And so it begins....
Well....I'm fat.
And for the past 20 years I have been interested in weight loss surgery., but every insurance company that we've had has had an exclusion. If you don't know what an exclusion is, it's when your insurance company simply doesn't offer that particular service. And it's actually VERY common to have a bariatric exclusion on your policy. There is no "appealing" an exclusion. It's like getting pissed at Taco Bell because they won't sell you a Big Mac.
It's because "fat" has become the last sanctioned prejudice in America. It's still okay to laugh at the fat guy who fell down in the supermarket. It's still okay to tell the incredible dancer that, despite a routine you skinny bastards could never pull off, she really needs to "shed a few pounds".
But I guess it is what it is. I doubt it will change.
But anyway....
So we finally got insurance that covers WLS (weight loss surgery, as I will refer to it from this point forward).
So, the catch with WLS is that the insurance companies really don't want to pay for it. So to avoid paying for many of the surgeries, they simply place barriers meant to delay the actual surgery so that, perhaps, you would be so kind as to die before they actually have to pay for it. (They will, however, be happy to cash your premium checks in the interim).
So my barriers include a 4 month "supervised diet" (at least I think it's 4 months...could be 6, could be 12. They'll let me know).
They've done studies that have shown that a pre-surgery diet has almost no (or no) benefit or effect on the overall outcome of WLS success.
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22011946/)
I know of no other treatment where they send you home for 6 months before they will actually help you.
"Yes, Charlie, we know that you've been dealing with substance abuse and would like to check into this rehab, but we'd like you to go home and try really hard to quit on your own, despite trying to do so for 54 years. Here's a piece of paper that says "Don't do drugs!". That should help! Give us a call after the new year if you're not dead!"
Yeah, it's like that.
And for the past 20 years I have been interested in weight loss surgery., but every insurance company that we've had has had an exclusion. If you don't know what an exclusion is, it's when your insurance company simply doesn't offer that particular service. And it's actually VERY common to have a bariatric exclusion on your policy. There is no "appealing" an exclusion. It's like getting pissed at Taco Bell because they won't sell you a Big Mac.
It's because "fat" has become the last sanctioned prejudice in America. It's still okay to laugh at the fat guy who fell down in the supermarket. It's still okay to tell the incredible dancer that, despite a routine you skinny bastards could never pull off, she really needs to "shed a few pounds".
But I guess it is what it is. I doubt it will change.
But anyway....
So we finally got insurance that covers WLS (weight loss surgery, as I will refer to it from this point forward).
So, the catch with WLS is that the insurance companies really don't want to pay for it. So to avoid paying for many of the surgeries, they simply place barriers meant to delay the actual surgery so that, perhaps, you would be so kind as to die before they actually have to pay for it. (They will, however, be happy to cash your premium checks in the interim).
So my barriers include a 4 month "supervised diet" (at least I think it's 4 months...could be 6, could be 12. They'll let me know).
They've done studies that have shown that a pre-surgery diet has almost no (or no) benefit or effect on the overall outcome of WLS success.
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22011946/)
I know of no other treatment where they send you home for 6 months before they will actually help you.
"Yes, Charlie, we know that you've been dealing with substance abuse and would like to check into this rehab, but we'd like you to go home and try really hard to quit on your own, despite trying to do so for 54 years. Here's a piece of paper that says "Don't do drugs!". That should help! Give us a call after the new year if you're not dead!"
Yeah, it's like that.
Enough of the negativity. Let's get started! I'm going to try to blog my way through this for 2 reasons:
1. So other people can read through it when I'm done with it and maybe not feel so alone.
1. So other people can read through it when I'm done with it and maybe not feel so alone.
and
2. So I can keep a record of the whole journey so I don't forget stuff. Because I tend to forget stuff.
I hope to face this journey with a little dab of humor, and a whole lot of self-forgiveness, because despite the opinion of my dog, Sal, I'm not perfect.
Let's do this!
I hope to face this journey with a little dab of humor, and a whole lot of self-forgiveness, because despite the opinion of my dog, Sal, I'm not perfect.
Let's do this!
Comments
Post a Comment