New to Blue Shield... so many questions

I recently switched from Kaiser to Blue Shield Access+. Long story short I want to switch doctors within the Blue Shielf netword. I was assigned to Dr Athanassious in Fairfield but I am far from happy with his care and staff. I really have no idea where to begin. If anyone else here has Blue Shield Access+ HMO I'm open to recommendations for new doctors.

Also, when I called customer service to inquire about Blue Shields bariatric programs the two people I spoke to had no information and told me to ask my doctor. Does anyone here know if I HAVE to get referred out by my primary physician or can I simply find a surgeon and go from there?

I am not a pro on insurance stuff but if I'm not mistaken, because you are in an HMO, you do need to be referred to a bariatric surgeon from your primary care physician (PCP).  Direct referals are really when you have a PPO or are going to pay out-of-pocket for the procedure with no help from the insurance carrier.

I recommend getting an appointment with your PCP and see what surgeons he/she knows of to help you.  If that doctor is against weight loss surgery (some are), then you have every right to go back to the insurance carrier and be reassigned to a pro-WLS doctor (my term).  You might need to ask them for a list of PCPs and then call those offices to ask if they have worked with a patient before who was undergoing WLS. 

I'm not familiar with surgeons in Fairfield, however, you can look here on OH for peers in Fairfield, look at their profiles to see which surgeons they worked with.  That might help. 

You could also research for a bariatric surgeon and then call them to see if they take Blue Shield and what PCPs they have worked with.  I'm not sure how helpful or doable that route is but it can't hurt.

If nothing else, consider the process of jumping through these hoops to find the right PCP and surgeon as a test to see just how serious you are about having surgery. 

Fight for it.