New Army Wife: Just got the ball rolling!
Hello everyone! I am new here and am looking forward to joining your group and making new friends. Here is a little bit about me and where I am in this process!
My husband is active duty army, and I receive care at the Air Force Academy. My insurance is Tricare and they cover the procedure 100%!
I just had my first appointment with my PCM this morning. I am going back tomorrow morning for my labs and my psych eval. I go on the 15th for my physical and EKG.
According to what my PCM told me, I have to have the psych eval, the labs, the physical and EKG and I also have to go to the HAWC (health and awareness clinic. That appointment is on the 2nd.
When I called Tricare after my appointment to inquire what I would need, they told me just a referral and then they would send me a letter either approving me or not. She said that the approval letter would state dates when they wanted the surgery to take place.
Here's the kicker. There are 2 doctors at Evans that do the surgery but it is my understanding that they are both deployed and that there is a hefty (no pun intended) waiting list upon their return. I asked the lady at Tricare about this and she said that if there wasn't a surgeon available at Evans to do the surgery that they would approval a civilian doctor in their network. I have spent a few hours working this evening looking for a doctor that took Tricare but had no luck. I am not too discouraged by this as it is hard to match up doctors to insurance and the information is always changing.
I am very anxious and excited about having the surgery and starting over in life with a new healthy me. I have been overweight my ENTIRE life and it is going to be a rebirth for me.
Welcome, Tava,
I just had lap RNY in Oct by Dr Jonathon Schoen at the Univ of Colo in Aurora (a Denver suburb) and he is a network provider for CO. My husband is also AD and TriWest paid everything but the required nutrition seminar which was $200.00. I received my bill last month and the UCH charged $49,000 for a three night stay! I was given a surgical date within 30 days of my first appt and the office staff took care of all necessary paperwork. Dr Schoen's office staff is great, but I think it helped I went in prepared with everything required (psych eval by a PhD or psychiatrist, physical and last Pap, medical records and the packet which was mailed prior to the visit.)
I am down 55 lbs in 3 months!! We are going to Disney next week and my formerly really wide hips will fit into EVERYTHING without worry. I am extremely grateful to Dr Schoen as well as Tricare for making everything as smooth as silk. Good luck and fee free to ask me any [email protected]
Hello there, I was just reading your post. There are two surgeons at Evan's who do the surgery. But, only one is deployed, the Dr. still here is Dr. Wilcox who is retired Air Force. I had him as my surgeon over two years ago and he is great. Probally the confusion was that he was the only surgeon there and he had to stop that type of surgery to make time for the others that needed to be done. But he is again doing them as he has recieved some temp Dr's. On thing you will have to do is attend a support group meeting and it is the third Wednesday of the month which for Feburary it is the 16th. At this time Dr. Wilcox is scheduled to be there to talk that night. If you would like some more information on the meeting drop me and email at [email protected]. The list is not that long and infact just last week there was a lady who got her date only days before her surgey according to a friend who works at Evan's. But you will need the psych eval, nutrion classes and the support group meetings which I believe is two and one before the main appointment does count. Well just email me if you have any questions and I will be glad to help. I will be at that meeting that night and I also go to the Penrose Group where alot of Tricare patients go. Jenn
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