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Mississippi Gastric Sleevers?



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Thank you Benisa for that input. I hate to hear that you had such a rough time with them but it also helps me to hear these kind of things. If and when I get to have the surgery, if the insurance goofs up, my husband will handle them. He is my "bulldog" for this kind of stuff and if we were to get a bill like you got, oh lordy I feel for the insurance people that have to deal with him. I left another voicemail yesterday, Wednesday so I am again hoping to hear something "positive" today from Angie. Did you ever speak with the office manager at all during that time? If so did it help? Trying to be patient as possible but if I don't get some results will start looking elsewhere for a new doctor to use.

Like I said, it is always the ins. fault when you talk to the Dr. office and the Dr. fault when you talk to the ins. Everyone want to pass the buck to someone else.

My husband works at the new Toyota plant in Blue Springs. I was the first bariatric case Tupelo had had from there. They blamed all the trouble on trying to learn the ins and outs of the new company/ins. It was an utter nightmare. All I have to say is, you better know your ins. benefits like the back of your hand. Have copies of it, names and numbers of people you speak with at the ins., dates that you make calls and submit papers. I can't tell you how many times I had to have the ins. company call the Dr. office and say, "YES we do cover that" or "NO we do not require that." I had a round about the center of excellence, weight management visits, deductible. I was put on a hold status with the ins. because of unreceived/lost paper work. Then after I got all of that fixed (I did ALL of the leg work MYSELF) and resubmitted, I still was denied. After deeper inspection, I found it was because there were still some papers missing. I ended up submitting documents from; A former PCP, current PCP, chiropractor, cardiology, GI, bariatric and phycologist before they had everything that they wanted. I went door to door and talked to each one of them and collected the info myself. When you give it to the ins. coordinator, make them make copies. Keep everything! You may just need them again if they end up MIA like mine did. And keep everything showing where you have paid anything. I had to pay the bariatric clinic my $750 out of pocket up front before they would schedule my surgery. That is my max out of pocket. The thing about that is, they took my money, but didn't yet have a claim to file. So other claims were coming through my insurance and being only paid in part. When I told the ins. What was going on, they said they had no right to that money until the day of the surgery. I had to have the ins. Call and demand a refund to pay the other bills that came through first. The bariatric clinic was going to be paid 100% because of the order their claim was filed in. It has just been an utter nightmare and I'm still not sure it is completely over. You just have to be prepared to kick and scream and get down right mean if you have to. This is your health. To all of them, you are just another face and another dollar.

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My sister and I wi be sleeves by dr.king on may 18th!! The staff has been very nice to us.i have insurance and she is self pay. But we've had a great experience and are soo excited!

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I am from Northeast MS (Pontotoc) & just joined this forum today. I have been to the informational seminar @ NMMC Bariatric Center & have an upcoming appt with Dr Pinson. Anybody else with Acclain insurance been sleeved? Just courious how long the approval process took.

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How are you MS ladies doing? I'm in Biloxi' date=' scheduled for surgery on April 9th with Dr. Avara out of Ocean Springs. I see it's been a few months since anyone posted on this thread. Anyone still around?

Sent from my iPad using VST[/quote']

How are you doing? Dr Avara is my doctor too. My surgery is October 26 , that's Friday! I live in Hattiesburg. I'd love to hear how you've been doing since your surgery.

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How are you doing? Dr Avara is my doctor too. My surgery is October 26 ' date=' that's Friday! I live in Hattiesburg. I'd love to hear how you've been doing since your surgery.[/quote']

Doing fantastic! I'm down almost 75 lbs since per-surgery diet. Off of all meds except Protonix for reflux, in the gym 3-4 days a week doing Water aerobics, strength training and now spinning! Went from a 22/24/2X to current 10/12/M, still would like to lose another 30-50 lbs. Currently on vacation at Disney World where I can't stop jumping for joy at how good I feel! I love Dr. Avara, good luck with your surgery! I know you'll do great!

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North Ms here...Sleeved 6/15/12 in Cancun, "self-pay" down 52 lbs.

Feeling great, no problems during surgery or since!

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It is so nice to see people from ms I'm in ocean springs. I had my surgery sept 11 down 45 pounds. My doc is Avara and love him he is wonderful. The only thing I had problem with is second and third week I couldn't keep food down. liquids I did great now I'm on this kick of crackers and lemon Water. I don't throw up like I was but I do some time when it don't agree. Now I'm having issues with my hair falling out. I have 110 to go and pray I make it that far. Some time I feel as though the weight will never come off. I get tired really easy now days after work I want go walk but I'm to tired to do anything. So that I have to figure out cause I want to walk. I hope everyone is doing good and I hope to hear from some one.

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I am scheduling with Dr Pinson in Tupelo for next month. Anyone out there who has used him or can comment? Also, for all of you who have had this procedure, is there anything you wish you had known before-hand or anything you would change or do differently? So excited and appreciative of any suggestions!

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Congrats! How are you doing so far?

So far so good. I'm officially on my 2nd phase and just happy to at least get to drink a Protein shake!!!! The pain is very minimal and I'm already down 13.3 pounds!

MahoganySlim

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Hey I'm so excited to see others from my area!!! I live in Madison however I was sleeved 4 days ago 4/7/16 in mobile, AL due to my insurance being in BCBS Of AL... So far so good I'm excited to meet new ppl going through the same thing as I in my area! Congrats and good luck to you all

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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Hello, anyone a year out from their surgery in Mississippi?

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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
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      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
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