TRICARE FOR LIFE

I;M PLANNING TO HAVE RYN IN FEB. I WILL NEED TO LOSE ABOUT 145POUNDS. WHEN DO I START LOOKING FOR PS M.D.?  AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN MY CHART FOR TRICARE TO PAY. I KNOW THAT MEDICARE WILL NOT PRE APPROVE BUT DOES TRICARE PAY IF MEDICATE DOES NOT PAY? I CAN NOT PAY MORE THAN 20%. THANKS FOR ANY INFO.

I am not an expert in these matters but my husband has TFL and Medicare and this is what his experience has been.  When medicare will not pay but it is a Tricare allowable procedure (etc) Tricare pays the maximum allowable charge -- minus your co-payment and deductibles.  But in this instance the procedure requires pre-approval from Tricare so before doing anything you will need to find a surgeon who takes tricare assignment and submit for preapproval.  You can find the plastics policy on the tricare website.  It seems like some but not all get Tricare approval.  You will want to start documenting any skin breakdown or rashes - as soon as you can.  However, I would not count out Medicare entirely.  At this point you do not know the extent of the issues the excess skin will cause.  There have been a couple of people who post here who have had good luck with medicare and the  Kansas University Resident Training Program.

Red

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT SEEMS SILLY TO THINK ABOUT EXCESS SKIN SO EARLY BUT I HAVE A REALLY BAD BACK----LOWER AND UPPER SO I KNOW THE SKIN WILL PULL. I LIKE TO KNOW AHEAD OF TIME SO I CAN HAVE THE RIGHT DOCUMENTION IN MY CHART. THANKS AGAIN.