New To Board - Question About Insurance

Hi, I am considering WLS soon, and need to deicde on an insurance company soon. It is open enrollement at Boeing, where I work, and I need to pick the best one for WLS. I have these 3 to choose from Regents Selections (my Current) Regents Traditional Group Health Any suggestion are welcome. thanks. Lynn

Hi Lynn! Just wanted to welcome you to the WA board! Good luck with your insurance and WLS decision Good to have you aboard! XoXo ~ Kimanne

Thanks good to be here. I have been thinking about WLS for almost 2 years now. I decided it is time to act. I have been looking at the Wish Center. I have attended their first session and have scheduled my first appointment. This message board and web site is a great place to hear about real people having the surgery. Lynn

Hi Lynn, if I were you I would speak to someone in your Human Resources department because I am sure that there is an Advocate there that can give you the info you need to make the right decision. I would also suggest going to the top of this page and click on Insurers and you will see which ins. co. pays. I believe Regence for boeing does cover wls. Several of the Group Health policies are not covering it beginning in 2005. Good luck with your search and welcome to the WA board. Tammy

Welcome to our board. Please keep us posted about your progress -- we'll all be "rooting" for you! For your open enrollment insurance question, go to the website for each of the insurances, and check their clinical policies for code 278.01 (morbid obesity). Most insurance companies update their clinical policy pages frequently, so although there may have been an exclusion a few months ago, they may have re-written it recently to include a "medical necessity" caveat. Your Boeing HR benefits website should have a link to each of the medical insurance coverages that they offer. I hope this helps. Good luck, Susan

Mary, I too had my WLS at Wish Center here in Renton and am very very pleased. I had both Dr. A. and Dr. Strain in surgery and all went well!! As to insurance, consider calling WISH Center Renton and talk to their insurance specialist. I think her name is Naomi. She was a great help to me with our insurance which by the way is Federal Plan Blue-Cross/Blue-Shield and paid if medically necessary with no problems so far!! Good luck and keep in touch. Consider joining our support group which meets at WISH Center too, even before surgery. Good to have contacts and see people who are going the same route as you!! Karen Thompson 09-15-2004 50+ pounds down

Check with Human Resources to determine which one pays for the surgery.

Hi Lynn, I, too, am a happy product of the WISH Center. I have Regence Selections insurance, and they just exclude WLS or anything obesity-related from their policy. So, I ended up paying for the surgery myself (correction: I will be making payments for a loooooooooong time). I agree with everyone else's posts. Call Naomi at the WISH Center. She's very knowledgeable about this stuff. Good luck, and join us for a support group at the WISH Center next week on Tuesday night! -Chris (-40 lbs)

Thanks for the help. I did talk to Naomi, do you work for Boeing? We have are open enrollement through today, so I decided to change to Traditional Boeing. they do cover WLS, atleast some of it, so it worth a try. When is the support Group? I don't think I have heard about this yet. I am still pretty new. Thanks for the help. lynn