I have never had medicaide but I have medicare and went through most of what you are talking about here. I believe the law has changed to 35 bmi but there I had no problem. I had to go through 6 months diet, a nutritionist, and a psychologist. When you do to the seminar they will tell you what your insurance will cover. I know here in VA some of the Surgeons will not even see you until you have all the other parts done.

I also have Medicare and had no problem. In fact, I went to my first seminar on December 15th and I was banded less than a month later on January 6th. No waiting period or anything.

I also got banded with Medicare. Only needed 1 comorbitity (HTN) and didn't have a waiting period at all. In fact, I had my seminar on Sep 15th, saw the nutritionist and psych on Sep 20th and was banded on Oct 1st. I wish I had done more research before tho. Not that I'm not happy with my 104 lb loss - I am. I wish I knew then that until my band was adjusted properly (about 5 mths) I wouldn't lose any weight. I thought it would magically come off.

Just wanted to let you know that I was Medicare also and I had no waiting period. This was in OR - but I don't think it matters for Medicare

Marci

I have medicaid and was approved in 3 weeks. I have two comorbidies of type two diabetes and high cholestorol. hope this helps.

I also have medicaid in Ohio (Caresource) and am being covered - doing my 9 months now. But I also wanted to add that if your BMI is over 50, you only need one comorbidity according to my doctor and my surgeon's paperwork.

Thanks for posting this, I know I was really confused about this stuff when I first started thinking about WLS.

Mis73 I thought u said in another post that Medicaid wasn't covering it anymore? Now you HAVE Medicare? Hmmmm....anyway, I have Medicaid and live in Connecticut and I had to do the 6 month weigh ins ....all in all everything took me almost a year...I had to do many many tests as well. Dietitian wasn't covered though I had to pay for that. It took less than a week for me to get approved...and I'm now scheduled for February 8th!! But I am glad that it took as long as it did, because it gave me more time to think about this and research and now I'm more ready than I ever was...and have been exercising and lost weight too! !

Thank you all for your responses and posts. All these comments will help others that are in our situation. I know that requirements vary from state to state, so it is so great that you have posted your experiences. When I started my Journey, I was confused and unsure where to start and was told that medicaid does not cover WLS. Congrats to all that are beginning their journey, and same to those that have had the WLS.