Hello all.

I finally made the decision and started the process.

2/14/11: Verified with Saint Luke's Center for Surgical Weight Loss that my insurance would cover their program

2/15/11: Attended St. Luke's Seminar

2/23/11: Attended first pre-op Dr. appointment. Sandy explained that I would need a 1) sleep study, 2) appointment with their nutrionist and exercise specialist to begin a three month supervised diet/exercise program, 3) psych eval, 4) letter of medical clearance from my GP, and 5) copies of notes from any doctor I saw in 2009 and 2010 showing my current weight. I would also need to attend at least one support group meeting. My appointments for the psych eval and diet/exercise specialists were set. I briefly met Dr. Price.

2/24/11: I received a call from the St. Luke's Sleep Lab to schedule my sleep study.

2/27/11: Completed sleep study.

2/28/11: Received call from UHC. They explained that my policy does not cover Saint Luke's Center for Surgical Weight Loss . In addition, my policy requires a 6 month medically supervised diet.

You might imagine my reaction to this news. I was devestated and furious at St. Luke's for assuring me that my insurance would cover everything when they clearly had NO IDEA.

2/28/11: Reserved a spot in the upcoming seminar (3/7/11) at the only local program my insurance does cover, The Bariatric Center of Kansas City at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. All I can do now is wait to see what my earlier mistakes will cost me and try to move forward despite them.

It's a mess, totally. And Jan didn't call me on Friday, so I still feel like it is all very much up in the air. I think Jan is out of the office this week as well (she said as much the only time we spoke) so I may not have a firm answer until next week. But I'm trying to stay positive and focus on my diet and hope for the best. It's amazing the kind of will-power I am finding with my diet, but it's only day three. hee hee

About the $11,999 or $16,500, it just isn't do-able for me right now. I'm happy there are those of you who can afford self-pay prices, but I don't have a prayer without insurance.

It's a mess, totally. And Jan didn't call me on Friday, so I still feel like it is all very much up in the air. I think Jan is out of the office this week as well (she said as much the only time we spoke) so I may not have a firm answer until next week. But I'm trying to stay positive and focus on my diet and hope for the best. It's amazing the kind of will-power I am finding with my diet, but it's only day three. hee hee

About the $11,999 or $16,500, it just isn't do-able for me right now. I'm happy there are those of you who can afford self-pay prices, but I don't have a prayer without insurance.

You still may want to check your options of offices even with insurance. You may find the different offices bill things differently and may have much less out of pocket from one as compared to another. It wouldn't hurt to check around by any means. New Hope has always been really quick to get back with me and get the answers for me I needed when I was initially trying to pursue insurance. Good luck with your journey and keep us posted on how this is all going for you.

It's a mess, totally. And Jan didn't call me on Friday, so I still feel like it is all very much up in the air. I think Jan is out of the office this week as well (she said as much the only time we spoke) so I may not have a firm answer until next week. But I'm trying to stay positive and focus on my diet and hope for the best. It's amazing the kind of will-power I am finding with my diet, but it's only day three. hee hee

About the $11,999 or $16,500, it just isn't do-able for me right now. I'm happy there are those of you who can afford self-pay prices, but I don't have a prayer without insurance.

Just going to share my experience with Jan and the people at his office. When I originally started searching for a surgeon, I contacted his office first. They led me on a wild goose chase for weeks, actually just over a month to be more precise. Let's just say Jan was LESS than helpful.... being evasive with her answers and to other questions passing me off to their case manager who never would respond to my questions.

Try asking them to provide you with an actual number of procedures Dr. Hoehn has done, what his complication rates are, and anything else specific to his practice...... You won't likely get any, or if you do the answers will be quite vague....

Getting answers like "within the national standards" is a non-answer in my book. I know he has many happy patients in the area, but so did my original Dr. from that same hospital and a few years later he was the subject of multiple medical malpractice suits. Just do a google search of Dr. Timothy Sifers and you will see for yourself.

My point is anytime an office can't / won't give me direct answers to simple questions that I have a right to know as a possible patient, it's time to move on (for me at least).

Keep following up with the insurance company regarding the 6 month waiting period. When I was looking to revise from the evil lap band to the sleeve, they had a 6 month diet and I found out they were getting rid of that requirement so I started the process after that. My first apt with the doctor was the last week of November 2010 and I was sleeved January 3, 2011!!!! GOOD LUCK

I'm with you Holiday I have no choice but to jump through insurance hoops rather than pay out of pocket. I am hopefully looking at being sleeved in early July 2011 and I officially started this process in August 2010. Oh well, I just keep telling myself that I've waisted far longer than a year on various diets in the past. And to be fair: my insurance only has 6 month of requirements....I spent Aug - Dec researching and waiting for my new insurance to take effect because my old insurance didn't cover WLS at all.

I will have to say that Jan does seem a little absent minded to me at times too. She literally emailed/called and asked me the same question 5 times. I also found that I got a faster response if I emailed her. I will also agree that when I asked questions she answered very vaguely. That being said I have met with Dr. Hoehn twice so far and I have nothing but good things to say about him. He was more attentive to me than my PCP. He didn't rush me by any means and he answered all my questions. I have also talked to numerous people who have been sleeved by him and at Heartland and not one person has had a negative comment about him as a Dr. As far as the insurance goes and finding out EXACTLY what the requirements are and what they are going to pay, I never got a definite answer til my hubby got on the phone with UHC and it only took him about 10 minutes to get a definite answer.

I will have to say that Jan does seem a little absent minded to me at times too. She literally emailed/called and asked me the same question 5 times. I also found that I got a faster response if I emailed her. I will also agree that when I asked questions she answered very vaguely. That being said I have met with Dr. Hoehn twice so far and I have nothing but good things to say about him. He was more attentive to me than my PCP. He didn't rush me by any means and he answered all my questions. I have also talked to numerous people who have been sleeved by him and at Heartland and not one person has had a negative comment about him as a Dr. As far as the insurance goes and finding out EXACTLY what the requirements are and what they are going to pay, I never got a definite answer til my hubby got on the phone with UHC and it only took him about 10 minutes to get a definite answer.

I did the email thing with Jan and others too, and had the same response as on the phone. What I did find is that he is best suited for first time WLS- not revisions and that is what I need. I had to get my information from outside his office since he has created an office that prevents penetrating that wall so difficult.

I did the email thing with Jan and others too, and had the same response as on the phone. What I did find is that he is best suited for first time WLS- not revisions and that is what I need. I had to get my information from outside his office since he has created an office that prevents penetrating that wall so difficult.

I still haven't heard anything back from Jan or anyone from Dr. Hoehn's office. Can someone give me Jan's email so that i can contact her and keep track of my attempts?

Thanks!

I still haven't heard anything back from Jan or anyone from Dr. Hoehn's office. Can someone give me Jan's email so that i can contact her and keep track of my attempts?

Thanks!

Good luck with that, I wouldn't hold my breath though. Jan won't answer emails she doesn't feel like, and evidently nobody else at the office cares either- including their practice manager. I found their whole office very unprofessional.

Jan Langton

Bariatric Case Manager (Alpha L-Z)

Ofc 913.677.6319 x 225

Fax 913.677.1540

jlangton@kcbariatric.com

Hey there everyone.....

First off OP I am so sorry you are having such a difficult time and getting the run around. I have BCBSKC and my policy excludes bariatric surgery period. The Delf Pay cost is 11999. $7750 Goes to Heartland and the rest to Dr. Hoehn's Office. I do not have that kind of money and so I applied for a Medcal loan via their site. I basically took a car loan out n myself for 5 years. I pay $305 a month and paid $695 in closing costs. It was pretty easy. It is a simple interest loan with no prepayment penalties. It is the only way I could do it. (even this is stretching us a ton) I have a friend doing nutri system and it is $300 a month for food.

I went to the seminar at smmc for KC Bariatrcs in Jan. I had my first consult 2/16/11 and I was sleeved 3/9/11 by Dr. Hoehn at Hearland. I had nothing but good experiences. Dr. Hoehn was great as was Heartland.

Call and press zero. You will talk to Becky the receptionist who is really nice ask her to speak to Jan and tell her you have had a hard time connecting and if you can't get through to her call and talk to Wayne the Office Manager.

Anyway I would love a meet up!

Hey there everyone.....

First off OP I am so sorry you are having such a difficult time and getting the run around. I have BCBSKC and my policy excludes bariatric surgery period. The Delf Pay cost is 11999. $7750 Goes to Heartland and the rest to Dr. Hoehn's Office. I do not have that kind of money and so I applied for a Medcal loan via their site. I basically took a car loan out n myself for 5 years. I pay $305 a month and paid $695 in closing costs. It was pretty easy. It is a simple interest loan with no prepayment penalties. It is the only way I could do it. (even this is stretching us a ton) I have a friend doing nutri system and it is $300 a month for food.

I went to the seminar at smmc for KC Bariatrcs in Jan. I had my first consult 2/16/11 and I was sleeved 3/9/11 by Dr. Hoehn at Hearland. I had nothing but good experiences. Dr. Hoehn was great as was Heartland.

Call and press zero. You will talk to Becky the receptionist who is really nice ask her to speak to Jan and tell her you have had a hard time connecting and if you can't get through to her call and talk to Wayne the Office Manager.

Anyway I would love a meet up!

I'm glad you had a good experience, but just an FYI - Wayne is even harder to reach than Jan and does NOT return emails either unless he wants to.

You are correct he did have a week where I got irritated and when I let Linda the nurse know I got a call asap. The best luck I have is talking to Becky and relling her and she usually can get them on the phone. Good Luck!

I'm glad you had a good experience, but just an FYI - Wayne is even harder to reach than Jan and does NOT return emails either unless he wants to.

You are correct he did have a week where I got irritated and when I let Linda the nurse know I got a call asap. The best luck I have is talking to Becky and relling her and she usually can get them on the phone. Good Luck!

Thank you all for the info and tips. I'm going to call on Monday. Hopefully, Jan will be willing to go ahead and set up my initial consult.

Guess who called me today! Jan! I won't go into all the gory details except to ask, does she always sound so condescending? She didn't bring up our earlier conversation.

My appointment is April 11. That is all that matters, right?

Guess who called me today! Jan! I won't go into all the gory details except to ask, does she always sound so condescending? She didn't bring up our earlier conversation.

My appointment is April 11. That is all that matters, right?

Because Jan could care less about the patients and its obvious she hates her job. IMO