Hi everyone,

I feel kind of silly coming on here, but didn't really know where to turn. I'm trying to find out how overweight someone has to be to qualify for the lap-band. I know the home page of this website gives you the lap-band calculator, but I thought I could get some better or more real information from actual people who have undergone the surgery or are going through the steps of trying to get approved for the surgery. I am 30 years old and weigh 215 lbs. at 5'5", so I'm about 85 lbs. overweight, no other health issues that I know of.

Thanks for the input!!!

it depends on your insurance if you plan to go that way. If not it depends on the surgeon. People are "supposed" to be a certain BMI or higher but many surgeons will disregard this for their fee.

With a BMI of 35.8 you'd qualify for self-pay; and MAY qualify depending on your insurance and if other issues are found.

If you are expecting your insurance to cover surgery, call and ask what their requirements are. My best friend had coverage but they required that she have a BMI of at least 37 for 3 years and hers had been that high only for 18 months so they didn't cover her surgery.

Many insurance companies require a BMI of 40 or 35 with co-morbidities. If you are self-pay, it is usually the doctor's requirements then. You will need to be tested for co-morbidities either way, I think. Surgeons always want to know what state of health you're in. Good luck. And PS - take it from me - make sure your surgeon is experienced and only does bariatric surgery.

Where I live, there are 2 major players in the market and they both offer monthly meeting to people considering the surgery. They both have Q&A periods at the end. If you have this available, I suggest you go and ask yourself. I barely qualified at a BMI of 35 with other medical condition and got that clarified at that meeting.

Many many insurance companies, if you're under a 40 BMI, require comorbidities. I'm 5'4, highest weight was 237, but I have high BP, cholesterol, thyroid (goiter), and sleep apnea. And even with all of those, it was only the sleep apnea using a CPAP machine that qualified me. Self-pay, most doctors are pretty liberal about the BMI, but I would think you would still need to be at least a 35. I even gained 10 lbs to make sure I met the weight (which wasn't hard but even my primary car doctor was telling me to weigh in with rolls of quarters in my pockets.)

So first step is to call your insurance company and find out what they require.

Good luck

Trisha