MEDICAID AND MEDICARE SURGEONS LIST!

I had medicaid and went to Dr. Phillip Leggett at 800 Peakwood in Houston Texas. He does the surgery at the Northwest Medical Center there. I will post his number. soon. I got approved by Medicaid in less than 2 weeks. I went to all the prerequisites he requires and I had all my doctors write letters to Medicaid. I had a lot of issues such as sleep apnea, hypertension, gerd, psuedotumor cerebri and knee problems and had tried it all. I had the banding done in 1997 and it failed. Maybe I failed. I'm not sure but I did the gastric sleeve and I have lost over 150 pounds and kept it off for over 2 years. I got married 3 months ago to a wonderful man that loved me at my heaviest and is ga-ga over me now! Now I can actually keep up with him.
Hope this helps someone!

Oh my goodness!! I've been looking for this info for weeks! I saw Southern Surgical (Dr. Naziri) does it, but didn't know about them accepting Medicaid. I had the surgery done in Nov. 04 and lost about 110 lbs. I have since had a child and gained about 60 lbs bac****ep trying to get rid of it, but only mange to drop about 20 lbs. I can eat a "normal" amount now as well and no longer get dumping syndrome. I seriously would like a redo or the lapband at least. Now I have a little hope! I'm going to call next week and talk to someone about my eligibility!! Thanks so much for this thread!!!

hello i have been seeing Michael G. Melkonian, M.D., FACS @ carolina surgical clinic and charlotte nc..

im in need of a physiological evaluation for gastric bypass surgery.. in the charlotte nc area. someone who takes Medicaid.... help??



Main Office
2104 Randolph Road
Charlotte, NC 28207

Matthews Office
Presbyterian Hospital—Matthews
1450 Matthews Township Parkway
Suite 320
Matthews, NC 28105

P: (704) 377-3900
F: (704) 377-1244

If you have Medicaid and have any questions about your coverage or providers, you can contact the Care-Line. I believe the number is on the back of your Medicaid card. I have copied the following from their website:

The CARE-LINE is the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ (NCDHHS) toll-free Information and Referral telephone service. Information and Referral Specialists provide information and referrals regarding human services in government and non-profit agencies. Currently, sixteen individuals staff the CARE-LINE. Of these staff, one specialist is the OCS CARE-LINE Hispanic Citizen Services Representative and is dedicated to handling calls from Spanish-speaking customers. Another specialist is a Bioterrorism Information and Referral Specialist and works closely with the Division of Public Health in coordinating bioterrorism efforts related to the Governor’s Public Health Hotline. CARE-LINE staff are well trained and have a wealth of knowledge regarding human service programs across North Carolina. Many staff persons are Certified Information and Referral Specialist by the National Alliance of Information and Referral Services. In FY 2008-09, these professionals provided information to more than 300,000 callers.

If you have a questions about services that are available to you through the NCDHHS, CARE-LINE staff can guide you to the appropriate source. In addition, staff are able to retrieve information regarding other human services provided by government (local, state and federal) and non-profit services across North Carolina. Our service covers all 100 counties in North Carolina.

A database of over 10,000 services across North Carolina is available to staff who are assisting callers. In addition, residents and professional can access program information via the NCcareLINK.

OCS is credited with implementing an on-line web-based updating process that ensures that data is accurate and up-to-date. This service allows agencies and offices listed in our database to review their data – thus eliminating time consuming phone calls, faxes and e-mail by OCS personnel. Updating our database used to be a lengthy process – great reductions in time equal cost savings to the citizens of North Carolina. OCS was the first Information and Referral service in North Carolina to implement on-line updating.

You may reach the CARE-LINE between 7 am and 11 pm, 7 days a week including state holidays by calling 1-800-662-7030 (English/Spanish) or 1-877-452-2514 (TTY). For local calls, you may dial 855-4400 (English/Spanish) or 919-733-4851 (TTY).

Sooooo Medicaid has now changed ......they NO longer cover WLS! I had just finished my 6month supervised diet when i was informed that the no longer do it. LETS just say i couldnt help but start to tear up as they told me the veryyy disapointing news. :(

To add to the list of hospitals in the Triangle area that can provide WLS to Medicare and Medicaid patients.........WakeMed Cary Hospital which has been approved as a Center of Excellence.  
Medicare patients please recognize that you MUST have 6 consecutive monthly physician visits to work on weight loss issues BEFORE you can have WLS done.  This messes up many patients who desperately need treatment for severe obesity so please make sure it gets done correctly (we do this at www.newhopewellnessNC.com)
The newest Medicaid requirements released in January DO NOT require this 6 months of effort.

Also for those of you Medicaid patients considering WLS, although the Duke program could perform those procedures, I have been told that they are not currently accepting Medicaid patients for new patient evaluations as they are reviewing these new requirements and trying to figure out what they are going to do.  It seems very likely that they will limit how many Medicaid patients they will see once they decide to open up for appointment scheduling for Medicaid insured patients.  Please be sure to ask LOTS of questions about their approach to Medicaid if you choose to call them.
www.newhopewellnessNC.com does provide services to the Medicaid and Medicare populations.  The only out of pocket cost for a new patient evaluation is Medicaid's co-pay ($3) and a one-time $300 single charge which covers psych, nutrition, and physical therapy evaluations (yes- all 3!).  There is no application fee and we accept Medicaid and Medicare rules for the financial aspects of covering the surgery.  Call today-  no seminar required before your visit and appointments are available with little waiting period!

 I found out that Medicaid has started paying for weight loss surgery again. I know though that Southern Surgical in Greenville don't take it but Dr. Chapman and Dr. Pender in Greenville does take Medicaid because my friend got me to call and ask them for her. Hope this helps :)

I'm looking for a Dr that will accept medicaid for full upper body lift. I have a lot of skin after my bypass.

i had just finished 6 months whenmedicaid stopped covering it. no they are covering it again and i am hitting the 1year mark with my pre op visits that are required and cant find anyone in thearea accepting it. so discouraged i live in the fayetville/raleigh area in nc any info wouldbe much appreciated.

I have Medicare and opted for AARP Medicare Complete Plus!  I could not find a doctor that would take my insurance AND the hospital too without spending huge amounts of out-of-pocket money I did not have being low income.

So I had to go online. I found BeLiteWeight.com and it has been GREAT. They assign you a Patient Facilitator that is a specialist in Medicare (in my case). And I am assigned a Doctor, Hospital, and a surgery date. Mine is Next Week! I do have to fly to Las Vegas, NV Tuesday and back Saturday. Then my Family doctor takes over my care.

All of us have talked on the phone, internet, and by fax. everyone is on the same page. I think it's great for me because I don't have the $$$ these doctors around here wanted.