Any surgeons who take Tri Care Prime?

I have a dear friend who lives in Prescott and is in need of a Bariatric surgeon to do a hernia reapir. She had Dr. Zahn 3 years ago for her Rny and since he's retired, has been unable to find a surgeon who'll take the military insurance. She is aware of one surgeon in Phoenix but chooses not to go that direction. If anyone knows of any who Tri Care Prime, would you please let me know. She's willing to drive to Flagstaff or Tucson if she needs to. Thanks bunches! Joyce

Joyce- TriCare Prime only covers for bariatric services with Dr. Alexander Villares in Phoenix. So if that's the route she refuses to take, well I don't know what else to say. Here's a few things she could try: She would have to present a valid reason with proof to TriCare as to why she's refusing services with this Phoenix doctor and see if they will approve to refer her to someone off the provider list for hernia repair. I've been a military spouse for a long time and I know the in's & out's of how TriCare works. They most likely will not budge. But you never know unless you don't try. She should also contact TriCare directly as a first step. 1-888-TRIWEST. The CSR will document her inquiry and answer any questions regarding policy. She should talk with her PCM and see if they will write a letter to TriCare in support of her refusal of services from this doctor and recommend someone else outside of the provider list. Good luck to your friend! Michelle Lap RNY Approved for surgery/no date set yet! Dr. Alexander Villares

Thank you so much Michelle for your valuable information! I'll forward your post on to my friend. Somehow I had thought there was an old post or 2 by folks who had gone with a Flagstaff or Tucson surgeon and were mlitary. That's pretty sad that there aren't more options available. I work for Dr. Terry Simpson and we applied months ago. There's major hurdles to go through to qualify and even when we passed all criteria; the military is very very slow to work through the steps. -- I know that Dr. Villares was already set up becaue of Dr. Zahn who had established the business and then proctored Dr. V. Good luck to you on your upcoming surgery! I'll bet you are soooooo excited! thanks again for your help! Joyce

Hi Joyce, I am a military spouse and just had a revision done with Dr Monte Schwartz in Tucson. In Sept I went to the local Tricare office and inquired about approved surgeons because I was having trouble finding one. They provided 3 which are: Alexander Villares John Debarros Monte Schwartz This was the list as of Sept 2006. Hope this helps out your friend. Vicki

Yay! I"m so glad there are a couple of other options for her! Thanks soooooooooo much Vicki!!!! So how are you doing after your revision? Did you go from Rny to DS or what? I'm looking forward to a revision in 2007 myself! I'm hoping to get banded over my Rny. Huggggzzz way down your way in Sierra Vista! Please tell my dear friend Bob Hooper hello when you get to your support group! He rocks! Joyce

I had my stomach stapled in 1980 and it took me 26 years to get back to my 1980 pre op weight. My weight fluctuated up and down over the years. Things really started going bad when I started taking medication for clinical depression in 1996. I gained 60 lbs in one year on Zoloft. Thank goodness the dr believed me then and changed my meds. I never really recovered from that, would get close to 200 lbs but then ultimately would gain again. In 2003 I quit smoking and went on a diet. Surprise! I did get down to 211 on Atkins. Then as always happens, I let life get in the way and starting gaining again. Soon it was difficult to get up from the floor, my knees hurt, my ankles were giving me trouble and I just starting withdrawing from social things. Knew I had to do something, got approval from my PCM and went to Dr Schwartz. He made me feel so much better when he explained that they knew the procedure I had done previously does not work. I wasn't a failure! I had the RNY 3 weeks ago and I am doing pretty well. Trying hard to get down my fluids and protein. Surgery was so much better this time around. So many improvements in WLS over 26 years. I have read many posts that talk about having lap band after RNY. What happens, does the pouch stretch? I am hoping that I don't have to do this again years down the road! I haven't met the SV Group yet, but will look up Bob Hooper when I do. Vicki