budinindy

Jdsmith71….I’m pre-surgical…so I cannot answer your port questions…but I’d be happy to share my insurance experience. First…in answer to your question of time for approval, the short answer is: it depends on your provider. Each one has a different approval process and set of criteria, so the process could be simple…or a real pain in the backside. For me…the process started a year ago. I contacted my insurance company (I’ll call them company “A” as I do not know the forum rules of naming companies…either positively or negatively. Anyway…company A said I had to go through an 18 month physician supervised diet and exercise program…with all associated costs for visits, test, etc. 100% my responsibility. The fact that the previous year I had dieted and documented my weight loss was not enough…it had to be documented in my medical records and physician supervised. Fortunately for me, my employer allows us to change our benefits every fall for the next year. We were given three provider options…so I contacted them to inquire about bariatric approval. Company “B” said I either had to have a 6 month physician supervised diet and exercise regimen in my record from the last two years or I could participate in a 3 month pre-surgical regimen of diet, exercise, support, education, etc. So I chose company “B” and met with my (soon to be) surgeon the second week of Jan. For the last 5-6 months…I’ve jumped through every hoop…performed every pre-surgical requirment...met with every person…procured every piece of info from the last 5 yrs…all in an effort to get approval. I submitted my package (about 235 pages of info) on May 24th…and received approval on June 6th. The process in all honestly with my current company has been pretty painless…just time consuming. All I can suggest is to not to give them an excuse to say no….and not to get discouraged. I had to track down physician records from two different doctors who had moved to new practices. But…I needed records for the past 5 yrs (I gave them 7! J) As someone from the surgery center told me at the beginning…don’t give up! I hope this helps. Take care and have a good evening. Bud In Indy.

Good Afternoon. Not sure where to start…as this is my first post…but I wanted to say “Thank You”. You see…I found your forum just last week…as I was searching for info b/c I was feeling a little unsure and nervous my decision. After jumping through all the “hoops”…I received my insurance approval for Lap Band last week. My surgery date is not yet set…but I suspect it will be in mid August. After finally getting approval… an old thought came back into my mind…will I really have a chance to succeed w/ the Lap Band…or do I need to consider the RNY?? My concerns stems from the same experience many of you I suspect have had…yo-yo dieting success/failure...and the loss of will to “try one more time” that comes with it. I just wanted to know that if I do this…as I only have one shot…that I’m making the right choice with the Lap Band. So…I guess I should apologize now…as I tend to be verbose…so I’m sorry if I’m rambling. Anyway…I’m 38yrs old…5’6”…and currently about 285#. In my adult life…I have focused and dieted…and lost at least 60# maybe 12 times…with three of those times being over 100#. And every time…well you know the story. A year ago…after gaining most of weight back from a previous year’s big loss…my wife insisted that I needed to go buy some clothes…as I had nothing I could wear. As with many of you I’m sure…clothes shopping is one of the worst life experiences I have. Anyway…when I agreed and did so…my wife saw something…I don’t know exactly what…but I think for the first time she got it and understood how much of an issue my weight was to me…and how unhappy I was with myself because of it…and how my self image issues were the prism through which I viewed the world. It was at that moment she brought up the idea of bariatric surgery. (As she put it..."I just want you to love yourself as much as everyone else loves you.") After several discussions and research…we decided he Lap Band was the way to go due to a number of reasons…but mostly b/c it is the least evasive and that my main issue is portion control. Since then…I’ve had two doctors…one the psychologist doing my evaluation and the other the physician who oversaw my sleep study…both question why I was doing the Lap Band instead of the RNY. When I explained al of my reasons…both suggested I was making the wrong decision (esp. the psychologist…vehemently I might add) and that I should re-evaluate…as my chances for success w/ the Lap Band are substantially less than the RNY. So now for 5 months…I have been questioning my choice. I didn’t want to go thru this and lose only 10-20#...when my personal goal is to get below 200# (and more if I can). I just needed to know that there was a legitimate chance of hitting my goal with the Lap Band. So I searched for info on the Internet and for every positive stat…I’d find a negative one. Not knowing what the agenda was for those posting information on the Internet…I just had to take what I read with a grain of salt…but this realization added little to my comfort level. Then I found this forum…and have read about the successes…and the encouragement…and even some of the problems/issues…but mostly how Lap Band has changed lives. This information was not coming from web sites trying to get you to do what they want…but from people who have…who are living with the Lap Band. I am happy to say I’m no longer questioning my choice of Lap Band…b/c from what I have read here…I know Lap Band will give me that legitimate chance…the rest is up to me. Anyway….I just wanted to say Thank You to those responsible for creating this forum and for those of you who post information and insights. This forum has given me hope and encouragement. I have some questions about things/expectations and such…but I’ll do some more reading before I post them just to see if I can find the answers with boring you more. I also promise that my future posts wil be shorter. Again…thank you. Bud In Indy.