Question about revision

 My wife had lap band 2.5 years ago and appears to be having the symptoms of slippage.  We have Federal Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance.  She originally had her surgery in Mexico.  My questions are:
If she does indeed have to have the lapband removed, will she be required to meet the original qualifications for the surgery (weight and comorbidities) for a new patient?  
Will the surgeon remove the old and insert a new?  
Is it likely that insurance will cover this?

She has lost a great deal of weight and would not qualify for lapband as a new patient at her current weight.

Thanks in advance for any guidance anyone can give us on this subject.

If there are health issues that are being caused by the lapband most insurances will pay for removal. They may turn down revisions, though.

If she wishes to revise to another type of surgery, you may be required to meet some qualifications, but it's not the same across the board.

Best of luck to your wife. I hope she'll be okay.

That varies greatly from insurance to insurance. Call your provider and ask. If it's not an answer that you want to hear you can always appeal. However some insurance policies are now adding a "one WLS per lifetime" claus and it yours has done that, she's pretty much screwed as far as a revision. Back to Mexico! :-(

I have teacher health insurance. Mine wouldn't pay for it to be removed even if it had eroded into my stomach. They treat teachers real nice in Louisiana. Didn't even pay for my EDG to see if my esophagus was damaged. I did not have to meet requirements for my surgeon when I had my revision. BUT I was 80-100lbs over weight.

If she had it in MX because her insurance doesn't pay for WLS, then, no, they won't pay for it. If her current insurance does pay for WLS and/or is covering any of her current expenses (like appointments and fills), they probably will pay for it. Your surgeon's office (if she's seeing one here in the US) should be able to help with getting this figured out. Usually with a slip it is possible to have it repaired and either keep the same band or have a new one put in, as long as no major complications turn up along the way. You don't usually have to meet the same criteria as a firt-time patient.