Dr. Aranow

I attended the orientation at Middlesex tonight and after listening to Dr. Aranow speak for 2 hours I came away even more confident in my decision to have WLS. I was really blown away by his confidence and candor and am looking forward to my first appointment. I am concerned about my insurance as he mentioned at the end of his talk that Connecticare normally does not approve WLS unless a special rider is purchased by you employer. I work for a small company and am quite sure no such rider has been purchased. Anyone else in similar shoes? How did this work out for you? Self-Pay is an option for me if necessary, but I would obviously prefer that my insurance cover the procedure! Jeremy

Hello Jeremy Dr Aranow is my doctor and did a wonderful job on mine. I am size 4/6 since I was size 26/28 before I had gastric bypass. You will use your tools to make you sucessfully like we are here. The tools are going to support group meetings, talk each other with oh ct people here and support each other like a family, eat right foods and exercise . You are in an execellent hands with Dr Aranow. You can ask Lisa C about this insurance since she knows about this more than I do. her email address is [email protected] Please come back here in Ct message board to let us help you during your processing. Good luck Happy Holdiays! Kathy K

Jeremy, I also have Dr. Aranow as my doctor. He is awesome! At the meeting he should have given you a code for RNY and one for Lap Band. Call your insurance company today and ask if your policy covers those codes and if so what are the conditions. If they didn't give you the code last night... call the office and talk to Stacy. She can give you that code. Good luck and keep us posted! Hugs, Chrissy

Like Chrissy said, sall your insurance company and give them the code for the procedure... It really is a shame that the insurance companies are not covering this surgery. In the long run, the surgery pays for itself over and over once one is off of meds, etc. That's why Dr Aranow and other surgeons in CT have gone in front of the general assembly in CT to lobby for legislative laws to have these insurance companies cover the procedure. Another thing that stinks is that small employers don't carry the riders for the surgery...But, if your company does not cover it, you can go to your HR or Insurance person at work and ask them if they would buy the rider for you. It may work. It doesn't hurt to ask. Self pay is an option, but the surgeon's fees and the hospital fees are very, very high. There are surgical loans that you can also take out for it. Let us know how you make out. Dr Aranow was my, and my husband's surgeon for the RNY and we are in Rhode Island. It was well worth the hour drive up and down the highway to have him do the surgeries with huge success. I'm down 130 lbs and my husband 90, since May. He's a great doctor and person. I felt the same way when I walked out of the seminar when I went to it. He's a wealth of info. Paula

Hi jeremy- Lisa here (the one Kathy mentioned) I have CTcare too and work for a small company (there's only 4 of us!) but my policy covers WLS. Dr. A is right that CTcare does things kind of a-la-carte now. But evreything depends on your employers purchased policy. You need to take a good look at your benefits book and see what it says. You can call the insurance company too- but they're generally (sorry to say) idiots and don't have a clue what they're talking about. Start witht he book and see if you can figure it out yourself. So- get your book out (or ask for one from your employer- they can get it from the agent that you purchase your ins through or should have one on hand- and start reading) Then, you'll know where to go from there. If you can't figure it out from the book, then you may want to have your employer call the agent you purchased the policy from and ask them- they will be able to get an answer for you. THEN if all else fails- go ahead and call and see what they say. If there is any possibility of buying the rider (if necessary) you may want to sit down with your employer and let them know what your situation is and that you need the coverage. have them explore the cost of the rider and maybe you could pay for it yourself if the employer adds it on. It would probably be cheaper than out and out self paying . Good luck to you. let us know what you find out.

Congrats on your decision to improve your health and life Jeremy. I just had my open RNY on October 27th. Dr Aranow is awesome. He knows his stuff, he really cares about his patients. I would recomend him to anyone looking to have WLS. Good luck on youur journey Jeremy!

I too am a member of the Dr A weight loss surgery patients team! He is awesome. I came away from my first meeting with him with the same thoughts as you. The day of my surgery in march of 2004 I was excited like I was going on vacation. Not scared at all. It was and has been the most amazing thing I've ever done in my whole life. Next to having my kids! My life is so different now compared to before. My health is the best it has ever been my whole life. That is something that insurance companys look at too. Don't get discouraged if you should apply and be refused. Keep applying. Sometimes it takes more than one try to get that approval. Medical issues can help the approval process too. I remember the first time I met Kathy at her first support group meeting. To see her picture today makes me feel so good. kathy you've done fantastic! You could be a poster child for us all! Good luck and god bless, Pam