SHBP with Cigna HRA in Savannah?

Hey does anyone know how to get the process started.  I live near Savannah and I didnt know if I could got to Memorial Health University Hospital to their bariatric clinic and get the process started.  I have read the posts on here so it sounds like I will have to go to ATL for my surgery but I am very confused about how to get it all started. 

Hi! My sister lives in Hinesville...
So, anyway...SHBP is going to require only the 3 hospitals in Atlanta that are listed in several other posts here. According to Cigna guidelines you will have to do a 6 month doctor supervised diet, so a good place to start is there. That is what I am doing. You can't go too much further until that is done. I know it is frustrating. I am over 2 hours from Atlanta and worry about the distance. There are several other SHBP employees/families getting started right now, so we will all get there together this spring/summer!

Have you checked the CIGNA website for hospitals in Florida and South Carolina? Jacksonville or Charleston may be closer to you? Go toy Cigna.com.  Click on physician directory. Look on right side of screen for approved bariatric centers.

Thanks for the tip I will check it out.

I was bored and decided I would pull the list for you. These are the closest doctors I could find to you. This beats driving to Atl, especial;y since you want to be close for follow up or emergency visits.


I have heard of doctors partnering with other doctors to accomodate someone out of state. For instance, you may go to one  doctor for yor pre and post op and see another just for the actual surgery. You should also try to get one who will allow you to use a nutritionist and therapist close to home.

I hope some of this helps.


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SOUTH CAROLINA

Charleston

Medical University Hospital Authority

– Katherine Morgan, MD

– T Karl Byrne, MD

– Megan Baker, MD

Just remember to check the SHBP requirements. They have told several of us that the only covered hospitals are in Atlanta.

Thanks for searching for that for me.  Charleston is the closest hospital but I am going to make sure I can go out of state first.

Hello, I am also with the SHBP, and or will be starting Jan 1 2009, and yes it does cover bariatric surgery, but I also did a lot of searching and calling and there is more to it than you think. You have to take out the High Deductible Plan in order to get it covered. The doctors so far by searching and the hospitals it does cover are 2 in Atlanta. There are three doctors in plan, and none of them do the vertical sleeve as of yet. You also have to do 6 months of psychiatric visits also. If you decide to go out of network to get the surgery done by another doctor that does do the surgery, they will not pay out of network benefits for the surgery at all, I told them this was a violation of my rights as I would be paying for an out of network plan, they told me they did not have to cover the surgery if I went out of network and that was that no matter what. But there are appeals you can do, and get lawyers and such and that is just more time and the plan does not cover the psychiatric visits either or the supervised diet. So I will be enrolling in the PPO plan and maxing out my credit cards and will be self pay for the vertical sleeve. Good Luck, Gastric by pass not for me or the lap-band, vertical sleeve all the way!

The paperwork I got from the SHBP said that you could be in either the hight deductible or the HRA fund account and qualify for the Wls.  So you might want to look into the HRA

You can either take the High Deductible OR the HRA plans.  Cigna covers 3 hospitals, UHC covers 2 hospitals.  There are more than 3 doctors to choose from.  Some of them do the sleeve.  But the sleeve won't be covered because both UHC and Cigna still consider the sleeve an "experimental procedure" as it doesn't have enough efficacy studies.  You have to have a single psych visit and (only with UHC) 6 months of "behavioral counseling", which would be a nutritionist (even if you have to pay out of pocket, a nutritionist is cheaper than 6 months of psych visits).

Good luck to you.
Elli