Champva??

 do any of you have champva insurance... i really want the sleeve and when i went for everything last year they did not cover the sleeve and i was wondering if that has changed ??

My doctor told me that they approved me for the sleeve. It is really all confusing to me. I was told that they were only covering 75% of the surgery and my primary (bl** Cr***) is not covering anything. I have my psych, nutrition, stress test, sleep study and egd scheduled for the first week of September. My doctor told me after these appointments were completed they will submit for final approval to champva, which should only take a few days and then they will schedule my surgery. Unfortunately, I have to travel to Dallas from Louisiana because no one in Louisiana takes Champva for this type of surgery. Hopefully, there are no snags. Good Luck!

 I wish you luck ..i was hoping that things would change before i got my final say.....i am on my 6 month supervised diet and champva are not covering me going to the dr for that which i dont understand being that they are the ones wanting it done... i really want the sleeve but i know that i cant pay for it so i will go with the gastric bypass....good luck to you with your journery and sorry you have to travel so far to get it done

So, did u have the gastric sleeve done with Champ Va paying at least 75%?  I had the band done and had it removed this past May.  I am looking for a revision, which is the gastric sleeve.  My best friend had it done Sept. 2011 and she looks great.  I've already had all the test done just waiting on Champ Va.  Please let me know.\

Monica B.

The do not cover the sleeve....They consider it experimental so I have to go to the RNY.  I am waiting to have my surgery scheduled.  Someone is supposed to be contacting me today.

I was wondering what center/or doctor approved the sleeve for you.  I am wanting this done so bad but CHAMPVA shows it won't approve it.  Please let me know.  Thank you!

  [email protected]

This post might come too late to help you out, but hopefully it will help others.

CHAMPVA now covers the sleeve gastrectomy.

It is not yet in the online policy manual, however you can call the 800 number and find out for yourself! They have no time line set for getting the online policy manual updated.

It's been a long road, but the policy has finally changed! Yay!

I have to say, I'm so friggin excited, but I was the one who got it changed (or at least got the ball rolling on it). I have ChampVA. Last April, I went to see a bariatric surgeon for the sleeve. Half way through my consult visit, the financial lady came in and said, "I'm sorry, but your insurance doesn't cover the sleeve." The surgeon and I went through every inch of the policy to see if there was any way to get it done, and it clearly said that the sleeve was an exclusion. He said that the policy was very antiquated and several of the covered procedures aren't even really done anymore because of the risks associated with them. I am not a candidate for the other procedures because of my autoimmune diseases and vitamin deficiencies. The sleeve is the only one he would safely agree to do. 

I left there feeling defeated. I got home and called ChampVA to see if there were any exceptions to the policy but they said, "it will literally take an act of congress to get that changed." CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Over the course of the next month, I did extensive research on the risks associated with the covered procedures. I also researched other insurance policies to see what their policies were and ChampVa was one of two insurances in the country that did not cover the sleeve. It was insane...there are VA hospitals that do the procedure, but you couldn't get ChampVA to cover it outside of the VA (I'm in jersey and our VA hospitals are terrible...I wouldn't let them cut me). Medicare covers it, Medicaid covers it, tricare covers it and all major medical insurance companies cover it. So, I took all of my information and made an appointment with our Congressman. I provided them with all of the information and Congressman MacArthur said he would address it at the next congressional session. Fast forward to July, I received an updated bariatric policy with the sleeve now covered. My surgery will be the beginning of November. 

Well, Guess what...Champva will not cover the sleeve!!  I had to change to gastric bypass.  Oh well!  I was disappointed at first because I was told that it would be covered, but I should have called them myself after seeing that it was excluded in the manual.  Hey, I figured the insurance person at the doctors office knew what they were talking about!

 i have gone ahead and picked the gastric bypass ....have you had your surgery yet ...i am scheduled for 9/20