Medicare will approve Lap-Band® Surgery! Approved facilities List

I too am going to have the LAP-BAND® surgery and going thru medicare have they told u what ur copay would be? Mine said for the LAP-BAND® surgery it would b over 7000 dollars and for the gastric it would be 10000 dollars let me know what ur's says

Hi, Im Stacey I live in Derry Nh and have Medicare as my primary and Anthem new England as a secondary, when I called Medicare, they said as they would cover the LAP-BAND® as long as I fit their criteria, had a BMI of over 40 , had at least 1 health issue related to obesity, went to one of their Centers Of Excellence, and had failed attempts at other diets.
I did not have to do any special diet before surgery, just did weight watchers to loose some weight before my surgery, I am being banded on Nov 9,09 and hope that Anthem will pick up the other 20% . This was a very easy process for me and didnt need to wait for any approvals...they just booked it!

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Got a Surgery Date for 11/9
Im ready for a new me.....

I am on medicare and have no co pay but I was wondering if they require a medically supervised diet and for how long. Does anyone know?

I have a medicare replacement policy through United Healthcare. Upon coverage verification I was required to go to a Bariatric Center of Excellence, have a nutritional and psychological consult prior to submission of the request for surgery. ($334 for those two visits combined not covered because there is no DSM-IV coding)

My total out of pocket is $1,080 which is the $334 (mentioned before), $500 program fee and I believe a fill or two.

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I am so happy for you. I know sometimes it is difficult for Medicare patients to find a surgeon who will do their surgery. I do hate that they charged you such a large program fee. What was the "program"? We do not charge our Medicare patients a program fee. Nor do we charge any of our patients for follow up phone consultations with our Registered Dietitians. Our support groups are also provided at no cost to our patients. I am the Bariatric Coordinator for Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana. Our surgeons Dr. Hekier and Dr. Keilin do NOT turn away a patient just because they have medicare nor do they limit the number per month like a lot of docs. If you qualify and you satisfy the requirements set forth by medicare you are good to go.

The "program fee" covers all post-op visits with the psychologist, nutritionist and exercise physiologist. Support groups are free but across my state so I need to find one in my local area.

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Be sure to go online for support also. A lot of the docs have blog where they give support and information. I write some on our surgeons site. Check it out at Lap Band Surgery Texarkana- Serving Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
Let me know what you think.

Awesome thanks!!!!

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