medicaid no longer covering the bypass

Has anyone else heard that medicaid is no longer covering the bypass surgery? I finally found a doctor that took medicad and now the area hospitals in chicago said that medicaid decided about 3 weeks ago that they are no longer going to cover the surgery. If any one knows different please let me know I so want to have the surgery and thats my only insurence. I could really use some good news. Mary

Ok, I just went to their website and looked around and here is all I found, said nothing about them not doing it anymore. Bariatric Surgery for Morbid Obesity Bariatric surgery is a covered service if recommended as an appropriate treatment option by the participant's primary care physician. The primary care physician should refer the patient to a surgeon enrolled with the department. The surgeon must then contact the department to obtain prior approval for the surgery. Additional information regarding coverage of surgery for morbid obesity can be found in the Handbook for Physicians, Chapter A-200, Topic A-285 on the department's Web site. I'm going to look some more, but as needed as this surgery is for some people and they just approved Dr. Ray in Indiana, I cant see where they'd all of a sudden decide that they're not going to cover it anymore.

Hi Mary, I am still post op but I just received my approval from medicaid it only took about two weeks. My doctor does not seem to have a problem with medicaid insurance. I also had a friend who just had her surgery Friday and she had medicaid so this could not possibly be true. Her surgery was 7/7/04.