How do people come up with the money (just curious)?

[Ang777]

Hi,
As I slowly but surely try to save money from work (did I mention slowly?) I am wondering how you guys get the money for surgery+braces+hospital (for those whose insurance doesn't cover a lot). Do you take out a personal loan? Do you use a credit card? Do you use Care-credit? Do your parents or spouses, etc give you money? Or do you make so much it's no big deal? The reason I'm so curious is because I feel sort of alone in the process of saving every penny for something that seems so out of reach at this point -- unless something (or I) changes for the better/wiser financially. What I do for a living does not pay "well" but I do it because I enjoy it. I wonder sometimes if it's worth "selling out" and getting a better paying job doing something I don't want to do, just to make more money to speed up this process. I don't want to make payments on debt if I can help it. I'm just really curious how others handle the financial strain.
Thanks,
Ang

[CaliforniaKid]

selling your body.

if you are student you can probably swing some of the money from student loans towards the surgery. if you own a home, consider refinancing - interest rates are rather low these days. sell belongings...you'd be surprised how much you can get from craigslist. x-box, t.v..

medical loans are hard to come by, especially if your credit is mediocre. interest rates are insane as well. but if this something very important to you, id take every opportunity - even if means going into debt. at least that's how i felt.

im quite young, so ill have the time to pay off the loans. if you are a low-income student at college, it is pretty easy to get ~7k a semester in aid - excluding BOGW grant which covers the cost of units/credits. you'd be surprised just how much aid is available. a lot of students are just too lazy or ignorant to fill out the forms.

it's kind of a loophole because students living at home can pocket the money, when it is supposed to be earmarked exclusively for living expenses. but that's the system americans live in.

also, if you have a large family - id definitely consider hustling them. i know it sounds bad, and it is...but this is your face and your health. get to it.

[ReoSity]

selling your body.

lmao this exact joke came to mind when I read the thread title.

I can't really add anything else, if you don't have the money or insurance doesn't cover it than getting some type of loan or borrowing is the only option.

In my case I'm using my life savings, years of working and student loan refunds.

[BellaBraces]

Our dentist offers an interest free monthly payment plan and I am using that.

[CaliforniaKid]

also - and this is rare - some surgeons give a discount for cash. like i met one that would had a 30% discount...but i didn't go with him.

if you're credit is okay a medical loan seems the only way to go...it's like buying a car. in my case it's buying a porsche (used)...but other surgeries the cost is more comparable to a 2012 honda accord.

[Marisama]

Go to college, get a job with insurance, save half your income and you're set.

[CaliforniaKid]

a lot of insurances don't cover orthognathic surgery, or it can take year(s) for approval. as far as braces goes, some insurances won't cover it if you're over 18 - that's if you're on parent's insurance.

cost of braces is trivial compared to the cost of surgery and hospital fees.

[batwing]

Do you have an deferred savings plan available to you?

I just got word that my insurance is approving my Le Fort as a covered benefit, but they haven't said how much yet (I'm still a year and a half away). My surgeon is out of network, but there's no surgeons in network, so I'm hoping they cover him as a network exception as they did when he removed my bone tumor.

My surgery is going to be covered partly by my insurance, partly by my FSA ($3000/year), partly by savings, and if that doesn't cover the balance, my surgeon does an interest-free payment plan if you can give 25% down. My surgery is estimated between $15,000-$25,000 at this point though, which is considerably less than some of the other folks here.



ETA: also, my insurance specifically excludes orthognathic surgery from its coverage. However, my surgeon was able to provide clinical documentation of masticatory deficiency and bone deformity. It took several months, but they ultimately approved it. It's worth appealing (many times) if you get denied.

[Ang777]

Thanks for all the feedback. The surgery is an excluded item on my insurance but I am now inspired to appeal it. I'm willing to save and save for some time (I just hope my preferred surgeon doesn't plan on retiring before I can see him/have him do it.) Ugh, I just remembered I'll have to pay for a couple airplane rides and hotel stays. Dang. Well, there's always the lottery. Or Vegas. (just kidding) (kind of)

[trossi]

Get Canadian citizenship, or even better UK, they have the whole thing covered.
It's an expensive journey though, even being Canadian it's been about $15 000 for the past 10-11 years of dealing with my bite.

[Teeth of Cthulhu]

Get Canadian citizenship, or even better UK, they have the whole thing covered.
It's an expensive journey though, even being Canadian it's been about $15 000 for the past 10-11 years of dealing with my bite.

True but the treatment is often not of the same standard aesthetically speaking.

I qualify for free treatment in the UK but am still considering paying 50k+ and going to Arnett/Gunson because they emphasise the aesthetic element.

[trossi]

Get Canadian citizenship, or even better UK, they have the whole thing covered.
It's an expensive journey though, even being Canadian it's been about $15 000 for the past 10-11 years of dealing with my bite.

True but the treatment is often not of the same standard aesthetically speaking.

I qualify for free treatment in the UK but am still considering paying 50k+ and going to Arnett/Gunson because they emphasise the aesthetic element.

I find the surgeons are good here. I've heard that the wait is really long in the UK.
I've talked to a bunch of people who had surgery with my surgeon and they're all super happy with their new faces.
I do live in a big city though with a highly demanded surgeon.

[awags]

I was 18 when I first learned of the surgery, and that I'd benefit from it, and I wasn't able to start the process until I was 27, due largely to the financial aspect of it. I knew it was going to be a long road with multiple procedures- April 2010 - SARPE surgery, September 2010, braces went on, December 2011, upper and lower jaw surgery.

My solution... save, save, save. and get good insurance! My insurance (Aetna PPO) was WONDERFUL. We paid a little extra through my husband's employer to get great coverage - insurance paid 90%, we paid 10% and our maximum out of pocket was $1500. What this means is that my upper and lower jaw surgery this past December cost me $1500. My out of pocket cost for orthodontics was $3484 (I'm done paying as of this month), and my SARPE surgery in 2010 was $1500. Total cost is $6484 for surgeries and orthodontics. I also wanted to get some cosmetic work done because my front teeth are discolored due to fluorosis, so I set aside another $10,000 to be able to do that. Because I saved and saved, and had good insurance, these procedures have not caused me to go into debt.

So save, and get good insurance. Good luck!

[latinafey]

This thread was so helpful! I've read posts and this forum, and blogs by jaw surgery patients, and when I try to figure out how they paid for the surgery/braces I see that they're in Canada/Australia/England. I just finished college and it all seems so far away, but I'll be looking for work soon, hopefully I get something at a place with good insurance.

[Lauralee]

I'm just using a payment plan,
I saved up the down payment of $1100
then from now on I give about $190 per month, for 24 months!