I saved enough to have the sleeve done, but am concerned about the cost of potential complications.

You need to select a surgeon who uses BLIS. It is complication insurance for self-pay patients. The price for the policy is built in to our self-pay price. I agree with Dr. Schmitt. Any patient would be crazy to use a surgeon who doesn't offer complication insurance. I don't care how good he or she says they are. We are all human and not perfect.Search the internet and contact BLIS. They can direct you to a BLIS surgeon.

Recommend finding a surgeon that participates in BLIS or a similar type of complication protection. This cost depends on what type of complication and the timeline of the coverage. Consult with a qualified surgeon and his or her office staff should be able to help you. 

You should be concerned. If you pay for an operation and then have complications, your insurance will not step in and pay for the complications of an operation that they did not pay for. They will be your responsibility and for that reason, I cannot image why anyone would take that financial risk and use a surgeon who does not offer complication protection. In our practice, complication insurance is included in the package price and it covers complications up to 3 months post op and up to $50,000. 

This is one of the most important questions you could ask in the self-pay scenario.  Let me preface by saying that MOST OF MY PRACTICE is bariatric surgery on patients without insurance coverage for bariatric surgery... so this is a question I commonly get.  BLIS is indeed a program that will cover complications, but it is expensive.  In addition, surgeons that use the program are required to use it on every patient they operate on.  It would add several thousand dollars to the cost of every operation.I chose not to use the program for that reason.  It just costs too much.  Besides, many patients have insurance that doesn't cover bariatric surgery, but will cover the cost of complications.  So these patients would be wasting their money.Our self-pay package for a sleeve gastrectomy is $11,200.  That covers hospital, anesthesia, and surgeon fees.  There are no extras.  If you have to stay a few days extra, there's no extra charge.  If you need a blood transfusion (very rare), there's no extra charge.  On the other hand, if you have to go back to the operating room, you will get an extra bill from anesthesia as well as the hospital.  I don't like when this happens and I negotiate with the hospital to keep the costs down, but it could go as high as another $10,000.  Fortunately this has never happened.  But it might.The best advice, of course, is to get a job with good insurance that covers bariatric surgery.  Failing that, find a surgeon you trust, lose some weight before the operation to reduce your risk, and then go for it.  In the hands of an experienced surgeon, the chance of having an expensive complication is well under 1%.

First, follow your surgeon's instructions to the letter. Second, you might consider getting a supplemental insurance for a brief period of time that would cover complications should they arise - consider an Obama-care type policy, or talk to some health insurance agent to get a policy..Third, some surgeons have an additional policy for weight loss operations that allow them to offer extra coverage - however, often this is NOT enough for the most severe complications of gastric leak.