No VSG for me?

Hi all,

I just got a call from the nurse at the bariatric center I'll be having my consult at tomorrow.  She said My insurance doesn't cover sleeve :(  Everyone keeps telling me that there is no way to get my insurance to pay.  Still others have got the sleeve covered, but had GI problems.  With no GI problems I don't know how to go about getting my insurance to cover this. Lol I don’t even know what GI problems are. I know this is the surgery I want.  If I can't have this I'm switching to an out of network plan so I can see a dr. that does DS.  Does anyone know where to start?  My insurance is a small company only in NM...not a big national company.  I just don't know what to do.

 What!  If your insurance covers bariatric surgery, then they will cover the sleeve!  Put up your dukes and get ready to rumble!

Best,
Leila

Not all policies that cover bariatric surgery cover VSG. 

 If they cover bariatrics, in this day and age, they will cover the sleeve.  Not everyone wants or can have malabsorbancy!

Some insurance companies are still refusing to cover the Sleeve, saying it's 'experimental'.

And the word you're looking for is 'malabsorption'. (*grin*)

You are right but excuse me at times for taking  pride in making my own words up - you know words that sound like they should exist and be used  yet they aren't accepted in our great dictionary!  

I used to have this friend , a daughter of a very famous playwright - mature compared to me at the time.  She had 2 Ph.D.'s and she made words up too and proudly admitted it. Maybe that is why I feel okay too "cuz" she was so "fricken" smart.

I swear to you, that this woman dropped her medical practice, bought a Winnebago, and toured the U.S. interviewing random people, fell in love with an older gent in California and never came back. Sure she had lots of cash to decide to do whatever she wanted including deciding she no longer wanted to be a psychoanalyst - just sayin'

My dad on the other hand caused me great anxiety with words.  English was not his first language yet he was multilingual.  He was critical, it was this idea of if you don't know how to say it, don't say it at all.  Quickly a child becomes muted no?  He certainly was of advanced intellect - genius I.Q. with some poor human qualities.  Yep, quite a bit of a narcissist.

Hmmm MsBatt this was my therapy for the day.  Could be why I was so shy and fat.  I was silenced.  My friend with the artsy dad encouraged her to take chances, to experiment, to be free.

With that said, I believe that if this poster knows that she wants the sleeve that she should take a chance on challenging her insurance company.

I personally know that the DS is a great WLS.  I am praying that my sister will choose to get it as she is a long-term insulin resistant diabetic.  Her type II mimics type one - the **** load of carbs and crappy diet she keeps does nothing to help this.  If she chooses just to have the sleeve I will be happy that she is doing anything at all but it seems like she is on board for a DS if she has any WLS.  She is totally willing to supplement as she is vigilant with her 4 ****tails of insulin shots and other pills per day.  She is tired of shooting herself up.  I hope she really does it.

Thanks for triggering my therapy for the day.  Our stress levels at work are so high that 911 was called and one of my co-workers were pulled out in a stretcher.  I am thinking its some sort of anxiety attack.

Hope you are well.

They say they don't cover it, but if they cover bariatric surgery at all, you can usually (not always but very often) get them to cover the VSG on appeal. If they don't cover anything, then you are usually (but not always) screwed. 

 With your BMI, DS seems the smartest solution.

Agree! Have you checked out the DS board? It's your best chance of long-term success with a BMI over 50.

Yup! I've looked in to DS. Is prefer VSG...don't want my intestines rerouted....its my second choice