The gastric sleeve is only covered if you have the surgery in a MTF - otherwise you are correct....tricare only covers GBP or the LB.  My start to finish (granted I finish a week from today) took about 6 months.  It would have been sooner but....when I first asked for a referral, I was referred to Keesler - well the bariatric program shut down after Katrina and they were in the process of re-establising it.  My first appt was in June, but the surgeon wasn't going to be here until August.  During those months, I had many visits to the nutritionist and I had my Psch evail.  At the end of August they did a mandatory seminar.  Because the program was just starting to get up and running, the surgeon said that he will not perfom any surgeries until he has all the equipment that he prefers to use.....once everything was in order...he started doing the surgies.  There was a waiting list and the most "critical" went first.  I am a light weight with out any health issues other then being "fat".  Because my surgery is being done at the MTF here at Keesler, I also don't have to go through the regular "TRICARE" approvals process.  If I have the surgeons approval, then my surgery is a go.

I'm 5.5, my starting weight was 243....my weight right now (I'm on the pre-op diet...keep that in mind) is 224.

I still have alot of questions too. I did go to a seminar in Mobile, The dr said Tricare only pays for Lapband and the gastric bypass. They dod not cover the sleeve.

Hi, Congratulations!
Was it hard to get approved ? How long did it take to get approved?

thanks for your super detailed and thoughtful reply!

the latest news is that they sent a denial to my surgeon this morning. my surgeon got on the phone w/the medical director and had a peer review. turns out the denial was because UHC overlooked some paperwork that they already had and tried to deny me for not sending it in. nice. so according to my surgeon's office, they're going to overturn it and approve by next week. i'll believe it when i see it, at this point.

as for the rest -- i'm definitely going to appeal it ALL if they don't fix the billing mistakes. i can't afford the added expense right now, plus it's just lame for them to think they can rip people off.

 I did verify with UNC the he was in network and I was approved, several times up to and including the day I was in his office to try to get him to change his mind.  I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to do up to the date I was told my surgery was cancelled because Dr Bertha would not get enough money for my operation.  He did not care about me or what I had done to follow his instructions.

It is clear that BERTHA IS ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY OR WOULD TREAT EXISTING PATIENTS WITH MORE CARE.  All the other insurance and legal issues are a screen to deflect his actions.

Doctors are supposed to "do no harm"--and I WAS harmed.