Bariatric Surgery

Weight-Loss Surgery

Welcome to the Brisbane General & Obesity Surgery (BGOS) Family.

We are excited to help you get back on track with your weight-loss journey.

Please follow the pathway using the links below, or as you have been directed.

Revision Bariatric Surgery Pathway

Your pathway to surgery

Patients who have previous had bariatric surgery can have a variety of different problems, and not all of them require surgery to address.

The pathway can therefore be very different between patients therefore a standard step-by-step process cannot be provided.

Important links can be found on this page.

Having surgery is a major step to improve your health and also a costly one.
We recommend that you follow this process to ensure that from a financial point of view you will have the surgery covered.
You will need to complete forms for Informed Financial Consent, Endoscopy and Surgery
Get your blood tests done at a QML or S&N Lab to assess your nutritional status.
A CT Scan and/or Barium Swallow may also have been requested
An endoscopy will likely have been requested or on the cards. If. your surgeon has indicated this is to be done, please arrange this with our rooms.
Please book any appointments with the dietitian and other allied health professionals as directed
You will have a second, and sometimes third or fourth appointment with your surgeon to go over results and finalise a surgical or non-surgical plan

Financials

Review your fee estimate document

Take out private health insurance

We recommend for patients to consider private health insurance when planning to have bariatric surgery. However, there will be a 12 month waiting period because obesity is a “pre-existing condition”.

Insurance comparison sites such as Compare The Market or iSelect might be able to help you to find the best price for insurance cover that is appropriate for you.

Not every health insurance pays providers in the same way, and because of this we recommend to AVOID NIB and FRANK Health Insurance and related polices because of their low rebate amounts and potential for you to have higher out-of-pocket fees to cover costs.

OR

Check your private health cover

Contact your private health insurance fund to check that the item numbers provided on your fee estimate are covered under your health insurance policy. Failure to do so could result in you facing significant financial liability.

As a general rule, all GOLD policies will cover bariatric surgery, unless you have an opt-out clause.

SILVER and BRONZE policies generally do not cover bariatric surgery. There may be instances where historic SILVER-PLUS policies do cover bariatric surgery, but you must check with your health fund.

Using Early Release of Superannuation

We recommend to use Supercare for your Early Release of Superannuation application to make it hassle free. Please let us know if you are happy to use them and we will refer you on to commence your application with them. (We do not receive any financial incentive).

If you do wish to apply for Early Release of Superannuation yourself, you will need to first complete this form as part of our process, to ensure that you understand the implications of withdrawing from your Superannuation early,.