BCBS denial.. medicaid possible?

I have a friend that is really in need of WLS.  He weighs almost 400 pounds and he now is having to take insulin shots for his diabetes.  He also has sleep apnea and numerous other co-morb. issues. 

I have looked into what it would cost for him to self pay but it is not within his means.. he says that his primary care doctor has written letters and requested appeal after appeal to get WLS approved for him, but the insurance does not cover WLS, since his employer opted out of it.  

Everywhere he goes he does not get any positive feedback on different options for paying for surgery. So my thought is.. is there any way that he can get medicaid.. at least for his diabetes.. I guesws the shots are like 300.00 a month and he cant even afford them right now.  He is still working so I am not sure how it would work or what avenue he could try to go down...  Has anyone gotten a state funded medical program to pay for some type of weight loss surgery...?  I feel and he also feels that this is his only hope.  Any advice/direction is appreciated!! Thanks!

I am pretty sure that IL Medicaid covers WLS - it's just a matter of finding a doctor who will accept Medicaid's payment. I know for a fact that U of Chicago accepts Medicaid, but there is a long waiting list.

You or your friend should go to your state's govt website and look up the public aid/medicaid information. In IL that info is available online at www.il.gov

Thank you Stephanie,  I did go check it out so now hopefully he will check into it further.  I can only do so much...