In 2007, Marcy Merrill decided it was finally time to get some help. She was obese, but wouldn’t truly admit it.
Then one day, “I looked up and saw myself in the mirror … really saw myself,” Merrill said. At that moment, she knew she needed a medical intervention.
Merrill, who was living in Nome at the time, began researching the costs of lap band bariatric surgery, a procedure that causes weight loss by restricting the amount of food a person’s stomach can hold.
Her insurance didn’t cover the procedure, so she was looking to finance the surgery on her own. Anchorage doctors told her that she’d need to fly there multiple times before the procedure. With the travels, the required counseling, the anesthesiologist and surgery, the entire procedure would cost her about $24,000, she said.
When she realized the expense, “I was actually thinking that I would just save that and be unhealthy,” Merrill said. “I was not going to take money away from my family (for something) that was not an emergency.” For the full article click here
from health IT caucus http://ift.tt/1Pxe3au
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment