Hey everyone I recently got my first letter for surgery I am anticipating my second soon and the third im not sure yet. 

That being said I want to prepare in hopes I can get my insurance to pay for it(fingers crossed) After the letters what do I need to do to prepare myself I know I need electrolysis on my neither regions.  But when do I contact the Dr.? When do I submit the letters? Is there anything I need to do prior to surgery?  I need to loose some weight so surgery is safer for me.  I just want to be ready.  However if my insurance dose not cover it this is moot point for now.  If my insurance only covers part of it, how much have some of you had to pay out of pocket.  I live in IL not sure that matters.

Thank you
Alice

The first step is to determine if your insurance policy will cover it. If so, they will tell you what you need to pay. If insurance will not cover it, you need to figure out how long it will take you to accumulate the required money. As my savings were depleted, it took me about 2.5 years to rebuild my savings and as I needed a buffer, I didn't contact the surgeon until I had the minimum amount saved. With the longer wait times for some surgeons, you might want to contact them earlier. Some doctors may want to see you before setting a surgical date. Once you determine the doctor you wish to use, contact the doctors office to see if you need an advance trip and when you can get your surgery. You can also get hair clearing instruction so you don't waste time and money clearing excessive hair.

If you really want to be prepared, start the hair removal right away. It can take a long time for some people. As far as out-of-pocket cost. Plan on paying whatever your annual out-of-pocket maximum. That's probably what you'll pay.

You really need to start looking at surgeons and make a list of ones you may feel comfortable with and will accept your insurance.
Surgeons requirements can vary quit a bit. Some require hair removal and some don't. Another wide variation is dilation requirements after surgery. Look at recovery procedures, some require sitz baths, others say nothing more than a shower.
Then there is the procedure itself. Most use the penile inversion method or a variation of, but there are other methods.

There are many many things to consider. Gather as much information as you can, you only get to do this once and the more you know/learn about the procedures the happier you'll be with the results.

A US surgeon will probably cost about 30K with all expenses and overseas about 20K (ballpark numbers).

Best of luck, hugs

Waiting lists for consults can be long and then you have to schedule surgery which makes it longer. Don't put off too long getting consults arranged. With insurance, what you pay can vary depending on whether the surgeon is in or out of network.  Your insurance may or may not cover an out of network doctor. My theory on waiting times is, there is a reason for shorter or longer wait times for scheduling. The ones with good reps are gonna be more in demand as a general rule.
Moni

Charley made some great points.

It sounds like you are going to try the insurance path. Your best bet would be to identify the GCS surgeons in your region that are doing GCS surgery in your health network. You'll want to stay in-network if money and insurance are the main factors. Some insurance companies like BCBS will let you travel within the US for surgery, but I understand others may not. Then some limit travel to your particular region.

So first, locate the GCS surgeons in your network and find out what insurance limitations are in place in terms of travel. If you contact an in-network Dr. the first thing they will do is check your insurance to find out if you're covered. They probably won't offer you a consultation if you aren't covered and can't pay cash.

If your insurance gives them the thumbs up, they will then set up a consultation and require all of your documentation from there to get the final insurance approval. It can take days or weeks for the final Insurance approval in the US so don't panic if you don't hear back in a couple days.

Of course, you may discover the surgery requirements vary quite a bit between GRS docs to you'll just have to adhere to their protocols. The bottom line is there are a lot of variations to the process when you are dealing with insurance that you don't run into when you are paying out of pocket. It just comes with the territory.

Thank all of you for your advise, i contacted my insurance to see what they will pay if anything at all, and they are getting back to me tomorrow(fingers crossed) but i am a pessimist at heart lol.  i will make that list that Charley suggested and start contacting them (im just southwest of Chicago not to far. ) unfortunately the girl at the clinic i went to who said she would help navigate everything has not got back to me for some time so i am trying to do as much leg work as possible.  i will defiantly contact the surgeons and ask about hair removal (im not so jazzed about doing that i am extremely private maybe i will take some anti-anxiety med's before i do it).  anyway i got my second letter both from mental health people i just need the one from my HRT Dr.  hopefully i can get my birth certificate amended with just that letter.  Dena i also just depleted my whole savings this past week (car broke down) it may take me years to get there ill keep trying. 

Thank you
Dena
emmaloo
Charley
Moni
I appreciate the help more than you know
Always
Alice