It's time for me to make it official and introduce myself. *waves* My name is Courtney, and I'm thinking about having my stomach banded. I'm 21, and I'm from a growing town near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I've struggled with weight for most of my life - I'd have to say the issue started when I was 12. My BMI is currently 39 and I've got a history of heart problems, diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure on both sides of my family.

I'm not looking for a quick fix - something to quickly make me lose weight. What I am looking for is a lifestyle change - something to help my life for the better, and make my health better.

I'll be calling my insurance company first thing after work, to see about getting more information about the process. From there...we'll see.

Welcome Courtney! Good luck with your insurance approval...keep us posted.

Welcome

If they deny you don't give up Medicare and medcaid pay for this so please don't give up

Audrey

JDru: Thank you for the welcome! I'll definitely keep the board updated as to the status. I actually called my insurance yesterday and they told me that I'd have to pay a $1000 deductable, and then they'd cover 70% of the rest. So, I called the doctor's office that was on www.lapband.com and also on my insurance and left my information with the secretary. She's going to call me back today with more information.

rottiemama2003: Really? I wouldn't have even considered medicare or medicaid. If you don't mind me asking, how would that work? Don't you have to have a certain income? I guess this shows how educated I am on the topic. :help:

Courtney

I don't know, I work for a hospital and In our network one hospital stated that they did the surgery for those two, and I said if they do it for them I would fight for mine. Let's keep up dating on our progress

Audrey

Courtney - Medicare is for retired - 65 and older or disabled. Medicaid is state aide for the uninsursed, so since you already have insurance you don't qualify. I think what Rottiemania meant was that if the government programs cover the procedure every insurance should. I TOTALLY agree. I am lucky my new insurance (Aetna) approved my husband and I in 2 days with the work we had done for the previous insurance. You are lucky it is covered! If you don't decide to have it this year, be sure to check with your employer about Medical Flexible Spending account. You can set aside money before taxes at the beginning of the year, use it immediately, but pay for it out of each pay period.

Hi Court!

Good luck with the process. Good deal that you are catching this while you are still at a relatively low weight.

I expect it will be quite a while before I see a BMI of 39...

Congrats of having the sense to take control before it all spins out of control.

:]

Hi Courtney and welcome to LBT! Best of luck to you on your journey! I hope that everything works out for you. Please keep us posted! Gigi