Help Picking Hospital

Ok this has been a long journey for me. I have thought about surgery for so long and I know I have no choice but to have it. I have my Informational meeting on Fri. My Insurance starts on Aug 1st. I called the Insurance Company today and told them that I have MNCare and I picked them (HealthPartners). My Question to them was is WLS covered? And it is covered for me and he even told me what I need to do to be approved. No problem on the list. I am more or less done with it with what I can do on my own. Now I have to start the Psych and all that stuff. I picked to go to Abbott. I heard such good things about there program. Anybody that can give me good experience with them I would appreciate it before I get locked in with them to do my Surgery. I would appreciate it. Like which Surgeon and how long it took for you to get through everything to get surgery date. What insurance you had and such..I am looking for someone else mainly that has MNCare Healthpartners.....

 Well, I don't have MNCare and Health Partners, but I did choose Abbott and the surgeons there.  My surgeon was Dr. Chute.  He was very nice, answered all my questions.  He is pretty low-key and reserved, but very caring.

I have gotten rapid responses every time I have called their office, with insurance issues or diet questions, etc.  No problem with that at all, they are very on top of things and know how to navigate the insurance maze.  My insurance company lost the first packet they sent over, and when I found out, I called the surgeon's office, they immediately got on the phone with my insurance company, faxed over a new packet and got me approved within 24 hours!

Abbott was a good place to go, nice nurses and staff.  

I can only tell you about my experiences, but they were very good.  Good luck!

I chose St. Paul Surgeons and United Hospital in St. Paul.  I would recommend both of them to anyone.
While I don't have MN Care, I do have HP insurance and they were very, very helpful.
From start to finish my entire process took 3 months.  Technically it was 2 since I knew my surgery date in June but I didn't actually have surgery until July.

Tam

Please be sure to see what their CAP is for MNCare patients.  While they may cover WLS, there may also be a cap and they will only pay to that amount.  It is good to know all this before getting it done and getting slammed with huge medical bills if they do still have the cap. 

I do not have MNCare or Healthpartners so I cannot speak to them specifically.  I have BCBS and they were very strict on the 6 months documented weight loss with doctor through Bariatric Center of Excellence - and they had to be consecutive months.  It seemed like forever, but it really was not.

Keep up the diligent work and please keep us posted.

Kelly

Thank You all for the Responses. I do not have a Cap on my MNCare. There is different Levels that they put you in and I am a Level 2 with no Cap on Hospital stays. What I see is that when you have kids you are a Level 2. Basic Plus 2 is what it is called. I talked to MNCare about what kind of Insurance I was approved for. They were very Helpful. So that was good news. Thats all that I was hoping for. I called Healthpartners and WLS is covered for me. I have insurance but I dont at this point if that makes sense. They have me in their system as approved and I just have to pay my Premium which I am doing tomorrow. So it is all starting now. I am so Happy that I can finally have this done. My Employer in the past had WLS excluded and I was so upset about that and they would not budge about it either. To them it was very risky surgery. I am going to my Seminar tomorrow at Abbot. Very nervous but I am going to be fine. This is what I want so much so I can be Healthy

I have my first official appointment this Monday with Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin at Abbott. I want a sleeve gastrectomy and was referred to him. I went to my first informational meeting in late spring. I finally decided to go forward. I'm going this for myself. Can't wait.

I picked the RNY and I also decided on Dr Ikramuddin. I have my First appt with him in a couple weeks. On the 9th to be exact, then right away afterwards I am doing my Psych. So I am spending the afternoon at the Piper Bldg. Let me know how the Appt goes with him. I have heard all good things about him....I am so excited about finally getting this done. I sent in my Premium Payment today so my Insurance does start on Aug 1. I have all my Appts set up except for my Surgery. Now its a matter of getting them all done and be on the losers Bench

Yesterday  I had my first appointment with Dr. Ikramuddin. I picked him at random - almost. Then I read up on him and discovered he's a very well-know physician, respected world-wide. I wasn't sure what he'd be like but I can tell you - he's absolutely wonderful. He took time with my appointment. We even chatted a little bit about things other than WLS. The entire staff was great, too. They must be hand-picked for their ability to make others feel comfortable. I'm going to be very happy with Dr. Ikk and his staff. 

I went to Abbott and had a great experience there.  My Dr. is Dr. Chute and all his staff is really great.  Elizabeth the NUT is really nice and easy going well.   I agree that Dr. Chute is quiet but he did a wonderful job on my surgery and the day of surgery some times were off that I put down on paper and he caught it.  I know that might not be a big thing but his attention to detail is amazing.

I have talked with Dr. Drew once there too and he is very nice.   I had a problem over the weekend and they give you a number to call the answering service on the weekends or after hours and I was called within 5 min. of my phone call.  Amazing.   Oh and my problem was just that I wasn't eating carbs which was making me sick and not able to drink.

The hosital staff was all very nice and it was a good stay. 

I wouldn't have gone with a different group, Dr.  or hospital.  :)

I went through St Joe's bariatric care and couldn't be more pleased with the care I have received over the years. Everyone recognizes me and remembers me when I come in and everyone is so friendly and genuinely interested in how I am doing. (I have seen this reaction with other patients when they come check in, so I know it's not just because I work for HE)

The bariatrician you see on follow ups, Dr Sund is fantastic, she is so nice and friendly but can tell you how it is. She is so passionate about what she does and it really shows. Between 2 of the Drs over there they have done well over 2000 lap rny's and have really figured it all out I think. Everything leading you up to the surgery, all of the preparation and the follow up during and the lifetime follow up after that. Also their success and complication rates are better than the national average (or were when I went through the process).

I would go to a lot of different informational meetings, ask a lot of questions and you'll probably know which one is right for you.