Insurance Coverage

Let me start out by thanking anyone *****ads this and can share their experience with me. I am 5'4" and over 300 lbs. suffer from depression, high blood pressure and back/hip issues. My primary care, psychiatrist and therapist have all suggested that I have WLS. However, our insurance lists any weight loss program/medical treatment/surgery as an exclusion. I am totally sunk or has anyone had any luck working around this issue? Thank you again 

beth

Sorry, I don't know why I got ****'s it's supposed to say thanking anyone *****ads this and can ....

If you are seeing asterisks, it is because your profile setting is set to hide anything it thinks is profanity.  Unfortunately, if the end of one word and the beginning of the next word combine to form one of the prohibited words, it changes those portions of the words to asterisks.  An example would be "the dam now leaks" would get changed to "the *** *ow leaks" because those words combine to form "damn".

You can change that profile setting to eliminate the filtering.

Lora

If it is specifically excluded from your plan, you either need to get on a different plan or look at self pay. 

Thanks.

beth

I was in the same boat as you and eventually ended up taking out money from my retirement to self pay for surgery. HOWEVER, I read in the book "experts guide to weight loss surgery" that you could talk to your human resource department and see if they would get the exclusion taken off from your company's policy (not highly likely but possible).  Unfortunately I read this after I had started the process and given notice at my job. 

This said, it has been worth pulling the money out. I am 10 days post op and have lost 37 pounds thru the pre and post op. My knees and hips are just barely giving me twinges now and I look so much better in my clothes. I can already walk around the store without stopping at every bench i see.

good luck in navigating the horror of insurance. I am glad i don't have to jump through their hoops to get the medical treatment i need to be healthier for life!

My insurance policy excludes WLS also, so I self paid.

I later learned of 2 co-workers who appealed to HR and the company funded their WLS.

It turned out that they have a special fund that can be accessed on a case by case basis ...... So, you might want to reach out to your HR department (if you work for a large company) and see if there are any situations where they might help you.

You might also consider changing to a different policy or to your spouses plan for next year, if that is an option for you.