?'s concerning Medicaid??????????

Would like to know if anyone recent has just been thourgh wls using Medicaid? I know what they require and I have all of that info. What I need to know is does my doctor who isn't a surgeon turn my paperwork in, or does he refer me to the UW? My doctor has tryed to fax it to them but he does not get an answer back. Can I use my own doctor as the diet doctor? What about the exercise program? I fit all of Medicaid's requirments. Thanks for any help you can give.

Hi Barbara. I am not sure if my information will help you because I have Medicare and Medicaid. BUT I will tell you the stuff I know. . . If you go to UW Bariatic surgery website, there are forms you have to complete. Your primary care doctor has to complete one of these forms. It sounds like you have already done this. Complete the forms you need to complete with a copy of your Medicaid coupon (and all the things they ask you to provide on the website). Then keep copies of all these forms, both the ones you complete and the one your doctor completed. Once you have copies to keep for your records, fax them to the UW Bariatric Patient Coordinator (the number is on the website). The patient coordinator will review your information, including the medical info from your doctor and your health insurance, and call you. She will probably just call to tell you that you are now on a waiting list to see a WLS and the wait for your first appointment will be about six months. There's nothing you can do to speed this up. They only take a few Medicaid patients each month and you just have to wait. The reason your doctor has not heard back after faxing in his form is that the UW bariatric surgery department won't respond until YOU have sent in your insurance data and those other forms. The other forms ask about your weight history, stuff you doc can't complete. Yes, you can use your own doctor as a diet doctor. As soon as I learned that Medicaid would pay for my surgery AND my doctor agreed to make the referral, she and I agreed that I would start meeting with her once a month . . and now we have been doing that. No matter where you stand in the Medicaid process, start seeing your doctor once a month. . . and by the way, start losing weight. You need to show that you can change. Here's what you need to do: 1. go to UW Bariatric Surgery website and download new patient forms 2. Complete the forms, including copies of insurance cards 3. Get your doc to complete the medical referral 4. FAX or mail in all the forms at once. I fax'd the forms and then I mailed them in, just to be sure they all arrived. I got a call from Lynn, the patient coordinator, the next day telling me I was on waiting list for surgeon appointment. OK. That was back in May. I had my first appointment with a surgeon this week! He ordered a whole bunch of tests, which have all now been scheduled. And my next appointment with the surgeon will be at the end of November even though my tests will be completed by Oct. 14th. He told me I probably won't have the surgery before the end of the year. Waiting is part of the game. Re: your questions of insurance paperwork: the surgeon and the UW hospital will do all the insurance stuff for the work they do, like tests, surgery, etc. Your primary care doctor will do the insurance stuff for whatever work she does. I am in a slightly difference position because I have Medicare, which does not require prior authorization. If my doctor determines that WLS is medically necessary (and it is for me), then Medicare will pay most of my costs and Medicaid will cover the rest. I am not quite certain if the UW surgery department will have to do a prior authorization for the medicaid portion of my bill. . . but I am absolutely certain that my primary doc won't do any of the prior authorization stuff. You ask about exercise. Well, I see my primary care doc monthly and each month I have lost a bit of weight. So when I tell her I've been swimming three times a week and walking more, the data proves my case. This is enough. You have to show that you can change and any changes you make will show up in the monthly appointments. Talk things over withyour doctor. That's what I did. I asked her if she would refer me for WLS and she said yes. Then I talked to her about what Medicaid looks for and together she and I came up with a plan to comply with Medicaid. I think my primary care doctor is actually enjoying giving me this care because instead of showing up with diabetes problems and high blood pressure and high cholesterol and doing nothing about them, I am very slowly making changes. . . so the primary care doc gets to feel like her work is more meaningful than just telling me there's not much she can do until I lose weight. last week, she and I laughed like old friends over my five pound weight loss for September. I feel that by communicating openly with her, I have developed a valuable, vital support person for my surgery. I have always kinda hated seeing docs because they always seemed to e saying 'if you'd only lose weight". But you have to take a whole lot of responsibility for yourself, Barbara. My doctor didn't get me the appointment at UW: I got that by following the instructions on the website. I hve found UW bariatric department very very easy to deal with: I do exactly what they asked me to do on the website and I am slowly working my way towards the surgery.