Hello: My name is Bud. I live near Springfield, MO. For health reasons my Dr recommends that I have a lap band procedure but my insurance is Medicare and I cannot find Dr/facility that will accept medicare insurance for this procedure. Does anyone on here have any idea who I might contact who will accept Medicare?

:help:

Thanks in advance

Bud

How about a large teaching hospital? A lot of them have bariatric centers located in them and they take medicaid. Or call your AMA and get names from them.

I had thought that Columbia or KU might be good options but neither one worked out.

I really need to get something done about my weight. My BMI is over 40 I have RA, High Blood Pressure and Asthma. I have been on different programs over the years to loose weight but have never been able to reach my 'ideal weight' and have been unable to maintain weight loss.

I went to a seminar one weight loss center in KC put on. I told them up front I was medicare to which they said not a problem. Upshot was they led me to believe they would do the procedure, took my money, had me go through the seminar and then told me I did not qualify because they don't accept medicare.

My hopes are that there are people on this forum who have had procedures done at centers that accept medicare and who are willing to give me some information.

Hi Bud,

You might check with the Missouri Bariatric Services at the University of Mo. -- I'm currently going there and I' m pretty sure they take medicaid. They seminar is free and there are group meetings thru out the month (at different hospitals, etc)that you can go to and meet others, also free.

I think the whole staff is great. I haven't talk to a surgeon for my situation yet, but there was one at the seminar and they also have Dr. de latorre(sp?) who is partnered with Dr Scott at DePaul and they are both very experienced.

check out...Missouri Bariatric Services

Anyway, welcome and good luck.

Sorry Bud, I put Medicaid and not Medicare...but I still hope you check it out.

Baby Ruth:

Thanks for the info. I will give them a try. Hopefully have better luck.

Bud

Baby Ruth:

Thanks for the info. I done as you suggested and called Missouri Bariatric Services at the University of Mo today. Good news. They recently started taking Medicare as payment. I am scheduled to see them next month. :whoo:

YW. I hope it works out for you and you find them as helpful as I do. Keep me updated. :ranger:

hope it goes well for you

ask all the questions that you can think of

had mine done 12/19/07 and am now learning things i wish i had asked about

am losing though so its not all bad

<p><p>Well I am too new to this board and I love it!! I am having surgery on January 29th and I am nervous. I thought about the Gastric Bypass now and I am still throwing it up in the air but the more I am reading your stories the more I am liking the LapBand more. I am 28 years old, married and have a 8 month old son. I am 5'5 and 257.6lbs. I have hypothyroidism, high Cholesterol, Polyocystic Ovarian Syndrome (infertility). We had to conceive our son by IVF and I was down to 226lbs after I had him and got pg right away again and lost the baby. Now I am way up there and so unhappy with the way I look and feel. <img src="http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/happy.gif" border="0" alt="" title="" smilieid="60" class="inlineimg" /></p></p> <p> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p>

Katie B

Will be banded on 01/29/2007

Hi KTBEEE, I too have PCOS, but am not infertile. I am going to my first lapband seminar on friday. My hope is to get off the meds i take for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes and be able to have another child. I also an very unhappy about the way i look and feel about myself. Hopefully, the Lapband will let me get healthy to have another child

Hi Gidgey!! Yea the combination of the PCOS and hypothyroidism isn't allowing me to have a period or ovulate. My dr said losing the weight will help or disappear all togather. The seminar is nice and very informative. I really enjoyed it. Plus where I live, to have the surgery you have to see a dietician, go through a 12 week class of 45 minutes of dietician and 45 minutes with a trainer, then a 6 week Behavorial Change class to talk about how things are going to change, attend one support group session before surgery. All these classes are mandatory and you have to go and they help out so much. Its nice to be a in a group that is going through the same lapband as you are. Hang in there!!

Thanks for the heads up. I am looking forward to the inforamtion session. Will you surgery be covered by your insurance.

Yes it will!! It only took a week to hear back and for it to be approved. I was thrilled with it and they will also cover the fills for the first year and one dietician visit every 6 months.

That's great. I hope all works out for you. I am hoping my insurance will cover the surgery also. I am also hoping I don't have to go throuogh 6 months of diets, pre approvals, etc before they do.

GOOD LUCK!

I am scheduled for a visit on the Jan 12. Can hardly wait. I have been trying to get this done for more than a year. I have problems with High Cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma and on top of that I have RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) so I really need to get control of my weight.

My entire life I have never been my so called 'ideal weight' and have been on many weight loss programs none of which have worked. Actually I guess I should not say that because if I had not fought my weight all this time I would surely be twice the size I am now. I guess its one of those silver lining and cloud things. Anyway, I have been on documented programs but not for a while so I don't know if documentation is going to be an issue for me or not.

I know getting banded is not going to be an end to all my weight problems, my hope is that by getting it done I will have to work less hard on maintaining my weight and thus have more time to focus on dealing with my RA issues.

I want to thank everyone for their support and say good luck to you all in your Quest to attain your ever elusive "ideal weight".