[steve55]

Yea, I guess I am bummed that I didnt get a little better discounted price for what clearly shows 2 tilting discs. No doubt the bottom plate of the top disc is sinking to the right, its quite obvious, yet oddly enough, they didnt even mention that one. Ill see what Peloza says about that top disc next friday. Again, not necessarily Dr B's fault and I still think he is a great surgeon and I appreciate he spent 6.50 hours on my surgery and he took the time to really make sure all my nerves were freed up. But gosh, I guess ya all are right, you'd think I would have gotten a little better break on the price given the circumstances. Oh well, I guess not.

Anyways, I spoke to the Humana rep today and she seems to believe that as long as we prove medical necessity, she thinks they will cover both the removal and the fusion. She didnt seem to think that the fact I had ADR's (a non approved procedure) would affect their decision to cover both the removal and fusion if its medically necessary. If she is right, then I have a good chance at either going out of network with a$6K deductible (which she said would apply if I went to Br B in germany) or staying in network with only a $2,000 deductible.

My out of network options would be:
Dr B -I still very much trust him , but ughh, I really dont want to deal with travel again. Too much hassle, connecting flights, crappy food, no freakin TV to watch (Ill go nuts watching CNN Europe or whatever that one channel is for 2-3 weeks), lots of extra expenses etc. Only positive is DR B's heavy experience with revision surgeries, I presume??. Will still consider him for sure.

Dr Peloza -My previous doc who treated me all this time before I went to Dr B and he is in the same class of surgeons as Delmarter, Regan, Biton etc. He is local. BUT, dont know how many revisions he has done though.

Dr Regan - Experienced revision surgeon right?

Dr Delmarter - NOt sure of his revision experience, anyone want to tell me?


My one in network option would be Dr Biton in NY (only $2K deductible) -not sure of his revision experience either. However, one person here did say Dr Biton seems to have done many ADR revisions. So, at this time Im leaning towards going with him if he has the experience Im looking for and if I can get Humana pre approval. It would be nice to stay local with Dr Peloza, and I would have a local follow up, but the extra $4,000 deductible difference is alot. I get free travel on Delta since my dad is a retired delta pilot so the cost of flying to see any of these surgeons for follow ups would be limited.

If it turns out that these US docs dont have extensive ADR revison experience, Ill probably just go back to Dr B to be safe. Experience is most important with these things.