Cleveland Clinic or St. Vincents?

Hello! I just got back from seeing my PCP today. He is recommending the LapBand procedure for me. I am relieved that he is totally backing me up with the recommendation. So now I have to choose a surgeon/hospital. I have Aetna Select Care. I am 38yrs old, 5'0 and 198 (bmi runs between 38 and 40). I also have a genetic joint disorder with severe arthritis and high blood pressure. I have done alot of soul searching to get to this point. At least one year of considering and educating myself on the process. And I know this is the right decision for me. However, I am very, very scared that Aetna will not accept me. I know I'm not alone here. :-) Does anyone know if I would have a better shot at qualifing with Aetna Select at one hospital over the other? Is there generally a long wait to get in to be seen for your initial consultation? Also in terms of care, which surgeon/hospital would you consider superior? Sorry for the list questions. Thanks in advance for your help! ;-)

HI there! Not sure how much I can help you.. but I'll tell you what I know. I have insurance.. but my company is selfpay, and had a WLS exclusion. You can call your insurance and find out how much and where they cover. Being that I was self pay, I called St V and they told me the surgery would be between 17k-22k and wouldn't give me an exact price. They wanted me to do psych visits and multiple nutritional visits. All of this would be out of pocket. They also had a waiting list of a few weeks for a consult. And the consult would only happen AFTER I got all my other stuff done. (nut and psych) I called Cleveland Clinic. They wanted 27.5K for Lap Band. I double checked,, because that is closer to the price of RNY. So that was out. I love my band.. I was banded on 12/15/2006 in Cincy by Dr Curry. (He posts on this board often.) Even if I can't help you with your insurance questions.. feel free to ask away.. I am also in Cleveland! Amanda

Thank you very much for your input! I need all the support that I can get. Much appreciated my fellow Clevelander! :cool:

I sent you a PM with my email and cell. Amanda

Amanda...... I am curious. Does that mean you will go to Cincy each time you need a fill?

Yup.. but Dr Curry is so worth it. I was laughing during my last fill. I mean it didn't hurt at all. One stick and done. I would drive to CA to get a fill from him. I also love to drive.. so I make a trip out of it. And now I am making a carpool of it.. I am driving another patient down for fills as well.

Silvia, I'm a St. V alumni, I would recommend them because of their pre-op and post-op education. As a patient of ST. V., and a visitor to others at CC, The nurses at both places really seem to care, but 5-B nurses at ST. V. are dedicated bariatric nurses as far as I can tell. I will not bad-mouth either place, just check them both out, and go from there. I don't think you'll go wrong. Doug

Silvia I to am a St V's alumnus and I loved there program they were great. The people that handle the insurance approval process are AWSOME, and I would have to agree with Doug on his comment about the nurses on 5b yes they are AWSOME as well. But go ahead and check out both programs and then decide which one you like better. I know that when I was looking I did talk to CCF but I felt more comfortable with St V's and i'm glad i stuck to it and chose them. You do what you feel is right. If you have any questions I may be able to answer about St V's program don't hesitate to ask. Good luck on your journey and may god bless. Jim

I am not sure about the insurance, but I had my surgery at CCF. In addition I had RNY. But I was very pleased with the whole program. To start you fill out a questionaire about yourself. This includes info about history of weight loss efforts and insurance. Then you send it and and its is reviewed. After this you are invited to an information meeting. It is a wonderful chance to learn more about the surgery and specifics about the program. There is a variety of people at this meeting to ask questions to so come prepared to ask away. lol This includes nurse, insurance help, and Dr. Here is the link to the CCF website http://cms.clevelandclinic.org/bariatricsurgery/default.cfm?oTopID=154. I have also heard good things about St Vincents so you really can' t go wrong! If you have any more questions please feel free to email me. I would love to help. Wishing you all the best! Kim

Hello I am new to the process also. I have checked out both places too. I have not had surgery yet. I have chose CCF because of insurance and my pcp's advice. We are really lucky here in Ohio to have 2 quality programs so close. They are both excellent from what I have heard and I agree either way you can't go wrong.