Finally decided to band and where! But now trouble with insurance...

February 20, 2008

Well, as you all prob know I dont make decisions to well, but I

finally decided with my hubby to go ahead and band , and to do

the Starband... but the appointment they have is for tomorrow and I

tried talking with the insurance yesterday to see if the STARband

would be covered since the DOCband was...and they cant tell me for

sure until they get a letter of medical neccessity, FDA approval

info, level of effectiveness info, and cost of product. The person

who approved s DOCband apparently is not familiar with the

STARband. So the insurance person at Dr Vicari's office faxed the

info over this morning, and I have been trying to get a hold of the

insurance person I spoke with last night to see if they got it and I

cant. So what do I do??? Do I keep the appointment for tomorrow to go

ahead with the STARscan and order the helmet...or do I cancel. If for

any reason they dont cover the STARband, we cant afford $3800!! The

DOCband was approved in full. I am seriously going to lose it soon. I

thought I would onlyl be worried about picking the color now. Now I

have to worry if I need to cancel the appointment for tomorrow and

reschedule for a full week out, and they already had scheduled the

pick up date and the next 3 adjustment dates....so I would have to

change those too! And I never cancelled the appointment to do the

DOCband yet (which is also tomorrow) for fear that they may not

approve the STARband (and also cause up until yesterday I wasnt sure

what I was going to do!

I brought this all upon myself..I know....

Any advice??

Thanks,

February 21, 2008

I know this can be so overwhelming. From my

own experience, and what I have learned on this board in the last four months,

your son will be in good hands with either a Starband from Dr. Vicari’s

office or a Docband from CT. Both have good reputations. If you can, try to

take a deep breath and tell yourself that either place will be fine – you

are doing the right thing for your son and he will see improvement with either

band. It does sound like since you already have full insurance approval for the

DOCband, that is the fastest and easiest route, and you will definitely be in

good hands there. My son is in a DOCBand for Brachy and I am highly confident

CT knows what they are doing. I think you mentioned that your son is only

mild/moderate, so it would be highly unlikely that he would need a second band

from either place. Good luck with your decision. Try not to lose any more

sleep over this – it will be absolutely fine either way you decide.

From: Plagiocephaly [mailto:Plagiocephaly ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008

9:06 AM

Subject: Finally decided

to band and where! But now trouble with insurance...

Well, as you all prob know I dont make decisions to

well, but I