So I am patiently waiting for my first consultation with the surgeon on September 21st. I have already attended a Lapband seminar and have gotten my referral from my Primary Care Physician. I called Amerihealth and asked if they cover Lapband...their answer was simply...Yes. I feel that is too simple of an answer...considering all the bad insurance stories I read on this site.

Does anyone have any AmeriHealth stories to share?

Thanks

I have Amerihealth NJ. I had surgery 9/4/2007. The surgery cost over $23,000 (all together) and I only have to pay $924.00! It took one day for me to get approved! I was amazed too! Good Luck!

What's up everybody Apple's back again!! I called Amerihealth again today. I know that they cover the surgery so that is a good thing!! Iam very happy with that and like I said I am putting away 1,500 in a flexible spending acct just in case I have to pay anything maybe fills if needed right away!! I am so excited but I am still looking for a good Dr. in NJ. I called a couple of Dr's and they both said that I should wait til January when my new insurance is in effect. But I have a whole month and a half to spare so I wanted to start this pre diet now if possibile. Do you guyss think it is right to schedule a primary care visit with my Dr ?? I went to a mini consultation which I had a 30 dollar co-pay (kinda a waste) all he said in a nut shell was "yeah your'e pretty fat .... the surgery is a great option for you! Handed me some papers to go and get sleep apnea and bloodwork test done. And now the "new beginnings" meeting on 11/15/07 which is just the little seminar. But now I have already scheduled again with one of the Dr's that will be at the seminar. And it's not until January 15th!!!! I want my band nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!! JUST GIVE IT TO ME ALREADY!! I want it now!!! But I am hoping for maybe a surgery date in March early April... But I have all this free time now to do this diet stuff!!! Amerihealth said something about medifast or Optifast... Did any of you Amerihealth peeps out there have to do this prior to surgery??? Please get back to me let me know anybody who has any info!! On doctors or Amerihealth!!! ALSO XTRAAAAA good news!! MY EMPLOYER DOES NOT EXCLUDE THIS FROM OUR PLAN!!! I WORK FOR MCKESSON CORPORATION. ONE OF THE FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES!! So hopefully everything will run smoothly!!!:help:

HAHA...you sound like me I want my surgery NOW TOO!!! LOL

As soon as I started researching the lap band I was like wow this is what i need to do....unfortunately at that time i still had 2 months left of my 6 mo weight loss program...I am glad i started the program bc I didnt know that I needed....I just wish i had started it a couple of months earlier like I was originally going to do...oh well live and learn...but yeah I WANT MY SURGERY NNNNNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!

Well I called Amerihealth again and now they say that I just need pre certification from the Dr that all they need stating that it is medically necessary!!! Hey my BMI is 49.2..... that's pretty damn necessary to me!! SO that's GREAT for me!!! But maybe I should do some type of diet to get myself prepped for the post surgery!! What do you guys think???

My information will be sent from New Beginnings to Dr. Goldstein on Tuesday Nov. 13. At that point it will be submitted to AmeriHealth and that should get the ball rolling for me! Well I hope! I get frustrated at times...just because I wanted the surgery in August when I started this whole process....but I am coping with the fact that it doesn't work that way. I am also reminding myself that I apparantly have it easy with AmeriHealth...I have heard that they are the easiest for approval...we will see!

I spoke to someone at group tonight that said that Goldstein scheduled the surgery 3 weeks after their insurance approval. That gives me hope as well....that's less time than it took for the initial consultation appt!!!

I also talked to someone at group that said AmeriHealth approvved them in two days! So we will see....I will continue to post and keep you updated!

GREAT!!! I hope it all works out for you but whats up with this new beginnigs thing ??? What does it consist of and I hear it's kinda expensive??? Amerihealth doesn't require a diet do they I spoke with someone there and they said no .... so is it mandatory that I do this whole "new beginnings" thing ??