Hello!! New to the whole process!

Hello everyone! I am just in the very beginning stages...just now scheduled for the informational seminar in order to get my paper work started with Dr. Larson in Louisville, KY. I am 24 years old, with a BMI of around 54. I am hoping to have the lap bad procedure, as that is the only one that I feel comfortable with at my age. Of course one of my biggest concerns in insurance approval. I have Anthem Blue Access PPO, and was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them and the lap band procedure. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Hope to get to know you all!!!

I didn't realize Dr. larson did the lap-band. Good luck to you and welcome to the board.

P. STANGER I CAN'T HELP YOU WITH THE INS. THING, BUT JUST WANTED TO WELCOME YOU TO THE BOARD AND TO OBESITY.COM..ITS A GREAT PLACE..CHECK OUT THE MAIN MESSEGE BOARD. YOU CAN POST YOUR QUESTION THERE AND I'M SURE SOMEONE CAN HELP YOU...NETTERS

Hello and Welcome to the board its a wonderfull place to be hope you like it and find it very usefull Take Care Huggs Beth

I have anthem blue preferred EPO .. they gave me a bit of a runaround but I finaly got approved for gastric bypass. Good luck

You need to get a copy of your policy manual. I have the exact same insurance and our policy excludes the lap band as they see it as "experimental". I had a high BMI too and opted for the Roux. No questions for me as I knew the lap band was just not the best option for me. It's too easy to cheat with the band and I didn't want to wait 5 yrs to lose the weight I needed to as that's about how long it would have taken me with the band. So, check out your policy manual because they may still consider the lap band experimental and investigational and may not cover. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. Kathryn. I am pretty sure they do have a clause about "experiemental and investigational procedures", so I may be out of luck with the lap band. However, at a recent seminar that I attended in Louisville, they said that the insurance companies are now getting a lot better at accepting the lap band, so I will just have to keep my fingers crossed. Also, I think that talking with the surgeon will really help me to clarify what exactly would work for me. Thanks again for your reply...I really appreciate it!

I just want to thank everyone for the warm welcome greetings that I recieved. I am just tickled that I found this website on the net...it just makes me feel so much better about going through this process! If anyone ever needs anything, just give me a message!!!!! Have a Great Day!