I have my first consultation appt 4/18; I'm really nervous about my window of opportunity here since I'm losing my insurance end of May. I've already verified with my insurance they will cover it. I will be applying for Medicaid once this insurance runs out so I'd hate to have to go through the whole process of verifying again if I don't have to. I'm going to one of the two required weight loss support groups tonight. What, if anything, can I do or schedule ahead of time to help speed the process? Thanks!

I have my first consultation appt 4/18; I'm really nervous about my window of opportunity here since I'm losing my insurance end of May. I've already verified with my insurance they will cover it. I will be applying for Medicaid once this insurance runs out so I'd hate to have to go through the whole process of verifying again if I don't have to. I'm going to one of the two required weight loss support groups tonight. What, if anything, can I do or schedule ahead of time to help speed the process? Thanks!

I had a friend with the same problem. She talked to her doctor and told him that she had to have the surgery before the end of the year. She had her surgery with in a month. They want you to get the surgery so if they know that is the only way you can get it, then they might speed it up a little. Good Luck. Check out my lap band blog. http://biscuitsandexcuses.blogspot.com/

Noki,

Sorry to say but depending on who your provider is 2 months time may be inadequate time to qualify for the procedure. A for instance, some insurance providers require a 3-6 month supervised diet for example.

However, if you are fortunate enough to not have to deal with that stickler, let your dr know on your very first meeting the urgency to get through all your education, tests etc and allot enough time for approval. This means you need to be prepared to commit to a open schedule so you can get labs, nutrition counseling, and tests (ranging from sleep studies, psych consult, cardiac test etc whatever your insur. and dr. requires). I hope this helps. Unfortunately your dr has to take the lead because every dr and insur. provider require different results so it would be unfair to advise you to get a, b, and c tests ahead of time.

In my first meeting with my surgeon (Jan. 8) I asked him what the time frame was going forward and he said I could have surgery in as little as 3-4 weeks (Early Feb.) if I got all of my outside appointments in order (because he requires a 2 week pre-op diet). If you're diligent and let him know of your window of opportunity and your insurance doesn't require a doctor-guided diet beforehand you can probably make it work.

looks like I'll be able to have the surgery end of May!!!!!

I'm having mine the end of May too!!