How Much Does the Surgery and Hospital Stay Cost?

[Irina]

I haven't had scoli surgery, either. I have had some experience working with different insurance plans with different medical issues. The OOP is "supposed" to be the maximum you will have to pay for the year. I would recommend going with the 90% plan as well. You don't want any hidden loop holes that the insurance company can wiggle through, because they will if they can. You also have to consider that "the surgery" may not be the end of your medical needs through the year. You may well have to go for rechecks and other things that may crop up unexpectedly. You don't want to end up having medical bills you didn't count on. Also, you can work out payment arrangements with the hospital if you aren't able to come up with the cash for the difference at the time of surgery.

My mom had an emergency reattachment surgery (don't know what insurance she had at the time) and the hospital wrote off the balance. It might help to speak with someone from the hospital as well as the insurance company beforehand.

Thank you all for your comments. I spoke with UCSF Finance Department and they told me that I should not be paying more than OOP maximum. Just to be safe, I enrolled in a plan with reasonable OOP maximum and 90% coverage. I was thinking along the line that you mentioned - better be safe than sorry.