Medicare as secondary-primary exclusion-help please

I see this question asked over and over but I have never seen it answered for sure and I really need to know-please help... I have America's Choice as my primary. They have an exclusion so it will be denied. My doctor already sent them a letter and is waiting on the denial. I also have medicare, but it is my secondary. Will they pay for my bariatric surgery. I have called medicare. I have asked the hospital-no one seems to know, but I really need to know as I am already well into the process of having the DS which is about $45K. Medicare is supposed to pay 80% of that but I am unsure since it is my secondary.  I have a 72 BMI and meet all the requirements of medicare including going to a center of excellence (University of Chicago) and having other co-morbidities.  Thank You so much for your time and input-Amy

Hi, I am in the same predicament so I contacted Medicare and they told me that if your primary denies the surgery or has an exclusion then they will not pay for it.  I have insurance thru my spouse who works for Walmart and they have an exclusion and I tried anyway and they denied it, so about a year ago I began drawing Social Security Disability because of all the illnesses I have due to obesity and I know that in Jan. 2008 I will be eligible for medicare so I have been doing lots of research and I asked the lady at Medicare if I dropped my spouses insurance before Medicare takes over would it pay for it then and she said yes if you meet the requirements.  Also, I asked if there is any kind of waiting period or pre-existing condition clauses that would effect me getting the surgery thru Medicare and she said no as long as you have had consistent health coverage within the past year without any gaps in coverage lasting I think more than 90 days or something. (not sure exactly on the exact amount of days).  Hope this helps. Melissa