TriCare Approval RECEIVED today!

Also Tricare Prime is for active duty service members and their family members. Tricare Standard is for retired service members and their families. I have Standard and Tricare paid for 80% of my procedure. I had to pay $450 out of pocket to my surgeon and an additional fee to the hospital (waiting for the bill now). I had my surgery on 11/20 and I am so grateful for Tricare.

I have Tricare Standard and let me tell you they will make you pay 15% of the total bill for the surgery, but mind you, each part of your bill is probably broken down into different departments (lab, anesthesia, surgery, recovery...all of which had seperate bills! My total out of pocket cost was over $700.

Oh and I was denied on Tricare Prime twice before I switched to Standard and was approved in less than one week.

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SURGERY: November 4th, 2009!

Actually Tricare Standard is an option for active duty families as well. It's what most people switch to when the servicemember deploys and the rest of the family moves back home (away from the base) where there isn't military providers.

Active duty can switch to Standard at any time.

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SURGERY: November 4th, 2009!

Thanks for the info on the different TriCare offerings. As I already mentioned, we have Reserve Select, so we will be having some out-of-pocket expenses -- plus my surgeon is out-of-network, so those expenses will be a little higher. But, when I checked on the TriWest website, there are no doctors in-network for at least a 250 mile radius!

I just got a doctor's referral Tuesday, for which I was grateful. I knew my primary care doctor would be supportive, but since I'm just establishing with him as a patient, I was afraid he'd want to watch me for a few months, get to know me better, or put me on some kind of a diet to prove I couldn't do this myself. Instead, he just smiled and said, "Sure" and set about writing my referral. I was so glad!

I just have to finish filling out the 14-page patient profile and get it in the mail -- then the surgeon's office will make an appointment for me, and we'll get the ball rolling! I won't make my final decision until I've met with the surgeon for a consult, but right now, I'm really leaning toward YES! DO THIS!

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Do not hurry; do not rest. -- Goethe

I'm blogging my decision and process into the LAP-BAND® world: http://distractedbydiets.wordpress.com/