Looking for a Nutritionist in a sea of non-DS offices... (Maryland)

Hello DSers! :)

I'm a prospective patient who is coordinating with Dr Greenbaum in New Jersey to get the DS as an out of state patient, hopefully sometime this year in summer or fall. I have all of my required pre-op tests completed, yay!

However, I have found out that due to having Maryland BCBS insurance, I will need to have several months (6-7) of consecutive nutritionist visits prior to surgery. Apparently years of weigh****chers won't count for Maryland BCBS coverage, unless it was also under the supervision of a doctor. My WW group was not, unfortunately. I'm pretty let down that WW won't count, and I have no idea who to see locally (DC/Baltimore Area) for this nutrition requirement. Greenbaum's office has told me to work with my PCP to get a referral to a nutritionist nearby, and so that's one option I am intending to pursue.

However, everyone local is RNY/VSG or Lap Band only! I am going to see if one of the local places will still allow me to see their nutritionist and if my insurance will accept that, as a second option in case my PCP doesn't know who to refer me to...

(I went to several places that claimed that they do the DS on their websites when I was looking for a surgeon, but ultimately met with disappointment time and time again on visiting their offices, after countless info session shenanigans. I haven't found anyone within about 100 miles that still does it currently.)

Any advice is appreciated! I don't know how common this is, but it certainly is throwing me for a loop.

Have you actually READ your insurance policy?  The actual policy.  And found these requirements in your EOB?  Many times insurance companies will TELL you anything they can think of because they know you won't be smart enough to read your policy!

Definitely read your EOC (evidence of coverage, a huge document, not just the summary of benefits) as was suggested, and don't take the word of an insurance company flunkie...oh sorry I mean agent...over the phone. They get stuff wrong. You will care enough to get it right. But often, something like WW is not allowed.

   The good news is that your nutritionist can be just as ignorant as can be and still be a nutritionist. You are apparently not required to lose weight to fulfill this requirement, just attend a certain number of sessions with the nut carefully scheduled to be monthly (don't miss one or your insurer will use this as an excuse to make you start over). So go, smile and nod, then go home and eat as healthy as you can, and go again the next month. Like so many insurance requirements, there is no evidence that these meetings help in any way. It's just a hoop to jump through, so get a name from your pcp and start jumping.

Larra

I sat down and read through my policy like you both recommended, and it was absolutely wrong! Yay! I need 6 months consecutively, or 2 different 3 month consecutively but not concurrently.

Thanks for the sanity check! :)