The magic combination for getting WLS is having a surgeon who accepts Medicare/Medicaid, a hospital who does the same AND is a Center of Excellence. Overlake Medical Center finally got their COE designation at the beginning of this year. They have 3 surgeons working out of their hosptial, all of whom accept Medicare. Medicaid is a special case - best to check out their Bariatric Surgery page and get in touch directly with the coordionator. There are 2 physicians who do GBS out of Virginia Mason for Medicare patients, but only Dr. Hunter does a lap procedure. At St. Francis, only Dr. Aparovich accepts Medicare. Provider lists can be accessed directly via the Medicare website or by calling them directly. They are super nice and easy to talk to.

I had Dr. Hunter at VMFW. Very good rep, and I had a good outcome. I had few choices b/c of my insurance, but he was one of the 2 Dr. Lauter from Overlake reccommends. Great nutritionist, and it turned out my PCP and Dr Hunter had been interns together. I like him, and all the hospital staff at Virginia Mason told me what a great surgeon he was when I was checking in for surgery. I just couldn't deal with the chaos of his office and not really liking his assistant who handles all the pre and post-op consults, so switched back to Dr. Lauter before 3 months had passed. My 3 month check-up confirmed I had made the right choice. I had planned all along to go with Dr. Lauter because of his reputation, skill in lap surgery, and absolutely wonderful office staff. Not to mention Karen Baumann, the wonderful nurse who runs the bariatric program. You will get all the support you could desire and then some. The moral of the story: do what works best for you. The biggest hurdle is making the decision in the first place, and you did it. Don't walk a path which could potentially make you change your mind or robs you of inner peace.

I am sorry to use such strong language, but the post stating that Dr. Oh at St. Francis takes Medicare is just a hair away from being an outright lie. After attending one of his seminars last year, I did not recieve the promised intake pack. I called and called and called, and each and every time I actually got through to a live person was asked up front "what kind of insurance do you have? This was also asked at the seminar. After sending a fax to the office manager about not being able to get through to a real person  AND not getting an intake pack, I finally got one. When I tried to turn it in and set up a consult, I was denied.  After pushing for an explanation, a staffer eventually admitted his practice is a Medicare provider, but they take "only a few cases per year" and there is a 2 YEAR WAITING LIST.  If you ask any of the bariatric professionals in the Puget Sound area, they will tell you point blank NO PHYSICIANS who work out of St. Francis take Medicare. except for Dr. Aparovich who only recently re-established his practice. In my case, it was stated in no uncertain terms during my March consult at Virginia Mason Federal Way. Additional evidence was provided just last month when Group Health Bellevue needed to move more than 70 Medicare patients b/c they were no longer part of the COE certification process, and ONLY VM took any of them. Beyond that, Virginia Mason is currently the only provider group in our area which has the magic of being a COE, accepting Medicare, performing  RNY in addition to gastric banding, and doesn't have a mile-long waiting list. However, they have only ONE provider who does RNY as a lap procedure, and he is in Federal Way. Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue just had their COE inspection and hope to have their certificate by the end of the year.  I have been a part of their program since the beginning of '09, and finally had to go with VM because their COE certification was dragging on and on, and my health was not holding up. Because their group is open to any and all WLS patients from all providers, I am still attending their AWESOME meetings, and switched my post-op care back to the surgeon whom I originally hoped to work with.