Does anyone know if Kaiser Permenante does Lap Band surgery? and if they do.... what is involved in getting approved.

Thanks for any info....

Cissylea

Hi Cissylea,

My mom works for Kaiser in Northern Ca. and she told me that they do not cover lapband. Many of the people she works with have looked into it, but Kaiser will only pay for gastric bypass.

Sorry...

Thanks for the info. That's what I thought, but I thought I'd ask here on the boards, since there is such a wealth of information.

Cissylea, you might want to check w/ your benefits coordinator (at work). Each company has their own list of specific exclusions. You might just luck out. No harm in checking! Best of luck to you!

I checked bedfore I went to my dr in Mex an they only cover gastric bypass

I just had a doctor visit with my PCP at Kaiser. They only do gastric bypass at this time.

Jackie

Portland, OR

Just an FYI

They cover gastric banding now! At least the one in Northern CA does

:eek:

Where are you located? The Kaiser in Denver pays for lapband. They contract with Dr. Chae (my surgeon) National Bariatric Center: bariatric surgeon Colorado, bariatric surgeon Denver, bariatrics Denver, obesity surgery Colorado, obesity surgery Denver, stomach staple Denver, weight loss surgery Denver, weight loss surgery Colorado, bariatrics Colorado and Dr. Tom Brown Richard Tillquist M.D. - Welcome. Both are Centers of Excellence.

WOW! I don't know what happened! They were weblinks when I posted them...?

Wow that is great! What is the procedure to get approved?

Just an FYI

They cover gastric banding now! At least the one in Northern CA does

:rolleyes2:

Greetings!

The first thing you need to do is to get your PCP to refer you. At that point you will be headed to an orientation. Depending upon which No. Cal facility you go to (SSF, Richmond, or Fremont) will depend on what happens next. Each program is different and you don't get to choose where you will go.

S. San Francisco puts you on a 1200 meal plan so that you can loose some weight pre-op. The average amount of weight to loose is 10%. That's 10% of your total weight not excess weight. Last I heard it would be 6 months or so until your next appointment (bariactric director, psych, or nutritionist). I did hear from one person that got her appointments within around 3 months. I don't know why there is a difference. Once you loose your weight & make it through the above mentioned appointments you will be scheduled for an appointment with the surgeon. Upon obtaining his clearance you will be put on the surgery list. It's pretty simple just long and sometimes frustrating.

I started my journey through SSF June 5, 2007 and was banded on 12/12/07. You must be pro-active in this progress. That means that you must be loosing your weight and if you want appts sooner, call. They only have a cancellation list for the actual surgery and appts for the rest come up and just sit there. They view this as an elective surgery and expect you to be patient. They told me that as far as the weight loss goes, they have people banging down the doors and they don't have to put up with someone who doesn't want to do the program as it is set up.

Where are you located?

Has anyone gone through the Fremont Kaiser? I see some for the San Francisco but was curious if the Fremont steps differ at all?

does anyone know if they do the lap band in southern california for kaiser?

does anyone know if they do the LAP-BAND® in southern california for kaiser?

looks like this has been here a few months. The answer is YES Kaiser does. There is a lenghty process that you must complete before getting any surgery though. Starting with a referal from your physician. Several co morbitities must exist. i.e. high blood pressure, diabetes etc.

You have to go to an initial class which usually takes a couple of months to get scheduled. Then there is another 2 month wait to begion the required 20 class sessions , followed by a meeting with a surgeon, followed by another couple of months to the surgery. Kaiser does gastric band, roux en y, and gastric sleeve.

Good luck:smile2: