How to Get Your Health Insurance to Pay for Your Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy By Kelly Morris, eHow Member User-Submitted Article A vertical sleeve ga

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December 1, 201015 yr

How to Get Your Health Insurance to Pay for Your Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

By food that a person can eat. In addition, the part of the stomach that is removed is the part of the stomach that produces the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates feelings of hunger. Removing that part of the stomach reduces the appetite. It is an effective treatment for morbid obesity, but it is very expensive.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1Call your sleep apnea, diabetes, or high blood pressure. You may also have to have a documented history of obesity going back several years. There may be other requirements, as well.
5Study the criteria your insurance company sends you and see if you meet the criteria. Contact your doctor if necessary to make sure your medical records document a history of obesity.
6Talk to you doctor about which weight loss surgery would best meet your needs. Or better yet, make an appointment with a bariatric surgeon to discuss which surgery would best meet your needs. Specifically, talk about the vertical sleeve gastrectomy and why you feel that surgery would be best for you.
7Have your doctor or surgeon write a letter to your insurance company explaining why the vertical sleeve gastrectomy would be more appropriate for you than lap band or gastric bypass. For instance, you can expect to lose more of your excess weight with vertical sleeve gastrectomy than with lap band. The vertical sleeve gastrectomy also has lower rates of complication than lap band or gastric bypass. If you currently have Iron deficient anemia, gastric bypass might not be right for you since it causes malabsorption of Vitamins and minerals and you are already low on iron. If you have arthritis or another condition that requires you to take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), gastric bypass would not be appropriate for you because gastric bypass patients are not supposed to take NSAIDS due to the increased risk of ulcers. Have your doctor clearly explain why the vertical sleeve gastrectomy is the best procedure for you, and send scientific date to back it up.
8Your insurance company may initially deny your request. If that happens, you should appeal. There is no guarantee that you will be able to get them to cover your vertical sleeve gastrectomy, but many people have been successful in getting theirs covered with persistence and diligence.