Being shut out by Medicare
Well, it is goodbye for me --after much thought, prayer and planning, that I won't be able to have WLS of any kind--I wanted the lap band--in West Virginia, at Ruby Memorial Hospital. I have Medicare primary, and there are NO approved hospitals in WV on the new Medicare Centers of Excellence list. I had already had my WLS Seminar at Ruby and filled out all of my papers, medical history, etc, and would have been a good candidate to get the surgery until Medicare did their "dirty deed" and didn't even give the hospitals a chance to apply for Centers of Excellence, or a 6 month grace period for those awaiting surgery, etc. I heard officially from Ruby representative 2 days ago that they are not able to do Medicare WLS. This rules out anyone in WV with Medicare primary planning to have any WLS. The only other alternative is going out of state, such as Pittsburgh, which isn't practical for me. Anyone "shut out" by Medicare?