I too am from Michigan. Now, I had BCN, which is another HMO. They told me that I had to go to Henry Ford for consideration of surgery. It took me over a 1/2 hour on hold to actually speak to a real person at Henry Ford. When I finally did, the girl I spoke with was not only unhelpful, she didn't even follow up or send me any of the info she said she would. After trying to follow up twice, I was still no further ahead so I just changed my insurance.

I am 90% sure that all the HMOs make you do 6-12 months of supervised diet and excercise. I was told in my case, even though I had three significant "co-morbidities" that they still wanted me to go the non-surgical route. I know someone who was on HAP and that is what they were told as well. After 6mos of dieting, this person lost about 30 pounds. They considered her efforts successful and would not consider her for surgery. Not that I'm suggesting you sabbatoge a diet, but take the info for what it's worth.

Good luck to you.

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Willowcrown - banded 4/24/08, Dr. Kevin Krause, Royal Oak, MI



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