Anyone please help especially those with medicaid

Okay I'm new to this I just saw my dr. and he referred me to a surgeon out of omaha at Nebraska Medical Center on May 10. But first I have an informational meeting on the 19th of April. What do I expect at that meeting? Okay and now for the insurance questions, how do I get a pre-approval. I have medipass, so I'm not sure. these are my stats. I'm 21, I weigh 250lbs,and have a BMI of 40. I've never recorded any diets, so how do I do that? In the past 2 years I've had Kidney stone surgery and my gallbladder removed due to pancreitis. I'm diagnosed clinically depressed and I have a hypothyroid. Remember this in the last 2 years. I saw a dietician last August, but she really didn't help much. The diets I've tried has been the usual 10 different over the counter drugs, walking, and low calorie diet. I'm not really sure what all I need to include to my insurance. I'm just really not sure what to expect and I'm in dyer need of help. I really need help on the insurance issue, and I need to know what to expect. Please Help, Heather

Hi Heather, First off go to the seminar which I think you will find quite informational. Marilyn at Iowa Foundation is really a great gal. She will be looking at your info for insurance. I also have medicaid. With my co-morbids my meds were running (at that time) $1129 per month! I asked KMart to print out the past years meds & for the monthly total. Also I wrote a letter from the "heart" telling why I wanted surgery, make sure you get letters from your docs also recommending surgery. Your surgeons office should tell you what all is needed they will submit the insurance. Turn around from Marilyn is generally within 2 weeks. Good Luck Carolyn

Heather, one other thing I would add is to see your Dr. again and have him/her start you and a supervised diet. As long as some of the processes take, you can have a 6 month history in, before you even realize you have to have it! Make sure you get monthly weigh ins and have them documented! Welcome to the board. Elizabeth PS, I am orginally from Shen. Probably know some of your family!

Welcome, Heather. I can't help with the medipass question, but for my insurance appeal, I had to list 2 years of past diets. I estimated dates and just made a list of the diet, dates, loss, if any, and why I went off of the diet. I think that I used "failure to maintain" alot (LOL). Insurance then approved. Gather as much information that you can = from the informational meeting, this site and other sources. You need to advocate for yourself and be sure that you are educated about the procedure. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions of your surgeon. My consult took 45 minutes because of my 5 pages (literally) of questions. I also taped the session because my hubby was at work. Welcome to the boards. You have come to a very supportive place. Keep posting so we can get to know you. God bless, Andrea

I cringed right away when I seen you were referred to a dr. at NMC. I went to this dr. the first time and switched even after I had a date set for surgery with them. I would suggest calling Fawn with Dr. Dwain Rogers at Mercy Hospital in Co. Bluffs. Their number is 328-8500. He is 100 x better than the female dr. I initially went to at Nebraska Medical Center. He will spend time with you and wants you to ask every question that is on your mind.

What made you not like this surgeon so much? I don't think I can Just cancel an appointment, because I have to have referrals. But anyway please let me know what went wrong with NMC.

I don't expect you to cancel, you need to go cause things may go better for you, so by all means don't cancel your appointment. The attention I received from Dr. McBride and her nurse coordinator Melissa, was way below par. Dr. McBride spent maybe 20 minutes with me and I never did see her after that. My time was wasted after the consult way until I was given a date. I seen her in August of 03 and was not given a surgery date until January. A few details in between could have been done early and my date probably would have been earlier. And we could be talking about a different doctor too. So if your dr is Dr. McBride, then you don't have anything to worry about.