actually, no Tricare does NOT cover GP.. what happens is the costs of the surgery are absorbed by the hospital, NOT the insurance. and you must go through a lot of hoops to be approved..and even then, the waiting list is very long since only a couple of locations actually perform the surgery.
you must start with your PCM. My guess is they will make you attend nutritional counseling and do tests to make sure there is nothing medically wrong before exploring artificial weight loss methods. and if the drug isn't in the formulary..it will not be covered.
I am actually going to ask about this on tuesday- if they do not there is a Dr. here that will do it and has a "plan" you have to follow, but even if tricare does not cover it- I have heard so much good things about it that I am willing to pay out of pocket for it. I will post back and let you know- BTW I am 50 lbs over weight, and from I what I understand in the weight range for the drug.
Tricare does not cover any weight loss drug and good luck finding a military doc who will prescribe it for you! After having a screwey thyroid and the birth of my 4th child I was about 45 pounds overweight. I was told by a military doc that he did NOT believe in diet pills becuae they were "too dangerous" BUT if I gained about an additional 50 pounds I would be at the borderline to be approved for gastric bypass!! I was so appalled I just left. I ended up obtaining the phen elsewhere and went on to lose my weight. But getting phentermine now a days is a whole new ball game due to tighter restrictions. Good luck to you!
I don't know about weight loss drugs but Tricare DOES cover GP and LapBand. You have to fall under one of two requirements though to get it a referral for it.
I take Phentermine. My PCM had no problem prescribing it. I didn't go in there wanting it, but she suggested it would help and prescribed it. Tricare does not pay for it, though. I get mine at Walmart and it is about 30 dollars per month. I've been on it for 3 weeks and I lost about 10 lbs so far.
Phentermine is a stimulant and may cause difficulty with a work related drug test because it may look similar to speed.If your doc does not prescribe at least get some type of statment form the doc indicating that you are choosing this method to loose weight. no outside links
This message has been edited. Last edited by: theainjmtant,
Blue Cross Blue Shield of any kind does NOT cover weight loss drugs. Tricare doesn't cover it either. Not sure if any of them cover it....that's why it's so popular as an online drug but you still have to have a prescription for it.
I don't know about other weight loss drugs, but it doesn't cover Phentermine. I didn't have any problems whatsoever getting it from my military doc. I went to him and expressed my interest in it and how I've tried nutrition classes and exercising. He gave me a prescription but said only for 3 months. It is only a temp drug and may increase your BP a little. It doesn't hurt to try. If interested, just see your doctor. It costs me $34 per month at Walgreens. I just took my first pill today so I will post back later with results.
