium, phosphate, ALP)
  • Vitamin B12
  • Folate
  • Iron studies (ferritin, serum iron, TIBC)
  • Zinc
  • Lipid profile
  • Magnesium
  • 25-Hydroxyvitamin D

Medication Surgery

Blood Tests Cost GP Surgery Post-Surgery

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How much does bariatric surgery cost in Ireland?Bills 496229 1920
Published Mon, 5th Oct 2020

How much does bariatric surgery cost in Ireland?

If you have private health insurance, then the price of your bariatric surgery is most likely covered by your insurer.

In recent years health insurers have recognised that an investment in weight loss surgery now can save them a lot of money in long run, as they are less likely to pay for other weight-related chronic conditions down the track. As such most health insurance companies will cover the cost of the surgery itself. To confirm cover with your insurer, quote the codes 181 and 183.

However that doesn’t mean that your weight loss surgery is entirely free. You will still have to pay for some things:

  • Your health insurance policy will most likely have an excess for being admitted to hospital as an in-patient. My charge was €75, but this varies by insurer and policy.
  • Appointments with your surgeon, dietician and other doctors before and after surgery are chargeable because you’re seeing them privately. If you have day-to-day benefits, your health insurance may also cover part of the cost of these as well. My health insurance covers 50% of the cost of visits to all hospital consultants, which I am able to claim back afterwards.

I got my gastric bypass with the St Vincent’s Private Hospital Bariatric Team in Dublin, and as of 2019 the costs to see them were:

  • Pre-assessment appointments with the physician, psychologist, dietician and surgeon – €600
  • Post-surgical care with a follow-up appointment with the surgeon, and three appointments with the dietician and/or physician, and 12 months phone and email support – €1,800

You may also need to pay for getting blood tests, and for drugs and supplements that you’ll need to take after surgery.

However these costs are certainly a lot cheaper than the €15,000 price tag of paying for the surgery yourself if you don’t have insurance!

Surgery

Consultants Cost Hospital Appointments Money

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Price difference between UK and Irelandcoins 3652814 1920
Published Wed, 3rd Oct 2018

Price difference between UK and Ireland

The standard price for attending a Slimming World group in the UK is £4.95, while in Ireland the cost is €9.00.

The exchange rate at the moment between pounds and euros is around 1.13 euros to the pound. And so if we do a direct currency conversion of £4.95 into euros that would equate to €5.58.

So why are Irish members charged €9.00? That’s a 60% mark-up on top of the UK price!

Slimming World

Cost Ireland Membership Fees Price UK

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What is opportunity cost?scales
Published Sat, 1st Jul 2017

What is opportunity cost?

The term “Opportunity Cost” is something I remember from the Economics class at school.

The definition is somewhere along the lines of the loss of value or benefit of not doing something in order to achieve something else. An example of this in the world of economics is that if I decide to invest money to get a future return, then I miss out on being able to spend the money now. An example from the world of agriculture is that I forego getting a crop this year in order to let a field lie fallow and potentially increase my yield in future years.

The ‘opportunity’ is the future returns on the investment, and the ‘cost’ is not being able to spend now.

The concept is also sometimes summed up by the phrase “long term gain for short term pain”.

It can be applied quite easily to weight loss efforts, and it sometimes helps me maintain focus on what I’m trying to achieve. The opportunity cost that I have is to stop eating unhealthy foods that I might enjoy in the short term, in order to achieve my long-term goal of losing weight.

I won’t see the weight loss straight away, because it takes time to shift those pounds, so I won’t see a real-time correlation between my actions. Avoiding eating a doughnut now won’t instantly make me drop 3 pounds. I will only see those pounds go over the next couple of weeks.

And that’s why it can be so difficult to keep focused on the opportunity cost. Just ask any addict! They know that their addiction is bad for them, but they find it difficult to prioritise their long-term mental or physical health over the short-term hit of their addiction.

Many people (myself included) on a weight loss journey have an addiction – an addiction to food. They often find it difficult to avoid the short-term hit of the giant-sized piece of cheesecake in front over them over the long-term gain of a more healthy body.

So why am I talking about weight loss using an economic theory? Well, everyone has their own way of rationalising things – and this helps me. Your mileage may vary.

Psychology Slimming World

Addiction Benefit Cost Opportunity Cost

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