Can someone help

i was wondering if someone could help me?  I have a friend who wants to have wls but was told that because she is on medicaid she can only have the lapband because it is cheaper.  can someone direct me to where to find more info?  I hd thought a while back someone had posted some info but I have looked back and can't find it.  Please, please, lease help if you can. Thank you Dawn

have her call the customer service number on her card and ask a ton of questions.  hope this helps vicki

I do not think that is true.  However, My duaghter in law had a baby in late Sept. and I went to Dallas to see her & baby.  My son works for a company that owns hospitals so the head of the hospital came by to visit.  He said they were currently going through the process to qualify as a Center of Excellence and it was very important that they be so designated because medicaid will only cover patients if they go to a Center of Excellence.  I think St. Vincent is the only one around here.  I think you should have your friend call St. Vs.

FYI - Clarian is also a center of excellence now.

I had Medicaid also a RNY. It had to be done at St Vincents. They required 5 yrs weight doc plus 6 months Dr supervised Diet. Cheryl

Thanks everyone for the info.  If anyone else has any more info please let me know.   Thanks so much!!!! Dawn

I can assure you that you can have ANY of the WLS with Medicaid. However, have her call the toll free number on the back of her medicaid card. Currently Center of Excellence centers are only needed if the participant is ONLY on Medicare or has Medicare as their primary carrier. Currently (AFAIK) the only Centers of Excellence are St V's and St Francis. Medicare and Medicaid are NOT the same. Medicare is a Federal Funded program ran by guidelines of the Federal Government. Medicaid is Federal Funded program ran by the discretion and guidelines persiding each state the program is in. You can/may qualify for Medicare but not your states Medicaid. Most hospitals and bariatric centers will take medicaid, however, most times they are only allotted so many Medicaid patients/payments per year. So most only take new WLS patients at the beginning of each year. However, she'll need to check with whatever doctor/surgeon or center she decides to see to persue her WLS to see what their particular standard is for accepting Medicaid patients. But it all starts with that toll free customer service number on the back of the Medicaid card. She can ask a ton of questions with the customer service rep to verify exactly what she'll have to do. A very helpful group of people, from what I experienced with them and still do with other procedures I have had done. Good Luck! Jodi