Yorkie_Luv

Also wanted to add that I had my first appt. with my surgeon (that Tricare approved me for) on Nov. 18 so that's when I started doing all the tests, etc. just to give you an idea of a time frame. I am in Maryland and my surgeon is Denis Halmi in Arlington, VA. They had no openings on base at Walter Reed....thank God!!! :whoo:

Oh Gosh, I didn't mean to make my post misleading. I haven't been banded yet. :omg: I am in pre-approval. The insurance coordinator at my surgeons office submitted all of my tests and paperwork to Tricare and that is when Sue from Tricare called her and said that I need the letter from my on-base PCM. I'm just waiting for that and then should have an approval. I totally qualify according to Tricare. I have a 39.9 BMI with several comorbidities. The insurance lady at the surgeons office said that I needed those things BEFORE an approval so she had me go ahead and do them. If you have questions...call Sue at Tricare Medical Management...not the CS bozo's that answer at Tricare...they are clueless! So sorry if I mislead you all and got you all excited! I hope to be banded in Jan. though! :clap2:

The requirements that I had to do for Tricare for LapBand were; a nutritionist eval, a psych eval, a TSH level test (blood test to check thyroid), a H-Pylori test (blood test to check for stomach ulcers), and a letter from my PCM saying that I am cardio and pulmonary wise healthy for the surgery. I had no problem getting any of that and had it all done within 2 weeks. Here was the snag....I've been on Tricare Standard for a year and switched back to Prime (just effective Jan. 1) so that I wouldn't have much out-of-pocket for the surgery. I had all the letters and tests done under Standard so now I have to go on base to my new PCM, but just to get a letter about the cardio/pulmonary things. All my other tests and letters are acceptable. Tricare covers the band whether you are Prime or Standard, but since I switched in the "middle" they had to throw in a kink in my otherwise smooth process!

Thanks Minpinmom! That was what I wondering. Leave it to Tricare to make the dates confusing. Oh well, so glad they changed it!

This is the best news! :clap2: The insurance lady at my surgeons office told me that they were about to approve it, but she thought it would be after the first of the year. I've already done all the things that Tricare requires for the surgery, now I just gotta wait for the surgeons office to call back with my final approval.....yippee! :whoo: Can someone tell me how to navigate through that manual. The way I read it, it said LapBand effective Feb. 2007...Huh??