i am a 37 year old female
i had Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2001, i lost 180 lbs.
i now have alot of skin hanging on my arms, upper and lower legs, chin, thighs, rear end, boobs, etc… This gives me alot of back problems carrying this excess fat.
State covers having Gastric Bypass surgery but not the complete body lift. carrying all this excess skin is hard for me everyday. Exercise does not help, joined a spa and it was to hard to do arm and leg lifts with the skin.
I have been to 3 different doctors and all 3 said i have to pay for a body lift, which is over 25,000.00, i dont have it. 1 doctor even said to the HMO that it was medically neccessary and i still didn’t get approved.
My question is where do i go? What can I do? Is there a doctor out there that covers this proceedure? Willing to travel. I have Americhoice, Medicaid, & Medicare
i now have alot of skin hanging on my arms, upper and lower legs, chin, thighs, rear end, boobs, etc… This gives me alot of back problems carrying this excess fat. I have osteoarthritic on my L4 & L5 vertebrae & some disk space at L5-S1. I am in pain constantly.
Continue to have your doctor write letters of medical necessity. Have you doctor go into detail on what the problems you will experience (continue to experience) if you don’t have the surgery, then have him put a dollar amount to it. For example, $X for doctor visits per month; $X for blood pressure meds; $X for anti-inflammatory meds for back pain, etc. Then have him put down your life expectancy 20, 30, 40 years x $X = WAY MORE THAN SURGERY NOW!!!!
The HMO’s job is to save as much money as possible. The first time or two, they will say no. Persistance will get the surgery paid for. Also, more than one person works on your case. If one person has said no, the next one might say yes. I know this is cliche but "The squeeky wheel gets oiled!"
Good luck!!
Have you done any online searching?
I would do some searching in Mexico………that might be an option.
I don’t know if you are in America?
I guess so.
If it’s medically needed, here in Australia it wouldn’t cost you a cent. Medicare (Goverment pays) covers it.
Most of our system is on Medicare. You don’t have to pay for insurance here.
You can see if an Aussie surgeon will do it or help.