joan williams
I originally contacted Dr.Lonner because of extreme pain. I originally had scoliosis surgery when I was 17 with a different doctor. I am now 58. I have had multiple spinal surgeries since for different reasons. I have been in constant extreme pain for years , I go to pain management regularly. I have had epidural injections and nerve blocks but nothing seems to alleviate the pain for more than three weeks. I have seen an orthopedic surgeon and a neurologist who both said they would not even consider touching my spine surgically. I was very hopeful when I first contacted their office. The staff was nice and told me my tele visit would cost 400.00. I was fine with that. I filled out all the paperwork and they ordered another cat scan. They received my insurance information when they had to get approval for my cat scan in October. Fast forward to December and I had my consultation with Dr.Lonner. He was extremely pleasant, seemed knowledgeable and went through my test results with me. He thoroughly explained what he thought we should do which was another scoliosis surgery because of the instability in my spine. He believes that is what is causing my extreme pain. He said we should schedule the surgery ASAP. He said he would pass the information on to his team so we could schedule surgery. The next day I received a call from his office stating that I would have to pay $50,000 out of pocket to proceed with scheduling because they do not participate with my insurance. I explained that my insurance is trying to get approval for Dr.Lonner because they do not have any surgeons in plan for scoliosis surgery. The office staff told me it doesn't matter. Even if my insurance approves him, they will not accept it and even if I pay up front they will not submit the surgery billing to my insurance. I went from being so happy to find help, to so angry and frustrated that it fell apart. It would have been nice if they told me back in October when they received my insurance information that I would have to pay up front and they wouldn't submit my insurance . I am so disappointed. Please have them check your insurance beforehand, because the girl I spoke with said Dr. Lonner stopped all insurance participation in April of 2025. I wish I could go forward with treatment because I live in constant pain, but $50,000 up front plus hospital costs is not something I can afford.