Well folks I have started my journey. Earlier this week I went and had my Upper GI and chest X-ray done. Have appointments for the Pulmonary and several other's next month and into June. I am using my civilian insurance (Horizon NJ Health...i.e. Medicaid) since the Veteran Affairs is moving Sssooo s-l-o-w...but I have started. Should be an interesting set of experiences. I am concerned that Horizon will not cover it saying that my V.A. benefits are my primary insurance. That is a whole other can of problems just hanging there in the back ground. I keep telling Horizon that the V.A. dose not play nice with other insurance companies and I don't think they will do the type if surgery I want done. I have a problem with a surgeon who only wants "1 size fits all" bariatric surgery. It make me nervous to have him operating on me.....

Good luck with jumping through all your hoops. Probably seems like a pain in the neck, however the alternative is private pay, I guess.

Good luck! The advantage in self-paying is that this sort of agony wasn't included in the process.