Insurance Changes Coming

I had my group session yesterday, which was very imformative. I thought Dr. Tishler was very thorough and his heart is in the right place on this surgery. He did say that the insurance companies are making some changes effective Jan. 1, 2006. They are changing "codes" and are reluctant to disclose all information to the physicians. It appears that some insurance companies are playing "games" with coverages and do not want to put everything down in writing. If you are planning on having surgery, call your insurance company, or your employer, and inquire about what coverage you actually have. Some employers are considering dropping the "rider" to their policies for bariatric surgery in order to save money. It seems that "profit" is more important to them than their employees health. Sad Sad Sad

Thanks for the info Joe. I'm going to call Anthem BC/BS tomorrow and see what is up with my insurer! Glad you found Dr. Tishler informative. I was considering going to go to Hartford Hospital/Dr. Tishler but then changed my mind once I saw that they didn't perform many LapBand surgeries. Am happy with my choice though... Dr. Aranow is great. Hope you hear good news from your insurance company. Angie

HI Joe, I work at Hartford Hospital in the billing department. These changes that Dr. Tishler mentioned have been happening for a few months now. I would check with your employer to see if they did drop the "rider" from your coverage and ask if there is a way that you can pay a higher premium to have it placed back in your coverage. I know that Connecticare offered this ommission from the employees policy, but since HH now does the surgery, they felt that thye could not do that, thank god since that is the insurance I have and they paid with no issue. Debbie