I am planning on having my surgery on base. The bariatric center there is very highly rated, so I'm good with the location. I'm in the pre op stages (psych eval, nutrition, ect). At my initial appointment with the surgeon, he said I qualified because of my sleep apnea. I have tried other attempts at weight loss through Weight Watchers and Noom, but it wasn't supervised by my doctor. I also work with a nutritionist, but she hasn't been tracking my weight. Anyway, my question is, if you had your surgery on base, what was the approval process?

Mine wasn't on base, but it was through Tricare. I had to get a referral from my PCM, meet with the surgeon, have a psych eval, meet once with a nutritionist from the program, and then go back to the surgeon who looked at everything and wrote a letter about my eligibility. Then they sent everything off for approval. It's faster than a lot of the other health insurance companies require, but approval can take time. Also if anyone sees things that you need to get checked or taken care of before surgery, that can extend the timeline.

Mine wasn't on base, but it was through Tricare. I had to get a referral from my PCM, meet with the surgeon, have a psych eval, meet once with a nutritionist from the program, and then go back to the surgeon who looked at everything and wrote a letter about my eligibility. Then they sent everything off for approval. It's faster than a lot of the other health insurance companies require, but approval can take time. Also if anyone sees things that you need to get checked or taken care of before surgery, that can extend the timeline.

I was just curious if it was different on base. Thanks for sharing your experience.