cella

I have group insurance but I have health net HMO. I would think a HMO would be easy to get as an indiviual plan. It took me less than 2 months to get an approval and surgery date. As long as you have a bmi of 40 or over you are good to go if you are under 40 bmi you have to have 2 comorbidities. All insurance plans are clear whether they cover bariatric surgery or not. I would just ask specifically for the bariatric coverages so that your crystal clear.

I also had the same problem but my surgeon said the weight that i initially started at which was the first appt. with my surgeon is the weight they go by. I lost about 14 lbs by myself the month of the surgery but all was ok and went as planned. I was banded Aug 19th and have lost 22lbs I have not had a fill yet so it is all worth the hoop jumping that they sometimes make you go through. My first fill is 9/26/08.

I was banded aug.19th and today was my first day back to work. I brought with me yogurt, cream soup, I also had cream of wheat with pureed banannas or even babyfood and I also got these drinks from bolthouse farms they are soy protein and each 8oz has 10g of protein they are really great tasting perfectly protein vanilla chai is my favorite they taste great and with your band you are not that hungry at all I have lost 4lbs ind 6 days.You can find them next to the odwalla drinks in your grocery store. The pain wasn't so bad but i would stay in bed for at least 3 days you will be suprised how much you actually use your stomach muscles throughout the day. I am happier than ever that I got my band loving life and loving my band.

I totally understand i got my surgery date yesterday after only 1 month and 3 1/2 weeks of dr appts and all the other stuff that you have to do. I can't believe it went so quickly and my insurance is paying for it. I will be banded on Aug 19th at 7:15 Am wooooohooooo. I was screaming in the car after the dr appt. Two months and 9 days from my first dr appt inquiring about the lap band till the sugery date that has to be a record time!!!!!! I can't even think straight I am so excited!!! Good luck to you

I have my preop appt tommorow at 9 am and I can't stop smiling. I was just wondering if anybody has went through s.a.l.s.a in roseville specifically Dr. Waldrep how many days,weeks was the surgery scheduled from your preop appt. I am really hoping to get banded in August. If he said come on in tomorrow I would be there no problem...:w00t:wishful thinking:lol:

Dr. Marasigan in elkgrove, Ca his # is 916-685-7500

I live in sac but i am having my lap band done in roseville by dr. waldrep.I have healthnet hmo with the sutter indepedent group and I have heard wonderful things about him and he really believes in the WLS is a tool that can help you, very personable!!

why don't you change dr's? If you do it before the 15th you can see your new dr Aug 1st Are you in sac i can give you my drs name. Im with sutter independent.

oh I forgot another thing I know who my dr. is for my lap band ,I picked the office dr. waldrep in roseville. I told my pcp who i wanted to go to and that was that no problems. Is your pcp in favor of wls or do you think they are making it a little difficult for you?

I have health net hmo and i am in sacramento. My pcp did not require any type of diet he just put in the request for the consultation with a lab band dr. about 2 weeks later I got the approval dr. office called me to mailme patient registration paperwork, I filled it out got a call from the lap band office 3 days after I mailed in my forms. That was July 11 I got the call they sent me to a group sppt meeting for 7/12/08 and a appt with the dr on 7/21/08. I went to the sppt meeting at sutter roseville on 7/12/08 part of the requirement and i am waiting for my appt. for 7/21/08 to see what else I have to go through but I think that it is going fairly quick for me. I have heard that health net does notrequire a 6 month diet and I asked the lapband office and they said that was correct no 6 month diet required I think your pcp doctor is making you do that themselves.

When I started this process I was 267 and I am 5"6 that was about 2 months ago. I am now at 242 I thought I would get a jump on the weight loss but now I am under 40 Bmi and Healthnet HMO will only approve Bmi 40 or over with no comorbiodities or 39 and under with 2 co morbidities. I have no comorbidities.I just got the call from the doctor for my group meeting tommorow and my appt with the surgeon on July 21st. Thank goodness I asked what happens if I lose more weight before I get with the surgeon on July 21st she said more than likely they would not approve me. I am really bummed that I have to stop losing weight on my own and I might have to put on 3-5 lbs to be at a 40 BMI. Has anyone heard of this? or gone through this, it just seems that this is a little a**backwards to me!!:confused2::thumbup:

Hi , I have Healthnet HMO and I went to my primary doctor to be referred and he sent it out and about 2 weeks later I got the approval for consultation and the group meeting. I thought that was fairly quick!! Healthnet does not require the 6 month pre op diet Yay! I think my process will be alot quicker than others. I did call my doctors office once a week. I will tell you that I just found out that if you have a bmi of 40 or more it pretty much approved but if it goes under 40 bmi you also have to have 2 comorbidties. I started to lose weight on my own and now i have to stop because i will be under 40. sucks I was really excited about my weight loss.Hope this helps