What is The first Step

Well I found out today that my medicaid will gover wls I will just have to pay a lil amount. but my question is this.. what do I do first..family doctor or the wls center? I've been heavy my whole life and i've lost weight and gained it several times. I've done weigh****chers and on my own mostly. I would just like some help in figuring out what my next ste******ce they will cover my sugery. Thanks for your time~!

Krista

that really depends i guess in your state. some wls center want a letter from your doctor stating that you need this surgery. for me it was as easy as going to the seminar then went from there. but it wouldnt hurt to go through your doctor that way both centers are in sync. hope to see you in the loosers bench soon!!!

When I started the process, I called my insurance company to get a list of surgeons/wls centers that were "in network" and what their criteria was for eligibility.  I don't know if that is the same for Medicaid or if you can go wherever you like.  Once I did that, I went to my PCP. She was behind it 100% and gave me two referrals, one for each of the centers I wanted to check out.  From there, I went to an info session for each and chose the one I felt best fit me and my needs.  From start to finish, for me, the process from deciding to have surgery to actually having it done was 5 months.  That was about 3 1/2 years ago.  I'm sure things have probably changed some by now.  

Good luck!  Tina

Hi Krista, I think you need to find out the exact steps that medicaid requires. I'm not familiar with them but I know each insurance company is different. My insurance that I had at the time required me to go to my primary dr. first then get a referral to a medically supervised diet program. I had to complete that program and then have my primary dr. write the insurance to confirm that I did this and the drs. office where I did the medically supervised diet had to send my records to them. I also didn't have a high enough BMI but I had two other medical conditions related to my weight. If I hadn't had those I would not have been approved. So look into the steps that medicaid requires and good luck!! Joan