According to the news and the PA at the surgeon's office where I *had* an appointment for next week, on February 21st the announcement was made that "Medicare would cover some procedures only at hospitals considered "centers for excellence" by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Bariatric Surgery." Hospitals were given no time to apply for certification from either organization. We ALL need to contact our federal congressmen and senators about this. The more he11 we raise, the more likely it is the rule will be reversed or revised. Here are some things to point out in your communication (preferably by phone): 1. There was no notice given for this ruling. Hospitals should have had time to apply for certification. 2. Obesity is a life-threatening disease and this ruling has dramatically reduced the facilities available to perform bariatric surgery for months to come. 3. Waivers ARE available and you should urge your politicians to push for a waiver for your particular hospital. Here's the list of US Senators. Just find yours and slam them with emails & phone calls: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm Here's the list of Congressmen. Ditto above: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/alertlist/?issue=30

I have BC of Idaho, but also another insurance and I went through them instead of BC...but there's a great doc in Utah that does self-pay for about the same amt of money as Mexico...and obviously is much closer than Mexico. Even tho I speak fluent Spanish, I opted for Dr. Layton Alldredge at South Valley Surgical. He did a wonderful job and I'm almost in One-derland.

We are looking for before and after photos of post op patients. These photos will be used both in future issues of OH Magazine and in a commercial. If you have some photos you would like to share, please email them to [email protected]. Please include your name, phone number, email address and what you weighed when each photo was taken.

Ronda Einbinder
ObesityHelp
Public Relations :type:

Here's a link to the news story follow up from MTV on my local CBS news channel, many people have asked about it and have been wanting an update.
http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/2265386.html

On the right column you can see the video streams, click on the link to view the video.

I wanted to take a moment also to let everyone here know how much you've meant to me over the years. :kiss:

Amy