ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS???

Question? I called Centenial Center for Morbid Obesity, and talked to my insurance girl there who was obviously having a bad day and chose to take it out on me. BUT, I, being the consumate professional that I am, did NOT let her bad day take my joy, I just acted like I didn't notice. ANYWAYS, I asked her what tests (if any) or other appts (like psch eval, dietician etc) I should be making, and she said "none" and HUNG UP. I called back because I thought SURELY she had "accidently" hung up on me, and when I got her back on the line and asked her if she meant to hang up she said "well, I thought you were through"....poor baby, I hope tomorrows better for her, cuz if not, i'm gonna go let the air outa her tires LOL...everyones entitled to a bad day, and she has had hers, my question after all this ranting and raving is....drum roll please,,,,,has anyone else been told to not schedule any appts and to wait for the consult with the Doctor??? I'm new to all this, and had asked on OH before if I should be scheduling them even before I met with the surgeon and the general concensus was yes that I should be.....ok, your turn...Carol

Centennial Medical Center Treatment of Obesity likes to get surgeon approval first before doing any tests. They have a dietician on site, you have to pay $250 for psych consult and I am not sure about the sleep study. My insurance won't cover me there because it is out of network when there is an in network available. Good luck, they do have an excellent aftercare program. I wish I could have went there, but I am sure Dr. Hruska will be great from what I hear on here. Lisa

I had surgery at Centenial last year in April. The only thing I had to do first was the psych eval that was 250.00 out of my pocket. Then I saw my surgeon. After my Ins approved the surgery then I saw the psych then the surgeon. Good Luck. Do you have good Ins? I have PHCS Fiserv Health of TN and was approved on first try. And the reason they said they approved was due to the pain in my hips. I had no co-morbities

Hi Carrie, thanks for your info. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. I am a state employee, and am scheduled for a sleep study June 15th. I also have pain in my knees (it's getting worse every day now) but my blood pressure is good, and i have no other health issues other than the sleep apnea (not yet diagnosed) and I have thyroid disease. I guess I'm just concerned that I could be doing something but am not because I'm not aware that i should be doing it!! Thanks again for your info, I won't worry bout it now! Carol

Hiya Carol. Man, am I so sorry you had such a bad experience. Thats my surgical group too. My surgery is scheduled for the 26th. They have all been SUPER nice to me, but I've not ran across that person you're talking about. I'm certain that isnt the way the docs want her to behave. I hope you wont hold that against the group. I went to the seminar first, then the surgery consult, and they scheduled everything else for me. I did all the preop today. Let them set everything for you, it worked out well and all was done in one day. The psych consult, however, costs $295 out of pocket. They do not file it with insurance. Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help in any way! God bless ya hon! Melanie

Hi there Melanie! Thanks for the response, I'm sure the poor girl was just having a bad day, all is forgiven, and I will NOT let it influence my opinion of Centennial's Center for Obesity. I did my homework, and know that that is the right place for me to be. I have complete confidence in their staff, and we both know that we are all humans, and from time to time we might get a bit snippy with the public when we aren't feeling 100%. I really wanted to reach thru the phone and give her a hug!!! ANYWAYS, Just to clarify what you were saying, You just called up and said, "I want to schedule a surgery consult?" I've gone to the seminar, and have the sleep study set, but don't know where to go from here. Thanks, Carol

Hiya Carol. Did you go to the Centennial seminar? They give out packets at theirs with the paperwork you have to complete. Once you fill it out, you send it in and they will submit everything to the insurance company for you. Once they get approval they will schedule the surgery consult with you. They are a great bunch! God bless ya sweetie! Melanie

Melanie, I did go to the seminar, and submitted all the paperwork, got my lil insurance lady assigned to me (they go according to your last name, and I think you and I might have the same lil insurance lady, her name begins with a D) anyways, they did submit my paperwork and called me and said that my insurance wanted a 5 yr medical history. I just discovered yesterday at work, that my one Dr. that I was going to for over 3 yrs (living in Kentucky then) had not faxed my records back to my lil insurance lady, and she had requested it a month ago! Ah, such is life! Anyways, I'm guessing that once BCBS has the records they need, they will say either yea or nay, but in the meantime, do I need to do anything? Thanks Mel, You're always there for me! Carol

Carol just a FYI.....if you have BC/BS of TN and you have EAP......they will cover all but $25.00 of the psych eval. They covered all the pre-op labs, EKG and chest x-ray also. Also, I'm sure at Centenial it's different, but I had to have my PCP appointment, psych eval, dietician eval and dietician classes completed before I can have my consult with my surgeon. I had to fill out an application to be reviewed to get accepted into the program. Anne

Hello I have Phcs And EAP program at work. I wonder if they can cover a physc eval?