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AHCCCS (Medicaid) in Arizona?



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Hey Az Banders! :)

I just got approved for AHCCCS and was wondering if anyone has had any luck or experience with them. I'm praying they cover it! :)

My last insurance company pretty much told me too bad so sad sucks to be your fat ass! :reddevil:

Any experiences? :banghead:

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Hi Wendy!

My husband is trying to get the lapband. Last week we had his appointment with his sugeron and his insurance denied the surgery.:w00t: We were really praying for it to cover it but that was a stab in the back. So we tried appling for loans but its so hard to get one no one wants to help us out.:mad: Anywho we where thinking of appling for ahcccs but were not sure if it covers it.:confused: I been looking and saw your question on here and where wondering if you had any luck with it? Thank you for your time.:lol:

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Hey Az Banders! :blink:

I just got approved for AHCCCS and was wondering if anyone has had any luck or experience with them. I'm praying they cover it! :)

My last insurance company pretty much told me too bad so sad sucks to be your fat ass! :tt1:

Any experiences? :wink:

A friend of mine has AHCCCS and it is covered. You have to have a BMI of 40 or greater, you have to have a psych eval, nutrition eval, bariatric eval, and sleep study. Medicaid does not cover those at 100%, so be warned. Then you have to do a 6 month medically supervised diet.

All those are doable, the problem is that there is a 2 year waiting list to get into a bariatic surgeon that takes Medicaid/AHCCCS. So you are looking at about 2.6-3.0 years for surgery.

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Hey Wendy! I am just starting out on my lap band journey. I have AHCCCS, and my doctor is trying to get me approved for the band. If you want, I can keep you updated on my procedure, and you can do the same! I have an apointment on the 13th and am hoping to hear if I got approved or not! I have a BMI of about 42%. My email is everestcsi@aol.com - Email if you like! I'd to have someone in my same position to talk to! :thumbup:

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Anybody have any updates. I am on ahcccs as well and currently doing to the 6 mos diet with my pcp. Thanks.

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ahcccs will cover your surgery but it all comes down to what plan you are on and if that doc is contracted w/ ur insurance plan. i had went through 3 diff docs and the 1st one i gave up on them, because they would never help me on anything or get back to me. the 2nd docs was good was gonna get the bypass done went through it all just had to meet w/ the surgeons and tryin to do the auth and then all of a sudden they were no longr contracted w/ my ins, so thankfully my pcp office is great and found dr. simpson for me and of couse it was totally not what i had in mind at first but thankfully it was a blessing in disguese. u jus have to stay on top of ur ins and make sure they are contracted w/ them all the way. best of luck to you on ur journey.. i know for me its one i do not regreat one bit.:D:P:rolleyes:

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AHCCCS used to cover it. I got mine covered via AHCCCS APIPA. But I was told by a friend who recently tried that they no longer do, but I'm not sure. But of they do I would recommend APIPA over Mercy Care, not familiar with any others.

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Hey Wendy! I am just starting out on my lap band journey. I have AHCCCS, and my doctor is trying to get me approved for the band. If you want, I can keep you updated on my procedure, and you can do the same! I have an apointment on the 13th and am hoping to hear if I got approved or not! I have a BMI of about 42%. My email is everestcsi@aol.com - Email if you like! I'd to have someone in my same position to talk to! smile.gif

I am on AHCCS and would like to know if there is any update on this subject

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From what I was told by my surgeons office, AHCCCS will cover the surgeries still. However, there are requirements like any other insurance company. Basically if you do everything they require there is no reason to deny. If they do deny you they have to tell you why. This surgeons office (and im sure others do too) will help you fix whatever got you denied if possible.

Here is a list of INS requirements (for at least the accepted insurance plans by this particular surgeons office). http://www.phxbariatric.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Insurance-Authorization-Requirements1.pdf

Hey Wendy! I am just starting out on my lap band journey. I have AHCCCS, and my doctor is trying to get me approved for the band. If you want, I can keep you updated on my procedure, and you can do the same! I have an apointment on the 13th and am hoping to hear if I got approved or not! I have a BMI of about 42%. My email is everestcsi@aol.com - Email if you like! I'd to have someone in my same position to talk to! smile.gif

I am on AHCCS and would like to know if there is any update on this subject

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I am writing to ask if anyone knows if AHCCCS is more likely to pay for weight loss surgery if a person has had a Transient Ischemic Attack? I don't know my BMI but I am 5'7 and weigh 215 lbs. I have high cholesterol, some of which is genetic.

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I am using United Healthcare Commuinty plan through Ahcccs and the gastric sleeve will be completely covered by insurance. I have not paid for anything like blood work or xrays. I will be having my surgery around March 2020 and have completed 3/4 of my appointments. I’d be happy to help if anyone has questions.

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I have UHC thru medicaid.. My original weight before thinking of gastric sleeve was 231. I got sick for two weeks reason why I lost weight and now im at 240 .. And now im going to my last appointment to try and get approved for Sleeve.. Anyone know if I can still be approved if I don't lose any weight? Doctor told me I had to at least be at my starting weight of 231...

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On 1/15/2020 at 11:31 AM, Stacey152 said:

I am using United Healthcare Commuinty plan through Ahcccs and the gastric sleeve will be completely covered by insurance. I have not paid for anything like blood work or xrays. I will be having my surgery around March 2020 and have completed 3/4 of my appointments. I’d be happy to help if anyone has questions.

What is the process that the dr made you go through prior to scheduling and setting you up for the actual procedure?

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On 1/15/2020 at 11:31 AM, Stacey152 said:

I am using United Healthcare Commuinty plan through Ahcccs and the gastric sleeve will be completely covered by insurance. I have not paid for anything like blood work or xrays. I will be having my surgery around March 2020 and have completed 3/4 of my appointments. I’d be happy to help if anyone has questions.

I would like to get the name of the surgeon you have. I am in the Phoenix metro area. thanks

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On 1/15/2020 at 11:31 AM, Stacey152 said:

I am using United Healthcare Commuinty plan through Ahcccs and the gastric sleeve will be completely covered by insurance. I have not paid for anything like blood work or xrays. I will be having my surgery around March 2020 and have completed 3/4 of my appointments. I’d be happy to help if anyone has questions.

I have the same insurance. I was looking to see what ahcccs covered as I have lots of stuff going on and I came across this forum. How did you start your journey? I am quite a bit overweight and could loose 180 to 200lbs. Im a little scared as I've heard some horror stories about weight loss surgery but im also at my witts end with my weight. Im sure much if my pain would go away with weight loss.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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