Insurance!!!!! HELP please

If you want to get your surgery done ASAP, I would start doing some things NOW.  You can get some stuff done before Mar 1, without spending a bunch of money.  You might be able to schedule the other appointments for Mar -Apr, but if you wait until May, you may be looking at May-Jun.

I would think that you can go to the free info meetings for a few surgeons and at least narrow down to the one(s) that you think are a good match for you.  By Feb 1st at the LATEST, I would be scheduling appointments with a surgeon for March 2nd - the day after your insurance kicks in.  Most insurance plans have the plan benefits written up so that people can choose between several different plans.  If you cannot get the info from HR (you can just ask for comparison info without stating that you are primiarily interested in one benefit).  Plus the insurance specialists at the surgeon's office usually knows what is needed to pre-certify your surgery.

At times my surgeon is now booked a month in advance - he is in surgery 2 days a week and cannot meet with new patients on those days.  That is common in many areas, and some people report a much longer time to get in to see a surgeon.  If you go to a few meetings and know the surgeon that you want to use, I would contact that office and talk to the insurance specialist.  For my surgeon, those people are at the public meeting and you can talk to them after the surgeon's presentation.  If your insurance makes you do a 3 or 6 month supervised diet and it is not covered under insurance, you can start that diet, too, before your insurance kicks in.  If you have a choice on plans to select, the insurance person at the surgeon office might have some factors for you to consider as to what exactly is required under your soon-to-be new insurance.  Also, some doctors will meet with you for the first meeting for free. 

Get to those free public info meetings and explain your situation to them and ask them how you can speed things up without spending a bunch of money. 

The big thing is getting that insurance to kick in.  Save as much money as possible.  You can keep the insurance under COBRA if this job goes belly-up, which I fervently hope it does not.