Hi Karen,
I had my hip done by Dr. Gross in June, and would highly recommend he and his team. Here are a couple of responses to your questions.
I flew all the way from Idaho, which involved going through four airports. I would suggest that you consider asking the airlines to have wheel chair assistance waiting for you. You can always decline it if you are feeling strong, but it is sure nice if you have a long trek through an airport.
I did have out of state BS, and it has gone well, after a few initial glitches. Some of the bills were not submitted correctly, and were originally turned down as being out of network. If I remember correctly, they incorrectly submitted the bills directly to my state, which did not show them as being in network, and made only a partial payment. When I had them resubmit through the local BS, it showed as in-network, and was covered by my home-state policy. There were some other issues about mis-coding, etc., but at this point, it looks as though it has all worked out. Be sure to check with Dr. Gross's office about a couple of items on his bill that are not normally covered. They have you sign off about being aware of this before surgery, but you might want to be clear about it sooner.
If I had to choose again, there is no question that I would return to Dr. Gross and his team.
John