Fl. Medicaid /Medipass Help

Hello Floridians!

I cant help but ask... has anyone had RNY thru Medicaid/Medipass??? I only picked this insurance b/c the Dr.'s office said it was the easiest to get an approval usually, but I know NOTHING about their process! All I know is that I have scheduled my psych & nutritionists appts for the end of this month & the surgeon wont even let me in the door without these reports. The assistants said they cant order any pre-op tests or anything w/ out the reports..so I guess thats the reasoning for that  

Basically, I would LOVE to know if anyone knows what else Medipass will require of me and how long this whole process will take??? Is it very difficult to get approved?

Any help is appreciated....

Several Surgeon's used to take Medicaid but then had a very hard time getting re-imbured. Thus they tried to get something from the patients which was fruitless as those with Medicaid have no money. Otherwise they wouldn't need Medicaid.

Now only a few Surgeon's accept Medicaid/Medipass. You need to not only contact the Surgeon's office and see what they require to receive any Bariatric Surgery But need to cantact your Medipass Representitive. And get it in writing what they require (such as how long ago Medical Records, How many months Doctor Supervised Diet Documented in your Medical Records, etc.

And it'd make no sense to start what the Surgeon wants till you know what the Insurance requires and will pay for. As to the Psych & Nutritionist, you'll have to use ones that the Surgeon recommends and hopefully the insurrance will pay for or you'll end up paying cash out of your pocket. And don't do those until the Supervised diet is almost complete because the Psych & Nutrition results are only good for so long. And if exptred you'll need to do them again.

If you don't have it, then learn to grow patience!

I just got home from  Dr. Ben David's seminar in Gainesville, florida....


I have medipass/Medicaid and they already had me do the testing there...

I was told to bring my surgery records and to have my Psychologist and nutritionist appointments done here and hope to have them complete by my consult on 11/12/09
I'm calling again in the morning since my calls last week have not been returned....

I asked if they had any issues with medicaid and she said not anything they couldn't fix!

So, I am very hopefull this will go through... and there will be a new me in 2010 !!!!

Thank you Nora...your reply was very helpful. My surgeon's office is requesting the same thing...I have to do the Nutrition & Psych first, and then go to the surgeon. On the 1st visit, they will request several labs from my Primary Care Doctor and go from there. She told me Medipass works very quickly, and their approvals take anywhere from 48-72 hours! I think that's great, I would hate to have to wait months at a time.

Dr. Sosa's office has performed many surgeries on Medipass/Medicaid, from what the nurse said, and she mentioned they are pretty easy with the approval. I also had a private reply from someone on this site that just had it done and they said it went incredibly smooth and was approved in basically NO time. This makes me very excited!!!!

I hope you have a smooth approval as well....and hope we can see eachother on the loosing side VERY soon!!! Thank again...

Sorry, I'm so slow at getting back here...


   I did all the testing in one morning 8:30-11 ....  It wasn't bad at all. My biggest issue right now is the waiting time to see my PCP! I have an appointment for 1.20.2010 which sucks!  I've called twice a day to see if I can get in sooner with him and he is now booked til March...

I dont think its a good idea to switch doctors at this point, but if I thought it would go quicker I would!

I guess the testing was to make sure everything was working properly and in good health to have the surgery.  I was told all my test were great... I have always had low Iron so I am hope that
isn't going to be an issue. I do have a script for it ....

I wish you luck with everything! seems your heading in the right direction!

where are you located?

Hey Nora....

I am in the South Miami, Florida area. My surgeon is located in Hialeah, which is about a 30 minute drive from my house. I am very excited! And I can't BELIEVE your PCP has such a long wait time...that's crazy! My PCP will be available within a week after I am done with my Psych on Monday. I did go with a new PCP, just so you know, because I did not have one to begin with. This is a doctor that my WLSurgeon recommended, and they work with on a regular basis. She is very familiar w/ WLS patients and the issues that are faced before & after. So, with this being said, I am HOPING, PRAYING that this can all be done before the year ends...including my WLS!!!

I know this is a little late but I also had Medicaid/Share of Cost. I went through Ben David's Office also. They handled everything for me. I went to the seminar in July and had surgery in Dec. They are very good people and help out wherever they can. I will say that getting calls back is not a strong area for them but I was persisent and kept calling them until I got an answer from them. Keep at it, bug them if you have to and you will be happy you did. Good luck on everything. Approval took no time at all. Within a few weeks they had my pre-approval. Your surgery date will be here before you realize.