time to regroup

Today surgeons office called and said i was too fat to get the band and i would have lo lose 23 more pounds to reach the limit of 49 BMI for lapband and I asked why and she said medicare says lapbands are not approved for BMI 50 and higher.  I was initially told that the sleeve woild be no problem and then last month doc said pick a second choice we cannot do sleeve with medicare after "the program" telling me over and over they would do the sleeve.  The insurance girl at the surgeons office said it is 2 separate programs HUH surgeons program has nothing to do with the bariatric center, it sounds like a con to me.On the website and at the seminar the surgeon gave the pitch. anyway to make a long story longer after all of that i am called today and told lose weight, hell if i could lose weight i would not even consider WLS so  for know im done and i will get back to trying to lose on my own. Good Luck to all in their journey of weight loss however you acheive your goals. Peace

I'm not familiar with Medicare coverage of WLS, but I do know someone who worked in insurance before she retired and who works (for free) as a patient advocate, helping bariatric patients deal with insurance issues. She's given me permission to share her e-mail address. It is:
[email protected]

If you contact Vicki, she'll do her best to help you figure out what's going on with your case.

Good luck!

Jean

 Medicare has their head up their ass. Regardless of what THEY think, there is no weight limit on the band. I was 54 BMI and my surgeon has banded people into the 60s BMI.

I would go over the surgeon's head and check with Medicare on your own. Maybe it's your DOC that doesn't want to do high BMI patients.