I live in the Northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. I had my VSG on 6-23-11. Used Baker Bariatrics out of Unity Hospital. I have Healthpartners insurance, which I have heard is one of the tougher ones to grant approval. Requires you to be over 40 BMI (I was at 40.2) plus have a chronic medical condition like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc. (I had high blood pressure). Insurance required 4 visits with psychologist, 5 phone consults with a dietician, a couple dietician visits in person, and a couple nurse visits. Took me about 3 months to go thru all that, but actual pre-approval process only took about a week.
The hardest part is waiting thru all those appointments; once you make up your mind to do it, you want it right now!