Question for those in Roanoke

My question is how do you make contact with the surgeon. Did you just call or did your PCP do a referral? If your PCP did the referral how long did that take. I have decided on either Dr Lucktong or Dr White since they are both in the same office. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Also did you call your insurance to find out what you had to do and what was covered. I went to my insurance website and I see that Gastric Bypass is covered for: ? Gastric bypass surgery or gastric stapling procedures for morbid obesity - a condition in which an individual weighs 100 pounds over, or 100% over, his or her normal weight according to current underwriting standards; eligible members must be age 18 or over I am 5'3" and weigh 270 so got both covered.

Hi Anna....I called the office and they made my appointment and also did the insurance work. I loved Dr. White...he is very much into having you totally commited to the surgery and there were times when I would get aggrevated with him but he is wonderful. In fact both Dr White and Dr Lucktong did my suregery together as I was a high risk. They are both great doctors. The office got my insurance approval within 24 hours. I had my first consult in April of 2005 and had my surgery Dec 2005....the reason for the long wait is because Dr White wanted to make sure I was committed to the surgery...he wanted me to lose weight first...it was a struggle but worth it. I am 5'0" and weighed 245 pounds...I have lost 80 pounds since Dec and would have been more had I tried harder. It is a tool and if it isn't used properly, it won't work. You have to excersise, watch what you eat and do your protein. If you do all those things, it will work wonders. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me....Good luck... Hugs, Betsy

I think how you handle it may depend on your insurance co. I called the insurance so. first (Anthem) to make sure the surgery was covered and to get a copy of my policy--none of us at work are given them because the booklets are so huge. When I learned all was covered I referred myself to MCV. They knew all about submitting the proper forms to Anthem. They do it all the time. My particular Anthem policy does not require the doctor supervised dieting. I know some insurances do, AND want you to be referred by a PCP. My experience was very like Betsy's--relatively pain and hassle free. Just pick up the phone and start calling. The powers that be will tell you just what they want/need from you. Good luck! Lois (-110)

My insurance required that I get a referral from my PCP first, BUT my doctor's office has free seminars that you can attend to learn about the process. We gave the office staff our insurance information first, then while we listened to the surgeon give the seminar, they looked up our insurance requirements. When the seminar was over, they told us whether we needed to contact our PCP, etc. My insurance did require a 6 month weight loss trial, but other than that the process was easy. My surgeon's office was great about keeping up with making sure I was following all the steps and that all the paperwork was turned in. Check with your surgeon's office to see if they have a free seminar or information session to help you with the process. I would caution you to check with your insurance company before ANY medical appointment or procedure and find out what their rules are. I used to work for an insurance company and I saw a quite a few cases where someone ended up paying the bill themselves because they didn't know what the limits to their coverage were.