Tips For Those With Kaiser Permanente Insurance In Or Near Denver, Colorado

[COsleeveDude 273]

1. Check your insurance policy. It will say whether weight loss/bariatric surgery is covered or not, and if it is what it will cost you out of pocket. For example, in my policy is it listed under Surgical Procedures in Section 5b.
   
   You can also call customer service at the number on the back of your card and ask them what your policy says about weight loss surgery.
   
2. Schedule an appointment with your Primary Care Physician (PCP).
   
   
3. Ask them to please refer you to Nutrition Services to be considered for for weight loss surgery.
   
   
4. They will probably mail you some forms to fill out and return. Then they will send you a letter. If you qualify you will be on the program waitlist.
   
   
5. Unless they pick up the pace you will wait 6+ months to get into the pre-surgery program.
   
6. You will have 8 weeks of classes plus blood work, program specialist and psych visits, etc.
   
   
7. If you pass the classes you will be scheduled to meet for final checkoffs with psych, pre-op bloodwork/physical, and finally to meet with your surgeon of choice.
   
   You'll also have to do either a 3-day or 14-day pre-surgery diet. I'd recommend the 3-day, so lose some weight before and/or during the 8-week program, that way you're more likely, but not guaranteed, to get the 3-day diet vs. the 14-day diet.
   
8. You will get to choose from one of two surgeons: Dr. Husain or Dr. Chae. I chose Dr. Chae, but I have heard good things about both surgeons. The differences: one is female, the other male. One is younger, the other a little older and probably has more bariatric surgeries under his belt. One doesn't use a post-surgery drain tube (from what I've heard), the other does (from what I experienced).
   
   Ask for details so you can make an informed decision that you are comfortable with. Maybe you feel comfortable with a surgeon of the same gender as you. The choice is yours.
   
9. My surgery was at Saint Joseph Hosptial in Denver. Yours probably will be as well.
   
   NOTE: When they discharge you, make sure they send you home with prescriptions for pain (probably liquid Lortab), nausea, acid reduction (acid reducer/PPI), and blood thinners (if you need them after you are discharged, I didn't. This seems to vary based on your condition, medical history, etc.). Have your family or friend fill them before you are discharged so you don't have to stop on the way home. You might not need the pain meds to mask unbearable pain, but they are great for a couple/few days after discharge if for nothing else than to ween off the morphine drip and to help you get some sleep.< br />
   
10. If all goes well, you'll get your surgery. My plan covers sleeve. Apparently some don't, but most people I was in groups with had the option. Depends on what your policy covers, I guess.
    
    
11. The bottom line is, the wait and process is long but well worth it. It took me almost a year to get through the entire waitlist and pre-surgery stuff. Be patient, but if four or five months passes on the waitlist and you don't get a call, be proactive and call Nutrition Services to ask where you are on the waitlist.
    
    
12. If you need to contact Nutrition Services directly:
    Kaiser Permanente offers gastric bypass, vertical sleeve gastrectomy and adjustable gastric banding (also know as the Lap Band) procedures. Not all benefit plans cover weight loss surgery. Please call 303-788-1154 for more information. http://www.kphealthy...for-adults.aspx
    

[Heyher 581]

Whew so thankful I don't have Kaiser any more. Not that UHC is a dream. But the docs at the Lakewood Kaiser office off alameda were horrible. I was trying to get a referral for the neurologist for my ms. Took them 3 months to send the referral to the neurologist. But if I called either there was no referral associated with my member number or the pcp was working on it or blah blah blah.

[COsleeveDude 273]

Whew so thankful I don't have Kaiser any more. Not that UHC is a dream. But the docs at the Lakewood Kaiser office off alameda were horrible. I was trying to get a referral for the neurologist for my ms. Took them 3 months to send the referral to the neurologist. But if I called either there was no referral associated with my member number or the pcp was working on it or blah blah blah.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have nothing but good things to say about Kaiser Lakewood. They have always been responsive and fast with referrals to specialists for me.