After the surgical team and hospital are secured, the mundane—yet crucial—pieces of the process need to come together, and this includes insurance  preauthorization. That’s right. She must be darn sure that the doctors and hospital (never assume the doctors and hospital are together) she has selected are approved for coverage (or in the network) under her health plan. Usually the doctor’s office staff are well versed in this and equipped to get the paperwork together for the insurance company. The burden to do so, however, is not on them, but on her, so make sure she fills out all the forms needed to get the operation into the insurer’s system. Failure to do so could result in delay, or even cancellation, of the surgery. Or, the surgery could go forward, and the insurance company might then refuse to pay the bills because the medical procedures were not authorized. The latter, indeed, could prove to be a financial disaster. More people go bankrupt owing to an inability to pay medical bills than for any other reason, including mortgage foreclosures, car loans, and credit card debt.