Hello:) and questions...

I recently went to weightwise seminar in Edmond and have decide on the gastric sleeve. I have my consultation set up for thursday 23rd and cant wait to start the process.
I work for OK State and have pacificare and was wondering if anyone has had that insurance and if I should worry:( I am really ready to change my life with this.

I CAN'T HELP YOU WITH THE INSURANCE QUESTION BUT I WANTED TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR DECISION TO HAVE THE GASTRIC SLEEVE. IT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE FOR MYSELF AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT! YOU WILL BE IN GREAT HANDS AT WEIGHTWISE! KEEP US POSTED ON YOUR SUCCESS!

Thanks and I will keep you posted. I am doing this no matter what! Insurance pays or not...This is something I must do

Welcome, and congratulations for taking this first step. Dr. Broussard is an excellent surgeon and with him you have nothing to worry about - you are in the best of hands! As, for the insurance - mine did not cover the surgery and most insurances, as far as I know, will not cover the sleeve - Sad, I know...but to me, it was worth every penny! Good luck and keep us posted!

Congrats on your decision first of all!! You could not ask for a better surgeon than Dr. B.!!! I also work for the state, but have Healthchoice...I do no not know about pacificare, but healthchoice only assist on a very limited basis...Check with your benefits coordinator and have him/her get you all the information they can on what is and isn't paid for.

Best of Luck to you! Let us know if you need anything else! 

You should be able to call your insurance companies and ask them if they will pay for WLS.  Healthchoice has gotten really stingy on many things they will cover.  They used to be much better, but have really cut back. 

Is Pacificare a medicare replacement policy?  If so, I know that medicare does pay for WLS--RNY and Lap Band--but not the sleeve unless they have recently started.

Also, if the insurance says WLS is not covered by your policy, ask if it would be covered if medically necessary. 

Unfortunately neither my insurance nor my husbands would cover weight loss, but mine did pay out of pocket for Dr. Walton's office visits and also all my labs and sleep study.  I live 3 hours from Edmond, so I had all that done locally to me.

Good luck!

Congrats on your decision.  You will begin a whole new life!!!  My husband is on the state insurance and I believe that NONE of their plan options will pay for WLS.  Be sure and check it out anyway.  I ended up being cash pay but....would do it again in a heartbeat!  You are worth it no matter how you pay for it.  We buy cars that cost more and will need to be replaced more often than not before they are even paid for.  My insurance did cover the labs, sleep study and cardio tests.  Be sure and get your lab orders from WeightWise and have your pcp run them though for insurance to cover them.  It's so unfair that insurance dictates so much in our health care.  They think they are docs but are simply looking at a manual.  I have saved my insurance so much money since I no longer use insulin, strips, needles, blood pressure medicine, previcid, anti-depressants and on and on and on!!!  It was all so worth it though!!  Good luck to you and welcome to our Oklahoma forum!!!

I, too, have Pacificare and, no, sorry to say they did not cover it.  I, too, was self-pay.  They did pay for the sleep study, through MY PCP.  They will pay for certain of the blood work.  Just be sure your PCP is up to snuff on knowing what you're doing and willing to help you as much as he or she can.   My best to you.  Lynette

I found out after my inital consulation that the insurance had a weight loss exclusion. Even though I called and talked to 2 insurance reps that said it was covered as long as it was medically nessary. Plus my insurance Pacificare HMO with the sate does not cover out of network anyway and that was what weightwise is..out of network.