Question:
does ANYONE know of a Dr in the northern IL area, that will accept the IDPA medical

card for this wls surgery? I am so deperate to get this done. My Dr. is so behind me on this, but we can't find any dr. to perform the surgery. Please help me    — pambie4you (posted on June 12, 2004)

June 12, 2004
Okay, I did a little research on this site. If you go to the top of the page and click on "insurers" and then click on your state, you will get an alphabetical listing of insurers that have covered/not covered surgery for members of your state. Here is the page with the IDPA information http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/insurers2.phtml?State=IL&Page=16 Scroll down to each listing and you will see the member's name in blue. Click on that and you will get to their profiles which also includes their surgeon names. You will be able to see if they have been approved or are post op or whatever stage they are in. The good news is there seems to be several approvals. (Be sure to click on the members name to get the current status of their journey because sometimes the insurance page may say they are waiting for approval when actually their profile tells you they are approved and have an actual date!!). One doctor I saw mentioned that was accepting IDPA in Chicago was a Dr. Midura (sp?). I hope this helps you! Good luck!! (oh yeah, you could also e-mail those members with this insurance for specific answers and suggestions). Shelley
   — Shelley.

June 13, 2004
Try Dr. Holtgen in Barrington, don't know if he takes it, but you can at least call. He was awesome.
   — CrystalBroj

June 13, 2004
Dr. Deziel at Rush Presbyterian in Chicago. He is one of the best....I only had 1 month from referral to surgery...most of that was getting pre-ops done.
   — hooterzgirl75

June 13, 2004
I believe Dr. Constantine Frantzides @ Evanston Hospital in Chicago accepts IDPA. He is a Great surgeon! Good Luck
   — ANDREWS65

June 13, 2004
Dr. Viveck Prachand @ University of Chicago. And he's wonderful too.
   — vllgmz4

June 14, 2004
James Madura accepts public aid. He works out of Rush in Chicago though. I live in Rockford as well, and it gets a bit costly traveling back and forth to Chicago. If you can manage to do that, I'm sure your medical card will cover the rest. He was my surgeon, and I loved him. His office number is 312-942-6511 and his assistants name is Samantha. She could tell you for sure about your insurance. I don't know much about the pucblic aid part, but you can email me if you have any questions about Dr Madura etc. Good Luck Angela
   — Angela T.