Anyone with Tufts Health Plan?

I read that you need to complete the 6 month icanchange program...what does the program consist of?  Thanks!

Sorry, I don't but if you call your insurance company they should be able to tell you.

Good luck!

I did this and it was monthly phone calls with a "counselor" where we talked about nutrition and weight loss tips.  They sent me some material that I had to read.

It was easy, and for me, was a big waste of time.  Whatever, it's what I had to do for Tufts to pay.

I had to do this and I agree, a waste of time.  When I was half way through I did a phone survey and when asked would I suggest the program to others I answered no.  I explained it was because I didn't feel like it was as supportive as being with a group of people or even one on one and being accountable to sticking to it.

The initial call the "life coach" asks you questions regarding your eating habits such as if you are a stress eater, etc, do you read labels, so on and so forth.  The calls are more frequent at first then taper off to once a month after that. 

I received two booklets, a pedometer and tape measure.  The larger booklet explains various stuff about food choices, identifying eating habits, it has a food log you can copy to use and various exercises with questions to see if you comprehend the reading.

The smaller booklet will be referred to by the end of the calls and you read the sections and write in your answers, again this is to make sure you comprehend the reading.  The smaller booklet is more of diet, exercise, supplements and surgery options. 


Some things of interest that you should know:
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- You cannot miss calls, you may be allowed 1 missed call but need to make it up before the end of the program. 

- You will also be asked to commit to two goals for the duration of the calls.  I chose to "not" eat after dinner and to exercise more than once a week (which I didn't stick to the more exercise) so towa rd the end I exchanged a goal of eating more fruits and vegetables.

- At the end of the calls you will be asked the same series of questions as in the begining to see if you have improved your habits

- During and at the end of the calls you may be asked if you are losing weight, etc. and if you have considered any surgery choices and discussed it with your primary doctor and/or surgeon.

- Upon completion of all the calls the life coach will send information to the insurance company to say that you have successfully completed the program. 


Hope you find this answer helpful!

good summary.... that's what I did! 

Yeah, the lack of accountability was silly.  You could say whatever you wanted.

One of my goals was to stop eating the skin on chicken.  Really!  It's just silly.  My other goal could have been to eat fast food less than 2X week and it would have been legit.

Hi I had Tufts last year and the I can change program was not hard at all.  Your PCP needs to initiate it and then a representive will call you and you will set small goals.  They call your probably once a month you agree to a date and time ,they will ask how much you lost ,or if your goal is to drink so much water or not to eat out so many times during the week they will ask if you met your goals. I hope this helps....good luck!

I have THP and did this (i actually also work there :) hehe)

I echo what the others said. . it was not beneficial. . but i did it b/c that's how i got approved :)

i have tufts and i did the ican change program. i had sarah as a coach and i opted to speak to her every two weeks. i found it beneficial as i felt obligated to tell her honestly if i wanted to make a positive change in my life. i felt i was accountable for what i did as i was asked every two weeks how those weeks were. i still keep in touch with my health coach as i feel she was very helpfull in helping me make the right decisions to change my life for the better...im 10 weeks out and down 56 pounds!!!

I did the I can change program fo rthe six months and then went to the Weight Loss clinic for LGH once that was done. LGH told me that I actually could have been in both programs since theirs takes about 3 months. You may want to look into the program you are going in to see if you can do them both at the same time. Like others posted, I did not find it useful at all. I felt like I was talking to a teenager who was reading a script for each call.

Good luck!