I have used Care credit before, for lasik.  they sometimes run deals where interested is deffered for x number of months/years which is nice, but they will add all back interest if you miss that timeframe and their interest was pretty steep (at least for my tastes).  If you plan on being able to fit within one of their special offerings though, you cant beat a 0% interest rate.

How long did it take to hear back from them? I'm waiting on them now, and am curious how long it will take.

I just found out after 6 months in the program, that I know need to go for the full 24 months.  This is so discouraging.  How is it (no offense) that people on medicaid can get it, no questions asked, no waiting periods, nothing, but working (not to say that some getting medicaid aren't) people have to jump through hoops and walk on glass?  I am just about ready to give up.  My doctor is supposed to send a letter hoping to appeal their rule, but this just sucks so bad. 

In addition, what really chaps my hyde is I just found out had I changed my medical group when I started, I would have had the surgery done by now, but it's too late to do it now.  Man, this sucks butt big time. 

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions, my heart (literally) can't take waiting almost a year and a half.  Has this happened to anyone, have they made an exception?  Please help.

 Thank you! That was really helpful. :) I'm hoping that I'll be able to meet his request of losing 20lbs within the 6 month period! 

Thanks for the report, Greg.  Since we also have felt quite confident that CMS will decide to approve VSG, that's what my wife and I are doing, too (i.e., getting all the preconditions satisfied so we are "ready to go into surgery"). 

It is noteworthy that CMS initiated the "solicitation for comments" on their own, which we believe indicated that CMS already knew with some strong likelihood the final decision before they even started the review ... because all the data that has been generated is very consistent ... that VSG is far superior to lap band and will save money for Medicare.  So I believe that your advice to start the approval process is "right on"! 

I had planned to go self-pay since I was concerned that I couldn't risk waiting for Medicare to reach a decision to approve VSG ... but when I learned on October 7 that CMS had a week earlier announced the Solicitation for Comments and announced the timeline for a decision, I decided to wait because the evidence indicated a strong likelihood of a decision to approve VSG.  Because VSG is the only type of gastric surgery we would consider (as I suspect is also true for many other people), the likely imminent decision from CMS is MAJOR to us! 

Because my wife's medical situation is tenuous and any surgery is risky, we only feel comfortable with her VSG being done at Mayo Clinic in Rochester (in case of problems during surgery), and VSG is the type that Mayo recommended for her, given her situation.  But the cost of self-pay at Mayo was likely going to be about $40,000.  So the CMS decision is potentially a matter of life or death for her.

Again, thanks for the info, Greg!  Here's hoping!  8>)