Rally the troops!

I attended our support group in Grinnell on Saturday. One of the doctors had just got back from a meeting of Bariatric Surgeons. He told us that as of December 15, several insurance companies were going to either refuse or severly limit approvals for weight loss surgeries. He told us John Deere and Coventry had already refused applications AND appeals. Wellmark will soon join with the restriction of a MINIMUM of THREE YEARS of doctor supervised diets before they will even consider WLS! This is only hapening in Iowa right now! I suppose it is due to all of the bad press and recent deaths in Des Moines. WE CANNOT LET THIS GO BY WITHOUT A FIGHT!!!!!!! I'd like all of you post and pre ops to write your insurance companies and tell them your stories! Let them know how hard you have worked to get this so called "easy way out"!! Insurance companies are only interested in SHORT TERM PROFITS! They can't seem to see how this surgery will save lives and money in the long run. What's next- refusing to do surgery for breast cancer? PLEASE- make some noise over this so future lives can be saved. Statistics say only 1-1.5% of diets lead to sucessful weight loss after a 3 year period! Thanks for your support- Jeri H.

Hi I thought it was February 1, I also posted it. Sorry, I must have misunderstood. Sorry. Lisa Young Dr. Eibes, surgery December 22, 2003

this sucks and is crazy. My story will be in the DM REgister tomorrow (Tuesday) and the writer did some research, and found out that from Jan 1 to sept 30 of THIS YEAR the company Bc/BS of Iowa approved nearly 1000 surgeries. but last year, for the WHOLE year they only approved less than 500. so obviously, BC/BS is on the right track! and the story tomorrow should show some good stuff to those insurance companies! I will do what I can to write the insurance companies. I do realize how much extra I have cost my co-workers though, from having the surgery, so I do feel kinda bad about that. but oh well Judi D. 5-15,. Grinnell, IA Dr. Eibes. down 113 lbs as of today!

Judi- The whole point is you are SAVING your fellow employees money in the long run. Sure, surgery is costly in the short term, but imagine how much could be saved in just medication costs! Think of all the diabetics with Type 2, that can finally go off of that VERY expensive medicine, just by losing the weight! Your fellow employees should thatnk you for saving them big bucks! I'll try and find out some email addresses. It was Dr. Eibes that spoke at the group- a very impassioned plea! As he said, he will continue to do this surgery when able, and fill in with other surgeries. But think of all of us that view this surgery as our last hope! Jeri

Jeri, This really upset me. I feel this is discrimination again over weight people. They should realize that in 3 years there client may have a heart attack or stroke. I think guidlelines should be in place but not 3 years. That is craziness! I have blue cross/shield. I hope there are not changing there guidlelines. Does anyone have the addresses to these insurance companies?

Sorry guys, I have kind of a cynical view of the ins companies even tho they have been good to me. Drug companies have one of the biggest lobby strengths in the legislature. What do they stand to gain by decreased diabetes, heart conditions, cancers, etc..??? Bye-bye big drug profits! This may sound warped to some but it is the way of big business in this wonderful country of ours- greed drives the trends! Why do you think there is such a strong fight against allowing Americans to purchase RX drugs from Canada? How many of you knew that the AMA led the cause for national health insurance in the late 1930's only to quickly backpaddle once they realized they would be cutting their own financial throats? Maybe this is also one of the reasons there has been a big focus on WLS. Celebrities are publicizing their success- oh, oh! now EVERYBODY will want it! Can't cut profits on the comorbity meds and treatments! They can't have this surgery- better trump up the media with the horror stories! Sorry to sound so negative but when you compare finances of the people who can't even afford health insurance with the profits made by those companies, you can see who is going to win! I apologize in advance to any pharmacists or medical personnel out there who may be offended by my tirade; this is a reflection of my personal views on this subject and pertains to the trends of the industry, not to the individuals who are truly there to serve the public.

Thanks for the info jeri, i'll start composing my letter now. Deb Paul

THIS IS ABSURD !!!! I mean who are they kidding, Dr supervised diet plan for three years, other than the doc saying you need to loose weight and shaking his head at you what kind of supervision is there. I mean my doc is the one who told me I should have the surgery in the first place. I already have 1000s in medical costs due to the problems with my weight. Michele you hit the nail on the head drug companies/ins companies and the almight buck are what are running things in this country. Perfect example my mother is on CPAP has had the same machine for 10 years (5 yrs is the max they are to work efficiently). Instead of letting her replace the old with the new she has to RENT it for 10 months so they are sure she will be using it before she can buy it. HOW RIDICULOUS!!!! Looks like I need to go right to the surgeon after my pulmonary consulut so I can get in. Good luck to those have yet to have surgery. I will keep my fingers crossed.