momotrips3

You will be glad to have it done in one surgery. It cuts the risk in half of everything that's dangerous about a hospital such as anaesthesia risk, nosocomial infections, and especially heart attacks after seeing that hospital bill!😁 And only having to recover once is nice, also. I had my band removed and the bypass done in one step and I'm glad my surgeon does it that way.

I actually have UHC Choice not Choice Plus. I’ve heard so many good things about the process with Choice Plus, so I’m hoping regular Choice isn’t too different. Plus really just hoping the five year history doesn’t screw me over... but it sounds like most people haven’t had issues with the history requirement with UHC!

Gahhh I hope it only takes them 4 days for me lol. I’m hoping to get an April date!

I have UHC Choice Plus as well! However, the insurance isn’t requiring me to do the 6 months at all. The only requirement really is being morbidly obese or 50% greater than your ideal body weight. My paperwork gets submitted after my March 3rd appointment with the psych. I hope everything goes well for you!!

So I have UHC choice plus. They told me over the phone that they required the 5 year weight history, 6 month diet visits and so on. But I went and looked at the policy online and saw that they had revised their policy and guidelines at the end of the year this past year. In the revised policy, there was no 6 month diet needed and no mention of the 5 year history. So I called again to verify that and they told me no, that I needed the 6 months diets and blah blah blah. So..... I saw my surgeon for the first time to get this all started on dec 27. The nurse told me she would just send in for the prior auth and see what they came back with. When she sent in for the prior auth, all she had was my 1 office visit with them, my psych eval and that was it! I got approved in 4 days.
Yes, it has to be at a center of excellence facility and you do have to have a psych eval, but @momotrips3 and @Deemarie1221 I would strongly recommend requesting they just send in the prior auth once you have those. At least they will tell you for sure sure what they need for approval.
the nurse at my surgeon’s office told me that sometimes policy changes and that new info doesn’t get passed down to all of the customer service representatives but the people who are actually approving or denying should know what they are doing.
anyways This is just my experience and hope this helps!

I have UHC Choice Plus and have just chosen my surgeon and started scheduling the various appointments required, thus starting that six month insurance clock. From everything I have researched and been told by the Bariatric Center, BadWolfGirl is correct. I have had the same information and instructions. I must meet monthly for Weight Management Classes where we weigh in and can't gain any weight and try to lose, do a Psych eval, get a cardiac release from my Cardiologist, meet several times with a Nutritionist (I can't remember how many, but may pay for some extras, because I am f-ing serious about this), get some records from my Pulmonologist re: sleep apnea/ my biPap, i am having a lapband removed and revised to RNY, so I may have a couple extra requirements - that is not 100% set, yet. I haven't had to deal with Optum yet. My Bariatric Center has been around for years here in Houston and I have confidence in them. I hope that confidence is not misplaced. It's a good size practice in a large city in the Houston Medical Center, so they had better know! So, I have not been told that I need to document my weight other than the six month period - I could if they just need a number recorded annually from a doctor.
I have never had any issues with UHC in the past for other things, so don't anticipate any going forward. The worst that has happened is that UHC has cut ties with a large hospital system in Houston and half of my doctors are employed through that system. Sigh. Both called the other's bluff and unless they come to terms in a couple months, I need some new docs. Surgeon is fully covered, thank God.

@momotrips3 Triplets!!! Goodness, that must've been hard on you. The pregnancy itself was the worst part IMO, after having had one already. The weight of them, the unbearable thirst, restless legs, relentless brain fog, falling asleep everywhere, cravings while battling gestational diabetes, the hip and pelvic pain, back pain, ugh... I could go on and on. Raising twins is a cakewalk in comparison 😅 the birth and pregnancy left me in terrible shape. I walk with a bad limp and my back, hips, and pelvis still hurt a lot. I did PT for my pelvic floor and that helped my inner thigh pain but I think dropping a bunch of weight will help with the rest.
I'm with you, I like the idea of not being able to absorb all the calories I eat and even the dumping syndrome sounds nice... I'd love to hate eating sugar. I probably won't do a surgery for a while since I have a lot going on right now (planning to sell our house, change jobs, and move to a city 1.5 hours away from where we are now). I'd like to see a surgeon to get a timeline though. I don't know what pre-op things I'd need to do before getting approval if I've already got a lap band.
Good luck to you! I'll be interested to follow your journey!

Me too! It was Lap Bank Talk, then Banded Together, I think. We had lots of fun, actually.

Congrats! You're almost halfway to goal! Keep up the good work.

Yes, the bypass is much better for people who have GERD. I'm happy your niece has had such a great outcome with her RNY! You will do well with this too, especially since you have a family member who's been through it to help you. Keep us posted!

I had my first bad experience today telling someone. I haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret at work since it’s basically impossible with the gossip mill there. The office manager came up to me and asked me if I was having surgery. I told him yes. He then asked what for. So I told him. He replied “is that going to do anything”.
I mentally throat punched him and said yes.
He chuckled.
I mentally kicked him in a not very nice place.
I chuckled.
Then I was saved by another coworker and escaped him lunacy.
Good times.

Next person that asks I’m telling I’m having a hernia repaired I swear.
LOL