Kaiser WLS: They will cover the DS and NOBODY has to do Options or diet or classes in any...

I would add to the list of reasons the insurance companies have this requirement, in addition to hoping people will give up or die, is the possibility that people will change insurance and some other insurance company will foot the bill. If your insurance is tied to your job or your spouse's job and one of you changes jobs, or your employer changes what they offer, you have no choice but to change insurance. Or you could lose your insurance completely due to cir****tances beyond your control. Either way, they are off the hook and the patient loses out on badly needed medical care for which they HAD coverage but the arbitrary barriers prevented them from getting care.

When I began the classes at kaiser I felt like they were a waste of of time and I knew everything!   I am so THANKFUL that I attended them all as after surgery and the entire process I actually knew what was happening to me and my body!

 

The problem with Kaiser isn't just with the classes. No, 14 weeks doesn't seem like a horrible time to wait. But it's not like you take the classes and, bingo, you're in. They won't even *schedule* you for most of the pre-op stuff until you lose your 10%. Then, it can take months to get the pre-op tests done and even then they don't always have room on the calendar for a few months after that.

In my area, it routinely takes 12-18 months to get through their program and have your surgery but one gal took FOUR YEARS. A few took less time, mostly those with Type 2 diabetes who do get "fast tracked". Which means maybe 6 months instead of a year.

That's still an outrageous amount of time to treat someone who is sick. For people with diabetes and other co-morbidities, they could die before they get surgery because of some of these pre-op requirements.

To me, these sorts of requirements are just a form of fatty hatred. They aren't treating obesity like the disease it is but like a character flaw and they are going to make you jump through as many hoops as possible to prove you are worthy.

As for how valuable the classes are, some people absorb information better in those settings. But, not everyone does, and many of us have researched WLS thoroughly by the time we even have our first doctor's visit about it. Heck, some of us could *teach* those classes. As an adult, I think I should be able to decide the best way to prepare myself for WLS.

This is absolutely true. There are studies showing pre-op weight loss does NOTHING to help people do better, either in surgery or afterwards.

Can you imagine if they delayed or denied treatment to diabetics until they lost weight, or proved they could control their diet? If they refused cancer treatments to lung cancer patients until they quit smoking - yes, it would SURELY be better for them to quit, but would they withhold or delay treatment??

The classes never give accurate information about the DS, if any information at all. They also tend to focus on the patients' responsibility - which there is PLENTY of - but not on the inherent limitations of the surgeries. While it's nice to say that some patients get to 100% of excess weight loss, they DON'T point out that this is the exception rather than the rule. This not only leads to unrealistic expectations, it leads to self-loathing among the patients who lose less or even fail altogether. It is not always their fault, or completely their fault, but the fatty-hating surgeons make them feel that way.

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Stated with perfection and comports exactly with the feedback I'm seeing and receiving from those with Kaiser. Well, those that have a clue. **Smirk** 

Great submission!

Rockne