I have been looking around the boards for anyone from Georgia. Am I all alone here?:welldoneclap:

MysticstarD... it was Dr. Mejias,. Athens, Ga. His office called me 7 days before my surgery date... and said I had to pay the part insurance would not pay or no surgery. I kept my pre-opt follow up and told him that I thought a 7 day notice was not fair, especially since I had been working with him since March.

He basically said it was a new policy.. just started a week ago so on Oct. 2nd his office called and said I had to pay the part insurance did not pay before my surgery on Oct. 9th. As badly as I wanted the surgery I had to walk out. I could have come up with the money but it was so wrong to do this that I lost all faith in him. The psychological was done by a psychologist but the real psychological was telling me a week before I had to pay or no surgery. I teach my kids to not let others bully them and this felt like bullying. I walked out. Now, I have to pay 25.oo for my records and will probably be required to start over from the beginning. I won't be able to get this done this year so I'll have to start with my deductable again. I'm not better on the outside but I sure do feel good on the inside. This was just plain wrong.

Have you been happy with Dr. Richard? Did you have to pay the part insurance would not pay BEFORE surgery? If so, how much notice did he give?

Roxie, Have you been happy with Dr. Lin? Can you give me directions to his office? I'm wondering if he will take my records for Dr. Mejias. To make matters worse, the OM with Dr. Mejias is giving out personal information about me. A friend of mine called the office(because I was upset) to make sure that Dr. Mejias understood that his office called me and said your payment is due in 7 days.... and the OM gave this person personal information about me. She should NOT have even acknowledge that I was a patient there. I'm waiting to hear from the complaint I filed.

I am self pay. now they did a hernia repair while in the O.R. and then 3 months later they send me a 1,297.00$ bill for the hernia repair, my husband was not asked about it nor did I signed any papers where I gave them permision to do anything.

So, I am not happy with them right now. Other than this it was all great.

so, you were not asked to pay up front. My doctor said the 7 day notice was "standard procedure". wasaBubblebutt seemed to think it was fair also.

Good morning, everybody. My name is Shirley and I live in Lilburn. Dr. Scott Steinberg will be doing my surgery at DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur. I just got my surgery date yesterday and I am so excited.

I attended my first seminar at Emory back in April. I began their Optifast diet on June 1 and will complete their program in two weeks. For 14 weeks I had nothing but liquids. At least prep and post-op for surgery is not daunting for me. I began slowly reintroducing solid food 5 weeks ago. I will be dieting on my own until surgery.

Emory is not approved by Medicare for bariatric surgery at the moment but is trying to get approval. I found out the DeKalb was so I attended their seminar in July. I am so glad I did because I was much more impressed with their surgeons that I decided to go ahead and pursue surgery with one of them. I had a hard time choosing which doctor because both seem quite personable, professional and knowledgeable

It didn't take me long to get all of the pre-approvals including secondary insurance approval. I am now scheduled for surgery on December 6. It was my choice to put off until December because I have a vacation scheduled for the end of November and thought it was too soon to leave the country if surgery were between now and then

It was nice to find some fellow Georgians to chat with.

Roxie.. what is Dr. Lin's number?

Hi Pattychat, I am also a patient of Dr. Lin's. I live in Atlanta and I am currently waiting on Insurance approval. Hoping to be banded in Nov. His number is 404-778-5673. Good Luck

Buttercup, you should hear soon. BC/BS approval took less than a week for me.

I hope so. Its been 2 weeks. The benfits administrator and I are friends, so she is having our broker call to see what is taking so long.

Hello,

My name is Lori and my doctor is Dr. Scott Steinberg and I had my surgery done at Dekalb Medical Center....I just live 5 minutes from there in Tucker, GA....Let me tell you, he is the best doctor in the world....I had my surgery done on May 24th and I had a hard time choosing between Dr. Menachery and Dr. Steinberg, but I am sooo glad I chose Dr. Steinberg. I go for my 4th fill tomorrow morning and I have lost a little of 70 lbs.....The facilities at Dekalb are wonderful in the new wing of the hospital. I went to my meeting there also. It is so cool to find someone on line that has chosen the same doctor that I found. Good luck Shirley, I hope your experience has been as wonderful as mine.....maybe we can get together some time.

Good morning, everybody. My name is Shirley and I live in Lilburn. Dr. Scott Steinberg will be doing my surgery at DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur. I just got my surgery date yesterday and I am so excited.

I attended my first seminar at Emory back in April. I began their Optifast diet on June 1 and will complete their program in two weeks. For 14 weeks I had nothing but liquids. At least prep and post-op for surgery is not daunting for me. I began slowly reintroducing solid food 5 weeks ago. I will be dieting on my own until surgery.

Emory is not approved by Medicare for bariatric surgery at the moment but is trying to get approval. I found out the DeKalb was so I attended their seminar in July. I am so glad I did because I was much more impressed with their surgeons that I decided to go ahead and pursue surgery with one of them. I had a hard time choosing which doctor because both seem quite personable, professional and knowledgeable

It didn't take me long to get all of the pre-approvals including secondary insurance approval. I am now scheduled for surgery on December 6. It was my choice to put off until December because I have a vacation scheduled for the end of November and thought it was too soon to leave the country if surgery were between now and then

It was nice to find some fellow Georgians to chat with.

Dr. Steinberg is my doctor and I had surgery on May 24th. He was absolutely wonderful. I go for my 4th fill tomorrow morning. You picked the best doctor in the world. A very, very kind man. Their staff has been just a joy to work with. I went to my seminar at Dekalb and I live in Tucker Georgia. Maybe we can talk some time.

Hello,

My name is Lori and my doctor is Dr. Scott Steinberg and I had my surgery done at Dekalb Medical Center....I just live 5 minutes from there in Tucker, GA....Let me tell you, he is the best doctor in the world....I had my surgery done on May 24th and I had a hard time choosing between Dr. Menachery and Dr. Steinberg, but I am sooo glad I chose Dr. Steinberg. I go for my 4th fill tomorrow morning and I have lost a little of 70 lbs.....The facilities at Dekalb are wonderful in the new wing of the hospital. I went to my meeting there also. It is so cool to find someone on line that has chosen the same doctor that I found. Good luck Shirley, I hope your experience has been as wonderful as mine.....maybe we can get together some time.

Hi Lori what a small world my Dr is Menachery and he was/is great he did my surgery on Feb 22/07 with Dr Steinberg at Deklab Medical Center the the whole experience from start to finish was excellent he answered all my questions the staff is great Dr Steinbery/Dr Menachery is a great team the best to work with I highly reccomend them

Yep, another one for Dr. Steinberg. I was banded there 08/23 and he is the coolest, a genuine sweetheart!

I got the call today that i have been APPROVED. My weekend is already off to a great start. Now i can exhale.