Cigna Health/Weight Loss Phone Coaching

How is your phone coaching going?

Anybody hear how long we actually HAVE to stay on the program? I "qualify" for eleven sessions, but my coach said she would check to see how many I will have to complete. No response yet. Tiffany at Dr. Macik's office said she had heard from another patient that it would not have to be the whole time.

 My coach said it could be done in as little as 3 sessions. She said it was up to me how long.

Since I have 2 more mos of supervised diet, I plan to do the whole 11 weeks, so they can't claim I didn't do it long enough.


Insist they do your sessions close together.  My coach said they would be 2-3 weeks apart, but I insisted she do them 1x per week to get it done sooner.

My coach agreed to do two per week for me.  Monday and Friday.  Her name is Becky.  I'm trying to be nice to her since I know it's just her job.  But I still think it's BS.

Wow, 2 per week. Mine was hesitant to agree to 1 per week. She wanted to spread it out to 1 per month, which I refused. That would take about a year!  I'll have to see if I convince her to try 2 per week to get it over with.

Yes you can fast track it..... If they feel you've done all their BS stuff... they will get you your certificate early....

CC

PS ask talksoup ...she is going thru it now.

I had the first session last week.  I think this is such  bs and it really makes me mad to even think about it.  I have to really try to be nice to the coach because I know it's not her fault, she's just doing her job. 

I agree Makeila.  Do they really think talking to someone on the phone for 10 min every week is really going to make you change your mind and not have the surgery??? That has to be their point in doing this, to discourage you or miraculously  get you to lose weight that you haven't been able to do after a zillion diets in the past.   I would rather they spend the time and money to educate me more on post-op care and nutrition. 

They should assume by the time you are starting your diet visits and visiting the surgeon you are pretty much committed to the surgery and aren't going to change your mind.

They sent me a stupid plate with a cartoon of how much food I should eat! I know how mych food I am supposed to eat! If I sould stick to what I am supposed to eat, I wouldn't be 320 pounds!!! Is that stupid plate supposed to magically make 150 pounds disapear, or make my appetite change?
 
Do they think we're idiots?  Don't they realize fat people know more about calories, nutrition, and dieting than anyone, because we've done it all and tried it all?

This coaching program seems like it may be a good resource for someone maybe 20-50 pounds overweight who needs to just get back on track. I can see the benefit of Cigna offering it as a voluntary tool for those people. But, for someone super obese, it isn't likely to change anything.  If you are super obese, your problems are way deeper than filling half of your plate with veggies and 1/4 with protein...

I am still steaming because my coach doesn't have a clue about what it's like to be morbidly obese.  I am trying to be nice to my coach too because I realize it isn't her fault they are making me do this.

This is a major waste of money and time. I am sure they are paying these coaches at least $15 - 25 per hr or more, plus the promo items they mailed. 

 I would be really pissed off if I were close to my surgery date and this s**t was holding me up!

You said it all!!

Ridiculous! I am certified to teach nutrition classes through my family and consumer science teaching certificate - I KNOW this stuff! I have read the motivational crap for years! 

I think somebody, who does not have a clue about what is required for WLS AFTER the surgery just thought, Hey - they need to know this, how nice of us to tell them!

So, more of this:

for all of us.

Would you like a little cheese to go with your whine?

Why would you think that THEM making us do this is to make us change our minds?  All it is is SHBP's way of making us do a little extra, like they are making UHC members do.  Don't they have to do 6 months of nut/psych/or support group visits?  Be glad ours is only 11 visits .  It would have been nice for them to tell us this back in October (or Nov, or Dec or Jan).  Be happy you didn't get all the way through the 6 months of doc visits to find out you had to do this too!

You are right, this coaching program is a great tool for someone who is 20-50 pounds overweight (give or take) or even someone who needs to lose more than that but has never tried to lose weight.  Cigna offers it as a free service to all it's members.  They simply aren't informed about WLS because that's completely beyond the scope of this program.

Sorry you have a lousy coach.  I guess I got lucky in the coach department.

Be grateful there are people like me who were willing to fight to have SHBP cover the surgery.  And be thankful that the SHBP saw the error of their ways and chose to include WLS after 5-7 years of not covering it.

Use what you can from the program, ignore what you can't...and build a bridge and get over it!

Dang that was a little harsh.  If you can't come here and whine in peace then where on Earth are we supposed to do it.  *Sheesh* You could calm it down a bit.