I got news at work that we would be changing our insurance from BCBS of Arizona to United Health Care on the 1st of Jan. I went to the doc today and found out that they don't accept the new insurance. I live in New Mexico and they are the only lapband office in the state. I am a little scared and concerned but I guess worst comes to worst you go back to them and pay full price assuming you have the money. They said the fills would be $350. I went into day for my first fill but did not get it due to having pain at the port but it is going away and I am feeling better. I would have not got the fill anyways due to the great progress that I have had since my surgery on Nov 4th. They scheduled another one for Dec 29th. Hopefully I will continue doing really well so that I don't need one. I would also be concerned in getting one that close to insurance change incase my body did not agree with the fill and had to have the fill removed after the 1st of the New Year.

I guess I could always go to AZ, CO, TX and find a doc and just use the one locally for emergencies. It would be nice to be able to just ask questions but I am sure they won't do that anyways with out insurance. I will have to talk to them before the new year and see what they have to say.

I have a friend who goes to a clinic in Albuquerque. She had been going to AZ and had been told there was no WLS clinic in NM, but found one in ABQ.

Call United Healthcare and tell them what's going on. Hopefully they can help you find a clinic.

I'm in TX and I have United Healthcare. So far out of all the bariatric surgeons close to me there's only one that won't take it.

I am sure that I will be able to find one out of state. That is going to be a inconvinence for me with the cost of having to fly or drive to my destination. I am more concerned about not having someone locally to talk to or if I need to go in about a situation.

I don't know if it's true but I have heard several people say that most doctors don't take banded patients or want a large sum like $800 up front to establish with a new patient. I won't know till I call.

I would think if you find someone that will take your insurance then they can't legally charge you a large upfront fee. They will only be able to charge what the insurance will allow.

What are your out of network benefits? I know on my UHC they don't cover out of network bariatric fees at all. But they aren't all like that.