Surgery upcoming. Please help me understand insurance.

Hello, I am getting hernia surgery in 2 weeks. I have insurance through my employer. It’s the first time I’ve had employer insurance in many moons.

I called my insurance company (Anthem Blue Cross). She said my deductible is $1800. My insurance won’t pay anything whatsoever til the $1800 deductible is met.

For example, I had to see my doctor for a referral for the hernia surgery. I was charged $233 for this. The insurance doesn’t cover any of it.

Ok…. now to the important stuff.

The insurance person told me that once I reach my $1800 deductible, my insurance will pay 90% of the surgery costs.

I have a friend who considers herself an expert on everything. But it seems she’s wrong about everything she’s every told me. She said, that health insurance DOESN’T work like this, and they’re NOT going to pay 90% after my deductible.

But specialist who works at Anthem stated quite clearly that Anthem will cover 90% of my hernia costs after I reach my deductible.

I don’t want any financially devastating surprises. Plus help me understand.

Given this information, what do you think my actual bill for the hernia surgery will be? I only make 31K a year, with only few thousand in savings.

The Anthem rep also said max out of pocket is $2800, although don’t understand what that means.