If so, how do they calculate the time? My doctor has been telling me to lose weight for at least that long for which I've done Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. He's trying to get me to do Opifast but I think it's because he wants the $500/mo it costs to do it through his office. If I could afford that, I'd still be on JC.

Tricare does not require that you be on a diet plan for any amount of time. Their approval criteria are weight, BMI and sometimes the presence of co-morbidities (hypertension, High cholesterol, diabetes, etc). If your BMI is <40 or if you need to lose <100 lb, then they also want to see a co-morbity. You can see the requirements on the Triwest.com website and you can call and talk to their authorization staff.

Mary:shades_smile:

Tricare does not require that you be on a diet plan for any amount of time. Their approval criteria are weight, BMI and sometimes the presence of co-morbidities (hypertension, High cholesterol, diabetes, etc). If your BMI is <40 or if you need to lose <100 lb, then they also want to see a co-morbity. You can see the requirements on the Triwest.com website and you can call and talk to their authorization staff.

Mary:shades_smile:

Thanks Mary. I've been trying to get onto the Tricare/Triwest website for a few days but it seems to be down. I spoke to someone a few weeks ago about the requirements but misplaced the info.

Hi, tricare does not require a 6-month plan; however, I worked out anyway and my knee went out. I had to get physical therapy on my knee which proved that the joint pain I was having will hinder me from working out like I should. Joint pain was one of my co-morbs.

If so, how do they calculate the time? My doctor has been telling me to lose weight for at least that long for which I've done Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. He's trying to get me to do Opifast but I think it's because he wants the $500/mo it costs to do it through his office. If I could afford that, I'd still be on JC.

It sounds like you are at the beginning. You may want to check into different doctors. I did have to do a 6 month diet, but was not told what kind. I lost 2 or 3 lbs one month and then gained 2 or 3 lbs. the next month, it was not pretty. I don't know about your ins. (I have Blue Cross in Texas with the school district.)I would guess that they want you to try and diet again but has to realize that we've been there done that. Just a thought..................

hey great i was wondering if i was gonna have to do a supervised diet, and it looks like thats a NOOOOOO whoohoooo...I have tricare overseas

The TriWest website actually seems to be a bit out of date - everything I could find on it indicated that Lap-Band wasn't covered. When in doubt, check the policy manuals themselves: TRICARE Management Activity Manuals (You'd want to look for Chapter 4 of the Policy manual, section 13.2 in this case.)

If you're really not sure, definitely call the benefits line of the region in which you're stationed. They'll probably parrot everything right off of the policy manual, but sometimes it helps to hear it.