all members please read!!!

ok hi everyone. I have got this hairbrained idea. I will need opinions, and feedback. I realize there are so many people needing wls. Im am particulaly concerned with all of wls members who have qualified for wls surgury but can not have the surgury because there health insurance has an exclusion, people cant get that loan because its so high, such as myself. I just wonder how many people om this site have this dilemma? I have a solution a possible solution for all those people who need this lifesaving surgury. I have never in my life got such a good idea about anything ever, but i was praying last night asking the Lord oh what els e can i do? My insurance wants me to die(exclusion) they will help in absoulutely no way! And this awesome idea came into my vision trust me everyone this is the Lords fault I never can think and come up with problem solving such as i did last night. So lets get on with it. People on this site, HOW MANY OF YOU OUT THERE NEED THIS WLS(WEIGHT LOSS SURGURY) AND HAVE BEEN APPROVED FOR THIS SURGURY BY YOUR DOCTOR, BUT CANNOT GO ON TO THE NEXT STEP BECAUSE YOURE INSURANCE WANTS YOU TO DIE THEY WILL NOT HELP YOU IN ANY WAY, YOU CAN NOT GET THAT LOAN BECAUSE ITS TO HIGH. YOU CANT GET ANY MEDICAL COVERAGE BECAUSE YOURE TO OBESE. ETC. PEOPLE GIVE ME AN IDEA HOW MANY OF YOU ARE OUT THERE!!! After I get a basic idea how many of you sufferers aRE out there i can let you know about my perfect idea! I will let you guys know what i willl call it though if it succeeds: GET A LIFE; A NEW ONE THAT IS! i NEED REPLYS, THANKS MARLA COOK~ I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi! My insurance strung me along through the whole proccess and then all of a sudden had a written exclusion. I feel like I am already dying since i have CHF and they just want to hurry it along! By the way I have Pacificare of Oregon! I am very excited to hear your Idea!! Kerrie

hi kerri; i posted my idea to help people get there surgury, on the main message board(state to state) it got erased and it wasnt my doing. I got good feedback from those who need surgury, i got bad from those who are all ready done with there surgury, they called it a scam, and this sounds to fishy etc. If you want to knpw what idea i had posted let me know and ill tell ya. marla

Good luck to all you folks. I hope your plan works, Marla! I just got tired of waiting for insurance to pay and went to Mexico on the cheap. I'd still be interested in hearing what your idea is though! Dina

dina; my idea got slammed dunked on the main message bored, it was so terrible most of the people who already had surgury were saying terrible things like i was trying to scam them, i was truely trying to help all those who need surgury and cant get it because of payment or insurance exclusion, if you really want to hear it let me know and tell you i really thought it was a good idea; Maybe instead of going state to state ill just work on oregon in fact that is my intention possibly. marla

Hi Marla, I would be interested in hearing what your idea is. Email me! Thanks! Michele

Hi michele, My idea was that a person who was approved for surgury, but didnt have any way to pay for it. All of us members could donate 1 dollar to this person in need,, and for four weeks we could try and raise the money in that time, now think 1 member only 1 dollar, now this is where the honesty policy comes in, the recipient has to be honest and let us know how much theyve recieved, in those four weeks.(Or we could designate an honest person to recieve the funds, then pass them on to the recipient, the person who collects the dollars could record the names who donated for accountability and post it on the computer, so there is noway anyone could scrape the top-what do you think?) When those four weeks are up and each of us has sent a dollar, Even if the recipient hasnt recieved all they need, at least there closer to surgery than they were before. Then we start on the next recipent, id would go by surgury dates, and i would confirm the surguries dates somehow. So for all members who donate 1 dollar every 4 wks, thats only 12 dollars a year! and who knows maybe its a tax deductable i dont know. And i wouldnt call this a fundraiser, i woud call it "Saving lives one month at a time" And in case others are reading this my surgury isnt even scheduled so im not trying to just get my surgury paid for i would rather help others first, it makes me feel good. Michelle call me anything, but please dont call me a scammer or a phony i really want to help and if this idea dont jive on the oregon board then by gosh i will think of something else. talk to you later. marla

Marla - Couple of thoughts here. First of all, I actually thought something up similar to what you were thinking, only along the lines of doing it on the cheap for the doctor I saw in Mexico - who has a stellar reputation, btw. I thought it would be a neat thing to have a fundraiser of sorts for different folks who could not get the surgery any other way, but I was thinking of it on an anonymous level and the funds would be added to in the form of eBay sales from folks who have something they don't use lying around their house. Could be sale of old clothing or sales of just household items....wouldn't matter. A Paypal account would be set up to receive the funds and 2 trustworthy people not related would oversee the account to ensure it was protected. Then when enough money was raised to send a person off, they would be contacted and surprised with this gift. I know from experience that you can make a good profit off of eBay if done right, so I thought it would be neat to set it up so that many people could donate proceeds from their eBay sales for these items. It would take awhile to send one person off, but it would be the sweetest gift, wouldn't it? Anyway - that was my bright idea I did nothing with, but maybe this needs to be thought about further. The problem with saying it here is that it will bring people flocking to your doorstep if they think it's really going to work. That's why I thought it would be best to have it be anonymous and that the overseers of the kitty would decide without the other parties knowing about it. Now - the second thought I had about this was that your intentions were in the right place, but with the main board unless you post every night and people know you very well (having a picture is a great help), many will not know you from Adam, and the thing is, there are people who come to the main board and beg, scheme and plot to get their surgery paid for. Being obese affects our lives so much that some people bring themselves down to the level of begging. I'm sure most of these folks are equally sincere, but the thing is, it's not something one should do. Not too many people are going to jump up and donate money for the surgery - especially in a public forum. Like I said - they will crawl out of the woodwork for that. So while I am sorry you had this negative experience, I also see why the people on the main board were suspicious of you. They don't know you like we have come to know you, and with no details to go on, it felt suspicious to them. Try not to take it to heart. It's a different place out there on the main board and it's way too busy to get to know everyone there. Certain subjects will always garner negative comments...plans to try to find a way to get surgeries for folks who don't have the means will be one of them. It's sad, but true. Dina

I have an idea... I was denied by Regence BCBS and I am seeking all potential and previous patients who were denied even though they have a comorbidity such as diabetes or sleep apnea. If these patients are now able to live without their previous disease because of the wls, then we should sue Regence. They have denied us benefits under the American Disabilities Act and we need to force the issue and regain our rights. I am scheduled for surgery August 5, 2004 and have hocked my house for payment. I feel fortunate that I have that resource. But it doesn't mean that I am giving up my rights....it means I am desperate to regain my health. We need a class action law suit against this particular company. There are two of us in Coos Bay who have already talked to an attorney, and we need one more to make a class action suit. Wanna be rich and thin? email me...

I don't understand the rationale of insurance companies that deny coverage to patients that qualify for WLS. It has to be costing so much more for them to cover the obesity related illnesses. If you are able to win a class action suit against one insurance company, maybe that will sent a message to other insurance companies that this is serious and people are not willing to give up their rights. I am very fortunate to have been covered by my insurance company for WLS, but I had to change insurance companies in order for that to happen. My sister, who would definitely be a viable candidate for WLS, has Keiser and was discouraged by her PCP for even trying to start the process. He told her that in the past month he had sent 4 patients that were more obese and had several comorbidities to try to get approval and they were all denied. She is on disablilty and there is no way she can come up with the money on her own to self-pay. She also pays a huge premium to have the adequate insurance coverage for her health issues. Somehow it just doesn't seem fair. I would also be willing to donate a $1 if it could be set up properly. Every year my company has a charitable giving drive. It used to be through United Way, but now you can designate a charity of your choice as long as they are qualified. It almost seems like there needs to be something set up that is a valid organization that has a board of directors designated to make decisions on how the money is disbursed. I'll do some research to see if I can get some ideas. Maybe someone should write to Oprah. She's had people on her show before that have had WLS.