Below are some of the most frequently asked questions patients have about bariatric surgery. If you have any other questions, or would like to schedule an appointment, we would love to hear from you. Click on a question below to see the answer.
Morbid obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 35 with other related medical conditions. A BMI of 40 or greater may not require you to have a co-morbid condition, or 100 lbs. over ideal body weight. Related medical conditions include, but are not limited to: diabetes, hypertension, Gastro-Reflux disease, Sleep apnea, and cardiovascular disease. (Your company may define morbid obesity differently. Please read your policy for more details. )
Having health insurance does not guarantee you will be covered for weight loss surgery or non-surgical physician supervised weight loss. Although weight loss surgery is still considered an elective procedure, it may be covered by your insurance carrier. For this reason, it’s important that you fully understand what “is” and “is not” covered by your insurance provider.
If your policy is HMO, you will need a referral from your primary care physician before making an appointment. Please bring your referral or have your PCP fax a copy to our office @ 972-981-8268.
When calling to schedule your appointment, please have your insurance card with you so you can give our staff the information we need.
When coming in for your appointment, please bring your driver’s license and insurance card. The receptionist will need these to make copies. With so many different insurance policies & types of plans among insurance providers, it’s important that you understand the authorization requirements for your individual policy. Once we submit a request for approval from your insurance, it is a simple matter of waiting for your insurance provider to respond. Some insurance companies require 3-6 months of physician supervised attempt at weight loss, in addition to co-morbid and BMI requirements before they will approve bariatric surgery. We have a non-surgical weight loss physician in our office to satisfy this requirement if needed.
Be prepared to spend as much as 3 hours in the office. This includes filling out bariatric paperwork, a seminar, and an individual consultation. In most cases the time spent in the office is shorter.
Current data supports weight loss surgery for patients with a BMI of 31 or higher. Financial arrangements for cash pay patients are available through our office.
For the first 12 months after weight loss surgery it’s important that women of childbearing age do not conceive. Pregnancy can be taxing on the body and difficult on the fetus. During this waiting period, it’s important to give the body time to heal and recuperate.