i just had a question about the lap band surgery and medicaid.

my boyfriend and i are trying for the lap band surgery, we are both on medicaid. he has unison i have gateway. i called hershey medical center( i dont know of any others that i can call) and they said that we would have to go to an information meeting. which will inform us about bariatric surgery. my question is, when getting the surgery in PA do we HAVE to do the 6 months or so of monitored weight loss. dont quote me on this because im not 100% sure, but i believe they had mentioned to me that the process can take anywhere from 6 months to a year. did anyone else have to do all of that? how soon were you approved for the surgery? is there a different medical center that we should go through to not have to do the 6 months of nutrionists and dieticians? sorry for all of the questions, i just really want to know from the people who is going through this process now and who has already gone through this process.
thanks!! i look forward to hearing from you guys!

If I am not mistaken the criteria regarding your monitored weight loss program varies depending on what insurance you have NOT necessarily the hospital you choose for your bariatric surgery.  My insurance required a 3 month supervised weight loss program while others in my educational group (part of meeting pre surgery requirements) had 6 months and yet another required a year.  Another Weight Loss Management center which accepts Medicare (unless things have changed) is Reading Hospital.  Whatever the criteria of your Insurance or Medicare requires, it is a life changing decision and if you are truly committed to the lifestyle change, the 6 months (or year) will be here before you know it...be patient...(by the way I failed to mention that I started my Weight loss journey in September 2008 and  was scheduled for surgery in January 2009...hit a road block..., my insurance denied my lapband surgery, so it wasn't until May 2009 when I finally got the best gift I had ever received...the gift of a wonderful tool that has helped me succeed in my wieght loss endeavor.

Good luck and be patient :)

It doesn't matter what hosptial you go to..If it is medicares guideline to do 6 months doctor supervised weight loss then that is what you have to do. Your best bet is to call your provider, because the last support group that I went to they informed everyone that Access has changed their guidlines from 6 months to 7 months. I know that 6 months may seem like a long time, but you have to be willing to do whatever it takes. If they told me to stand on my head naked and pitch pennies, I think I probably would have. I hope that you do make the decision to go through with the supervised diet. If I am not mistaken they do that to show that you can't have sucessful weight loss. Don't quote me on that though.

hello! and thanks for your response! im more than willing to do whatever it takes to be healthy, its just my boyfriend is the impatient one, he is saying he hopes his insurance only makes him do 3 months. but for me, what kinds of things did you have to do during the diet? what is that process? i have to wait til tuesday to call anyone about it so i just want to find out from someone and their experience. thanks

Hi, my daughter has unison and she had to go to all the classes, not only because of insurance but because it is required by Hershey.  That is also where she went.  the only difference is, she had gastric bypass.  What doctor are you looking at?  she had some problems and so did some others but like I said, that was gastric bypass.

well now that he is thinking, well both of us, we both are thinking about going for the gastric bypass. he has unison i have gateway and i was thinking about going to either hershey or york. how long was the entire process for your daughter? like from start to finish? was it tough to get her insurance to accept? did she have to start at a family doctor? or was she able to go straight to hershely and get things going? sorry im really interested and you seem to know more info on our question than others, only because your daughter has the same situation.

If I remember correctly,  it was about 9 months to a year.  I cannot remember her insurance giving her a hard time because she was about 400 pounds and it is something that needed to be done.  She did not have a family doctor because there are no doctors local that accept that insurance.  She went striaght to the hospital.  Things could have changed since Aug 07.  If you can avoid Dr. Shoupe,  that would be good!!  Also check with your insurance company because like I said, things change sooo much. 
I can ask her any questions that you have also.  Just incase I miss something.
Doreen

one more question, he thinks he doesnt have to go to the info session. isnt it a requirement for anyone trying for bariatric sygery? to go to the information session?

I am almost possitive that the info seccion is requirement for everyone.  I had lap band and I had to register for the info session.  I went to Reading Hospital. That is where they explain the procedure and get your info and you can get other info as well.