Hello, my name is Kristie and I have been trying to get sleeved for a couple years now. At first my insurance didn't cover the surgery so I planned to go to Mexico to get it done. Then we discovered both my kids are special needs( one is autistic and the other has a brain cyst which has severly slowed his development. DH and I agreed that they come first so paying $9000+ out of pocket was no longer a possibility. Then in oct of 2011 he switched jobs and his new job doesn't offer insurance and thanks to me and my weight we cant afford private insurance because most refuse to cover us because I am consider "high risk" and the ones that will want $600 a month JUST for me. So.... we are applying for HIP. Dont know if we will qualify yet but we shall see.

Now that the background is out of the way, I will ask my questions. I will ask all of my questions in hopes that someone will know but I realize I may not get answers to all my questions. Will HIP cover WLS? Will it cover the sleeve? What are the requirements? Like is there a certain number of comorbidities required or is a doctor's referal enough? What is the process? Can I choose my doctor or do they choose? Any other helpful info is appreciated.

It looks like Obesity Help has some people that got Bariatric surgery through HIP in 2010, plan may have changed. I tried to google for you and found this old forum, maybe you can directly contact some of those members and ask about their experience? Good luck to you!!

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/IN/4251154/Healthy-Indiana-Plan/

Yeah I saw that but its pretty old so I was hoping to get some more recent info, possibly from a recent post op that had hip. Thank you for looking for me

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Just posting in case someone has this question later and does a search. I bit the bullet and called. I was afraid to because I didn't want to be denied on the bases of inquiring about a bariatric procedure. Anyway, I called and was told HIP does cover on a case by case bases, and pre-op requirements are also case by case as determined by current health.