erinm51

Last year I went through the process and at the end got turned down by my insurance who said that although I met all the critiria they felt I could loose the weight on my own? I'm trying again now and was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or any ideas. I have united Healthcare choiceplus in Florida. Thanks

Last year when I went through the process my insurance did NOT have a 6 month supervised diet requirement, I just saw online that they changed this. Wow, I'm so frustrated this is going to delay the process even further and seems so pointless as I have been on every diet imaginable over the years including a doctor supervised diet five or so years ago (I lost a buch of weight really fast and put it right back on plus 30lbs). Has anyone had to do this 6 month diet? and what if your BMI drops below 40? Thanks again for any and all advice

Thank You for all the replies! My BMI is 41 so I meet my insurance crieria on that but I will definitly bring up some of my conditions for that list (thanks) and you right I do have a few on there. I did not fight or even call my insurance last year I did not really know you could do that or it would make a difference, but I will do that this time if the turn me down again. Thanks again

Does the surgeon prescribe appetite suppressant for the liquid diet phase?

Hello, I contacted a weight loss surgery center in my area by phone for information on the lap band and the first thing they did was take my insurance and contact information. A few days later they contacted me and told me that my insurance does cover such surgeries and they slated me to attend an orientation. They also said they whould be sending me a link to a video that I must watch (have not yet received the link) and that all of this must be done prior to a consultation. I am ok with doing these things but I was not given any further information on the procedure or the process leading up to or what to expect during and after? I have beed reading on line and on this forum and it sounds like there are a lot a variances but I was hoping some one could explain to me the general process and timeline from orientation to surgury date and beyond. Thanks in advance Erin

Thanks again for all your advice. I went yesterday for my "orientation" it was a one on one with the doctor. I was told that my insurance had already been contacted and that I only needed to get an all clear for sugery from my primary as well as a my history of being over weight for at least the past five years. The doctor told me that there would be a two week liquid pre op diet and that the surgery could happen in as little as 4 weeks from now. I will also have to see a nutritionist (19th) and a pcychiatrist before hand. That is a lot faster than I was expecting wich is great, I suspect that it will go slower than that though. I made a doctors appointment with my pc doc for monday, does any know what exactly I need to ask him for to give to the clinic? The lady at the clinic was not very clear and she was busy so I did not get a chance to ask her. Thanks again for all the help

B-52 thanks for your reply, can you tell me why you might have done the sleeve instead? I will talk to the doctor about all my options as you sugested. Thanks

Thank you for advice, I contacted my insurance as sugested but they really did not give me any further info other than the lap band is a covered under my plan. They told me that they will give further info to my provider and they will discuss with me. The orientation I was going to was cancelled so I will be going to a one on one orientation next week instead. I hope to get a lot more info from them. Thanks again for all the help

Hello, my orientation is with the Tampa weight loss surgery center on the 3rd. It looks like they have 4 doctors there, they said I had to go to the orientation first and then I whould have a doctor consultation. They also have multiple location I will be going to the Tampa location on Habana Ave.

Hello and thank you for all the replies and info. I have my orientation on Jan 3rd in the Tampa area. I hope I will find out then what my insurance will require, I think my bmi is 39 so I might have to meet different requirements than if it was 40 or more via my insurance documents but who knows? Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for all the help

Thanks for the quick replies, I am looking into the lap band but the orientation info I received said that they will be talking about multiple procedures. I will look into the books as well, thanks. At work there are at least 4 other employees who have had the lap band and one who has had the bipass, none of these emplyees work at my same location as me so I don't see them often but they are the ones who sugested the lap band to me. I don't think that any of them had to do a six month doctor assisted diet? but I might not fall under the same catagory as any of them or I might I don't know. I will try and get a hold of one of them to find out how it worked for them with our company. Is the orientation a standard thing?