Health Alliance Insurance

[mrmrslamb]

Is anyone dealing with Health Alliance Insurance. I've completed the 1st 2 steps my insurance requires, 1 the referral, and 2 i've been weighed and bmi calculated my my primary physician. There are a few other things i know i need to do, psych consult(scary, what if they think i'm nuts), and dietician meeting. And, health alliance requires you to loose 5% of your starting weight.
Has anyone else used this insurance and if so, can you tell me anything else they require. Thanks.:elephant:

[carotgirl]

Ooh ooh! ME!!

I am a HA girl! The question is - do you have to do the health counseling program? It depends on your policy.

[mrmrslamb]

From what i've learned so far i have to enroll in their "i can change" program. I was just weighed saturday so my doctor will fax that info on monday. Hopefully they will get back to me soon with what i need to do. Oh, my are you from Auburn, carotgirl??? I'm right down the road in Nokomis. Whatever tips you can give i would love to hear them.

[mrmrslamb]

Also, i'm a state employee, i bet we will hve the same doctor and have to go through all the same tests, etc....

[carotgirl]

I'm not a state employee... I teach in Girard. :) Anyhoo... yeah, here's the bad news: HA requires the I Can Change program for 6-12 months. You must be in a minimum of 6 months before they'll even consider surgery. :( And your six months doesn't start until a counselor from the ICC program calls you. If you stay on top of your primary care doc it shouldn't take long to get started - mine was about a week. After you're in the program you have to go to a bariatrics seminar at Memorial. They have them every couple of weeks... my seminar is on Tuesday at 5:30. Then Dr. Hammer's Office (Springfield Clinic) will call and schedule your psych consult, and phys. therapist consult. There might be one other consult that I'm forgetting... but that's where I'm at - seminar then phone calls. And, yes, you do have to lost 5% before they'll even think about surgery.

I'm actually at the beginning of the process... but that's what I know!

[mrmrslamb]

I've started medifast to loose the 5%. My pcp said it should be 11 pounds. Actually i started 6 weeks ago. i've lost 25 pounds already, but of course i hadnt been weighed by my pcp yet. So i have high hopes for the 11 pounds. Have you met with dr. hammer yet?? There are two other ladies from nokomis going through this process. One, has a surgery date of late july and the other actually works with me but cant lose the 5%. She has been in the program for over 6 months. I feel for her. She is in pretty bad physical health, trouble walking, breathing, etc. Keep me posted on how everything is going and i'll do the same. Thanks

[carotgirl]

Dr. Hammer won't even see you until you've done all the other consults, etc. My 6 months ends September 6, so I'm hoping for surgery by October.

Congrats on the 25lbs! That's great! I have 12.5 to lose by September, and I'm doing it slowly. I've been told that if the ins. sees that you can lose weight when you're monitored that they'll balk on the surgery. I'm doing Weight Watchers. :) Monday will be the end of my first week officially back on.

Let me know how things go for you! I'll keep you posted about the seminar, etc.

What's Medifast?

[mrmrslamb]

medifast is a program that has you eat 5 of their meals(if you can call it a meal), and one of your own. theirs include bars, shakes, pudding, drinks, oatmeal and soups and stews. your meal is lean meat and vegetables. i really like it. it is incredible that you arnt hungry. but being hungry was never my problem. i just like to eat whether i'm hungry or not. google it. its a good program, rather costly but i added up all my casey's breakfasts and my eating out for lunch and its not that much more if any. it seems to work for me.

[carotgirl]

Hey! It was great to meet you the other night. Have you thought anymore about what they offer?