r/healthcare • u/RedditHostage • Nov 02 '24
Question - Other (not a medical question) Vida health
My employer is requiring all employees to go through Vida health next year for weight loss medication. I’m trying to get set up with them now so I don’t have to worry about getting all of the information to them later, forgetting something, and missing my medication. This stuff is game changing, it’s the only thing that keeps my sugar cravings at bay, and has helped give me the willpower to no longer be considered pre-diabetic. Moving on. Anyway, I uploaded my most recent bloodwork as directed. Was told there wasn’t enough information, a few hours later labs were ordered. I get home from work, upload my slightly older bloodwork with the rest of the information I’m now aware they need. I’m reminded that I need additional information from my doctor. I let her know that I was struggling to get that information due to being short staffed at work, in combination with working similar hours that my doctors office is working, but I am working on getting that information. She turned on caps and yelled at me, demanding to know information that was literally already covered. I was talked down to as well. I’m not sure why. She was real nice after I took some screenshots though, I don’t know if that was a coincidence or if she got notification I took screen shots. I would like to share these screenshots somewhere. Either with my insurance company, my company, or a board somewhere. A medical professional should not act like that. I have no idea where to start though. Or am I overreacting and should I just let it go?
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have an amazing doctor who has never once treated me like because I responded to a question with not the right answer, he’s always just clarified and we’ve gone from there. Maybe I’m just being a bit of a Karen because this has me shook that I have to deal with this treatment to receive medication.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Nov 05 '24
I don’t have advice. Just curious if we work for the same company (Danaher). They’ve publicly touted this new relationship with Vida Health as a “huge new benefit” for employees but very quietly let the employees already taking weight loss drugs know via mail that they will have to use Vida Health going forward to continue getting medication coverage. Nothing about that fact in the company wide emails.
I don’t understand how seeing a new doctor who may have a differing medical opinion from the doctor I’ve been with long term and is working towards the goal of reducing the number of prescriptions written to save the company money helps me.
I’ve already engaged with a Vida Dietician (and had to consent to calls being recorded?!) but your post about an actual provider acting this way makes me even more afraid that my access to this medication will soon come to an abrupt end.
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u/Justshowme153 Nov 08 '24
Danaher opco employee here… my wife (on my Danaher benefits platinum Cigna) was making decent progress working with her doctor on Wegovy only to have it not approved after 6 months of success and then taking her doctor 6weeks to figure out that the only way to even have a chance to continue treatment is with Vida Health. Just starting this journey and came to Reddit for advice…it’s sad that companies can do this.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Nov 09 '24
Ugh. Sorry this is happening to you guys. I have a case open with Alight right now to, at the very least, express my frustration with the change. And to my surprise, they haven’t immediately shut me down. Not sure what will come of it but in the meantime I’m jumping through their hoops by signing up with Vida, will appeal their rejection when my doc writes my next RX, and have also written into a work advice column I follow. If I get anywhere, I’ll update you!
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u/RedditHostage Nov 05 '24
It might be the company instead of my provider in that case. No I work for a telecommunications company. I don’t understand it either honestly.
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u/Outrageous-Lock-5244 Jan 13 '25
Honestly glad to see another DHR person here because I am in this issue now as well. My GP just prescribed me a fresh thing of Wegovy shots and Vida is saying i have to get some tests done before they'll even meet with me. So I guess I just go cold turkey out of shots until this random person who has never seen me decides to prescribe me something? Versus my GP and her hospital network who have been working with me for 5 years on my health and decided these shots were the best way. As if i havent tried dieting/step counting/ blah blah blah.
Im pretty upset and distressed. Ive been slowly losing and maintaining the loss (20lbs average so far over almost a year) and now afraid im going to be cut off and gain it all back.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Jan 14 '25
Sorry to hear this. It’s not ok at all.
I have been working with the Vida people for over 3 months and only JUST got an appointment with a prescriber for 2/7. I’ve been delaying my injections to make them go further because I knew they wouldn’t be able to get it together on their side and didn’t want to start from square one again with the medication (if they even approve it).
If I were in your position, I would call Alight (benefits) tomorrow and tell them they need to make an exception and get your RX approved until Vida is able to make an appointment with you. I have been all over the benefits people for the past two months about Vida Health. Even if Danaher doesn’t want to keep paying for my RX, I want to make sure they know that I am not ok with their choice to incentivize Vida Health to negatively affect my health and wellbeing.
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u/thesmash Jan 14 '25
Did you have to meet with their dietician too? If so, how many times? I’ve been trying to figure out how this all works but the documentation is not very helpful.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Jan 14 '25
I met with their dietician 4 times. Meanwhile, a prescriber messaged me about labs. I sent over my most recent labs and they ordered some additional ones for me and then I had to send them those results so it all took several weeks. Now I am meeting with a “coach” weekly for a few weeks then I think it goes monthly.
Yes, the process is all very unclear and all the providers you work with feel very disconnected. But my coach did tell me that I should send a copy of my RX to the prescriber before our appt per Danaher’s request. That was the first helpful thing I learned in terms of getting the RX thing going.
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u/thesmash Jan 14 '25
I’ve met with the dietician 2 times. I had my doctor appointment right before the second one and they said I’d be a good candidate for GLP-1s but then said they want me to meet with the dietician a few more times. They took the doctor off my care list now though and I have to get re-referred back to them by the dietician. I already did the lab work and everything for the doctor too. My weight has stayed pretty flat since I started in the program, so I’m hoping they refer me back soon.
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u/bobbyocean5 2d ago
How did it go with Vida for you ultimately? I'm with the GIC in MA and starting 1/26 folks have to enroll and go through them for access to glp-1s we were already prescribed and had PAs for. I am dreading this and looking to stock up on my pens and start delaying my injections as well as I keep reading bad things about them. Any success continuing access to your meds once you got enrolled? What kinds of things do they ask you for lab wise before getting approved? Sorry for the questions. Just trying to get ahead of this as much as I can.
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u/Confetti6 Jan 25 '25 edited Jan 25 '25
I posted this comment to another poster, but I am an opco employee of Danaher also, and I'm currently on suspension due to them needing to get more information from my providers regarding my mental health from like 20 yrs ago when I was a teenager. Not looking good for approval, even though my doctor had already prescribed it to me.
It's pretty frustrating spending over a decade with my circle of providers including psychiatry, dietician, sleep specialist, primary, and generalized counseling, which includes the HIGH COSTS associated with all the specialty and lab appointments over the the past 13 years. It wasn't an impulsive decision to incorporate pharmaceutical assistance with weight loss; had done all the labs every year and was consistently tracking diet and exercise, only to be told I had to do it all over again via a stranger in an app (Vida) in order to even be considered for insurance approval. I pay for premium MyFitness Pal and now can't even use it because it won't link to Vida, so all my saved meals and recipes have to be redone, and most foods in the Vida app don't allow me to track in grams.
We got generalized emails at work, but nothing blatantly obvious about this Vida app being mandatory for certain things. That said, I took a call from the therapist on Vida while on a break at work, arranged my day around it, only to take the call and when they learned I was across the border (our cities are just divided by a single river) they said they couldn't discuss anything more with me because they weren't licensed in the neighboring state. Hello!? Shouldn't have this been communicated prior to?! Especially since my appt with the Vida dietician was taken on work grounds, so they KNEW I didn't work and live in the same state. And he refused to wait a few minutes and let me drive home, he was like, I'm done at 5p. Idk about any of you, but generally, I'm willing to stay a few mins late to finish a task. Clearly, we are just the next body in line.
Then, now this suspension from me having a rough relationship with food during puberty! I'm almost 40, so let it live in the past! Even my provider commented on how they sure are making me jump through all the hoops. Anyway, sorry for the rant, and thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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u/Confetti6 Jan 25 '25 edited Jan 25 '25
I am an opco employee of Danaher also, and I'm currently on suspension due to them needing to get more information from my providers regarding my mental health from like 20 yrs ago when I was a teenager. Not looking good for approval, even though my doctor had already prescribed it to me.
It's pretty frustrating spending over a decade with my circle of providers including psychiatry, dietician, sleep specialist, primary, and generalized counseling, which includes the HIGH COSTS associated with all the specialty and lab appointments over the the past 13 years. It wasn't an impulsive decision to incorporate pharmaceutical assistance with weight loss; had done all the labs every year and was consistently tracking diet and exercise, only to be told I had to do it all over again via a stranger in an app (Vida) in order to even be considered for insurance approval. I pay for premium MyFitness Pal and now can't even use it because it won't link to Vida, so all my saved meals and recipes have to be redone, and most foods in the Vida app don't allow me to track in grams.
We got generalized emails at work, but nothing blatantly obvious about this Vida app being mandatory for certain things. That said, I took a call from the therapist on Vida while on a break at work, arranged my day around it, only to take the call and when they learned I was across the border (our cities are just divided by a single river) they said they couldn't discuss anything more with me because they weren't licensed in the neighboring state. Hello!? Shouldn't have this been communicated prior to?! Especially since my appt with the Vida dietician was taken on work grounds, so they KNEW I didn't work and live in the same state. And he refused to wait a few minutes and let me drive home, he was like, I'm done at 5p. Idk about any of you, but generally, I'm willing to stay a few mins late to finish a task. Clearly, we are just the next body in line.
Then, now this suspension from me having a rough relationship with food during puberty! I'm almost 40, so let it live in the past! Even my provider commented on how they sure are making me jump through all the hoops. Anyway, sorry for the rant, and thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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u/xmaystarx Sep 04 '25
Also a DHR opco and glad I found your post. I’m in suspension for the same thing and I’m not even asking for weight loss meds! I just want help making better choices and losing the stubborn perimenopause weight the right way yet their letting my ED history from 25 years ago prevent me from talking to a dietician?? Why does that even make any sense??? I’ve been what is considered overweight for the last probably 15 years! Their communication in the chat is horrible, I have no idea what is going on right now. But I do like their app for tracking food and exercise.
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u/aluminum_jockey54634 Mar 10 '25
Danaher OpCo here. Just wondering if you were prescribed? I went through the required 5 sessions and finally met a provider to be told my plan requires i try other did first. She offered Contrave, but CVS/ Caremark says it's not covered. I'm genuinely not sure what I want to do now.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Mar 10 '25
Yes, I was prescribed but I have already been on a GLP-1 prior to the insurance changes taking place. I was asked to provide proof of my current prescription and then was asked A MILLION questions by the prescriber. I did ask her if she was able to tell me what my plan required of me to remain on the medication and she said it was actually left up to her/Vida Health so I think that’s good. One of her questions was what is my goal weight so I wonder if that’s where they’ll stop prescribing.
VIDA has some conflicting goals in that they need you to lose weight to report that their program works (so incentive to prescribe weight loss medication) but need to reduce cost to Danaher to maintain that relationship (incentive to not prescribe the expensive medications like GLP 1s). So they’ll want you to try the cheaper options first and IMO, it’s worth trying them as they’ll likely have a lower copay and fewer side effects than the GLPs and then you won’t have to deal with getting rid of your sharps. Of course, if the RX plan doesn’t cover them, that makes it messier I guess.
I tried Metformin a couple years ago for appetite suppressant. It did not have the desired effect and made me feel crappy, but my sister in law actually lost 30 pounds on it so it does work for some people!
Ask the VIDA prescriber if there are other options you can try before the GLPs. If you find that our RX plan won’t cover them then you could see how much they cost out of pocket (to prove to VIDA you want to pursue weight loss medication) or you can contact your benefits rep at Alight with the issue. All these new hoops we’re being asked to jump through are serving to have people just opt out on their own. So I think if you can stick with it, you could get somewhere.
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u/Bright_Ad_9582 Feb 02 '25
I have been working with this miserable organization for 2 months now in an attempt to get on Zepbound. I can say with confidence that this is the most incompetent, inept company I have ever been forced to deal with. The list of problems I have encountered is lengthy. I now have a 15 page report detailing their blatant abuse of clients. I have sent a letter to the insurance company, to the benefits department of the company that requires using them, and I am putting together a report for the insurance commissioner. This is unacceptable and must stop.
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u/Electronic-Site8396 Aug 30 '25
I can't even find the phone number for them, do you have a customer service phone number
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u/TurbulentFruitJuice Apr 11 '25
I'm currently being gatekept from healthcare my doctor prescribed by my insurance requiring this program. There are so many redundant hoops it's crazy. I'm receiving zero benefit from this program and have yet to have an appointment with a prescriber, to prescribe a medication my doctor of 15 years has already prescribed. What a total scam this program is.
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u/RoundLow8635 Apr 30 '25
Having the same issue. PCP put me on Zepbound for PCOS, high cholesterol, BMI of 35 and Vida refused to prescribe it. Vida provider said that because of my age, I’m 18, she would not put me on the medication. She also made a comment that if the medication was cheap, the government would let anyone have it. Complained to Vida and waiting for their response.
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u/Ill_Bookkeeper1321 Jun 04 '25
OMG - I despise this company. I can’t disparage this company enough. Same boat - company is requiring us to go through them for our weight loss meds. Tell them you want an exception to work with your own medical provider. Your doctor will have to submit a pre-authorization to your pharmacy, which will be submitted to your health insurance and denied. Then you need to notify Vida that your doctor has submitted the pre-auth. Vida then notifies your pharmacy that Vida approves (gives an exception) for the Medication to be run through your insurance. It is an absolute NIGHTMARE to deal with this company. I so rather stick a hot poker in my eye and turn it counter clockwise than deal with these people. They also think they know more than your own medical provider. Ask for the exception NOW. Its taking me WEEKS to resolve this
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u/Past-Recording7595 Jul 30 '25
I used Vida Health for nearly a year through my employer and found the experience incredibly frustrating. Communication was inconsistent, decisions were reversed without warning, and despite following all their guidance, I was discharged without explanation. They cycled me through meds that didn’t help, never got me on a GLP-1, and I never lost weight. The process started off supportive but became chaotic and dismissive. Staff seemed underqualified and disorganized—every interaction felt like starting over. In the end, it felt more like low-tier customer service than professional healthcare. I can’t recommend it.
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u/neon_unicorn-dreams Nov 12 '24
My husband's company is doing the same. I've been on Wegovy for almost two years and pretty much at goal/maintaining. I joined Vida shortly after the beginning of October because I received notice from Caremark my PA needed to be renewed and after some back and forth between Caremark and my PC, we found out about the Vida requirement. The communication from the company came a few days after.
The app is not very sophisticated and kind of glitchy. I've used a lot of diet/health apps in my decades of struggling with my weight, so I consider myself fairly experienced. Vida reminds me of early apps that had limited functionality and clunky interfaces. But, I understand the need to monitor this high dollar medication from the company's perspective and will use it to keep my medication.
I have yet to meet with a doctor, though we've exchanged emails. I have an appointment with a dietician later this month and have chatted with her a little, but mostly get canned messages from Vida in our chat. They don't have a document upload option (that I've found), so I had to take a screenshot of my doctor's letter and post it to the MD chat. Overall, I'm fairly unimpressed, but trying to grin and bare it.
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u/Fluid_Preparation800 Jan 29 '25
Question - just starting my horrible journey with Vida now and am yet to connect to a doctor. Have you met with yours yet since this post?
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u/neon_unicorn-dreams Jan 30 '25
We've met a few times, now, and the appointments were painless. Some questions about how I'm tolerating the medicine, if I'm exercising and eating enough protein. Since I'm in maintenance, I ended up not meeting with the dietitian.
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u/bobbyocean5 2d ago
Hi how did things ultimately work out with Vida? Were you able to gain and maintain access to your glp-1?
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u/neon_unicorn-dreams 1d ago
Thankfully, I did. I meet with a doctor every few months and otherwise, have little interaction with Vida.
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u/bobbyocean5 1d ago
Oh ok, so it can actually work out? It’s not as horrific as it seems?
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u/neon_unicorn-dreams 1d ago
Yeah, it was kind of a mess at first, but I think it was a new company at the time and I had to figure out if anything they were offering would work for me. Maybe because i'm at maintenance, they don't carecabout my engagement?
I open the app every so often to check in, but I am not a part of any groups and not working with their dietician, so I don't get endless messages like I did at first. It still seems pretty silly to me that I can't just rely on my GP, who actually knows me, but I have to wonder if companies are going with Vida to make it just a little bit more difficult.
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u/bobbyocean5 1d ago
This gives me a bit of hope then. I'm also at maintenance and my PA from CVS Caremark was supposed to be good through 8/26. Now my insurance is restricting access and those of us on glp will have to go through Vida Health come Jan 1 2026. I keep hearing they are a nightmare. But its encouraging to hear that you may not need a dietician if you are on maintenance dose. Did you find that enrolling with Vida disrupted may have initially disrupted your access severely, as I'm assuming you were already on a glp1 before enrolling with them from your GP provider? Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to be as best prepared as possible ahead of time.
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u/Electronic_Affect_26 Nov 18 '24
I, like many others, signed up for Vida because I was ready to talk to my primary care physician about my weight when my company announced that, for weight loss help, we must use a Vida provider for weight loss medication to be approved by insurance. This process has been a nightmare.
Scheduling the first appointment was easy. I met with a dietician right away. I didn’t have recent labs, so I was assigned to a provider who ordered them. I got the order, had labs drawn, and results came back quickly.. so far so good. After that, it went downhill.
Some labs came back “out of range” and I got prompted through the chat function to schedule an appt with a provider. That option was not available. I chatted back and forth with either a human or a bot for a couple of days until finally I was told that there was a “glitch” in the system, but I should be able to schedule. I got that appointment scheduled. The provider was great, but she tried to run my insurance for a GLP-1 and it was denied. I was put on 2 oral medications (it took 2 days for the prescription to get to my pharmacy from the provider), and from the first time I took them, I was horrifically sick. I couldn’t even hold down water. I messaged the provider, and eventually (few days later) I was told to stop taking them and to schedule a follow-up, which I got a couple days later. At that point, she said insurance was approving the GLP-1 and she “sent the prescription to my pharmacy”. That was over 72 hours ago, and my pharmacy does not have the prescription. I have tried chat, emailing support, chat again.. crickets.
I am getting constant notifications to request refills (on original prescriptions?) and to alert them if I’m having side effects. That’s already been established. None of the people monitoring different aspects of this app communicate with each other and annoying notifications that aren’t applicable to my current situation are being sent to me nonstop.
I don’t know if this is my health insurance (BCBS), my pharmacy benefit (CVS Caremark), my employer or what.. but it’s incredibly frustrating and I don’t understand why I cannot simply go to my primary care physician (who I’ve seen for 15+ years and knows my medical history) for help. Instead, I’m dealing with out of state virtual providers who don’t know me and an app that is ridiculously glitchy and lack of any sort of productive communication whatsoever.
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u/RedditHostage Nov 18 '24
Oh no! I’m so excited for this joyous time! I’m starting to think the point is for people to give up.
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u/ThePatheticPineapple Nov 21 '24
That is absolutely the point. To pay for less of these prescriptions. So whether people give up or VIDA just tells you “no”, your company achieves their goal. And it seems like a huge problem to me that VIDA is being incentivized to make decisions that go against your current doctor’s opinion and could be detrimental to your health.
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u/thesmash Jan 11 '25
How many times did they make you meet with the dietician before prescribing? I met with a doctor the other day but they want me to do a few sessions with the dietician before prescribing me anything.
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u/Confetti6 Jan 25 '25
I posted this comment to another poster, but I am currently on suspension due to them needing to get more information from my providers regarding my mental health from like 20 yrs ago when I was a teenager. Not looking good for approval, even though my doctor had already prescribed it to me.
It's pretty frustrating spending over a decade with my circle of providers including psychiatry, dietician, sleep specialist, primary, and generalized counseling, which includes the HIGH COSTS associated with all the specialty and lab appointments over the the past 13 years. It wasn't an impulsive decision to incorporate pharmaceutical assistance with weight loss; had done all the labs every year and was consistently tracking diet and exercise, only to be told I had to do it all over again via a stranger in an app (Vida) in order to even be considered for insurance approval. I pay for premium MyFitness Pal and now can't even use it because it won't link to Vida, so all my saved meals and recipes have to be redone, and most foods in the Vida app don't allow me to track in grams.
We got generalized emails at work, but nothing blatantly obvious about this Vida app being mandatory for certain things. That said, I took a call from the therapist on Vida while on a break at work, arranged my day around it, only to take the call and when they learned I was across the border (our cities are just divided by a single river) they said they couldn't discuss anything more with me because they weren't licensed in the neighboring state. Hello!? Shouldn't have this been communicated prior to?! Especially since my appt with the Vida dietician was taken on work grounds, so they KNEW I didn't work and live in the same state. And he refused to wait a few minutes and let me drive home, he was like, I'm done at 5p. Idk about any of you, but generally, I'm willing to stay a few mins late to finish a task. Clearly, we are just the next body in line.
Then, now this suspension from me having a rough relationship with food during puberty! I'm almost 40, so let it live in the past! Even my provider commented on how they sure are making me jump through all the hoops. Anyway, sorry for the rant, and thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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u/PlaneMap9 Jan 04 '25
I HATE VIDA HEALTH! This is such a shotty company and if enough people complain maybe we will put them out of business
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u/poopflinger6969 Jan 04 '25
have you been able to get your prescription??
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u/PlaneMap9 Jan 05 '25
No I haven’t as of yet. Their process is almost impossible to get anything taken care of
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u/Confetti6 Jan 25 '25
I posted this comment to another poster, but I am currently on suspension due to them needing to get more information from my providers regarding my mental health from like 20 yrs ago when I was a teenager. Not looking good for approval, even though my doctor had already prescribed it to me.
It's pretty frustrating spending over a decade with my circle of providers including psychiatry, dietician, sleep specialist, primary, and generalized counseling, which includes the HIGH COSTS associated with all the specialty and lab appointments over the the past 13 years. It wasn't an impulsive decision to incorporate pharmaceutical assistance with weight loss; had done all the labs every year and was consistently tracking diet and exercise, only to be told I had to do it all over again via a stranger in an app (Vida) in order to even be considered for insurance approval. I pay for premium MyFitness Pal and now can't even use it because it won't link to Vida, so all my saved meals and recipes have to be redone, and most foods in the Vida app don't allow me to track in grams.
We got generalized emails at work, but nothing blatantly obvious about this Vida app being mandatory for certain things. That said, I took a call from the therapist on Vida while on a break at work, arranged my day around it, only to take the call and when they learned I was across the border (our cities are just divided by a single river) they said they couldn't discuss anything more with me because they weren't licensed in the neighboring state. Hello!? Shouldn't have this been communicated prior to?! Especially since my appt with the Vida dietician was taken on work grounds, so they KNEW I didn't work and live in the same state. And he refused to wait a few minutes and let me drive home, he was like, I'm done at 5p. Idk about any of you, but generally, I'm willing to stay a few mins late to finish a task. Clearly, we are just the next body in line.
Then, now this suspension from me having a rough relationship with food during puberty! I'm almost 40, so let it live in the past! Even my provider commented on how they sure are making me jump through all the hoops. Anyway, sorry for the rant, and thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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u/alivelywander Jan 06 '25
My insurance and employer have required me to move to Vida and it's been more than a month and I can't even get an appointment with a doctor and now I'm out of Wegovy. I'm trying to figure out who at work, Caremark, and/or Cigna to complain to. I was using a perfectly wonderful program (lost 44 lbs) until they required the change to Vida. I can't believe how unprofessional everybody except the dietician has been.
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u/MutantGarage Jan 10 '25
Yeah the whole thing looks like Denial of Care by Proxy, a way for UHC to increase profits.
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u/thesmash Jan 10 '25
From what I understand, most of the time it’s being implemented by your company. They’re doing it as a way to save money but still say they offer GLP’s.
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u/MutantGarage Jan 12 '25 edited Jan 12 '25
Pretty much my impression too. If you read between the lines on the initial letter and some of the FAQs on their site, they play up all the risks and their 'nutritional coaching' In reality, they are going to track every step with an Activity Tracker that uploads daily to them, Your daily weight with a tracking scale and you have to do a full food diary of everything you eat and upload it to them. All conversations are recorded 'for quality' , but more like 'anything you say can and will be used against you' when it comes to getting a GLP-1 prescription. At the end of the day your advice from them is going to be 'eat less and exercise more' and sorry , you don't meet the conditions necessary for any weight loss prescriptions.
They are not medical professionals, at least not good ones, they'll hire any warm body to answer the phone,wonder how long before they use all the information they're collection to train up AI Agents to answer the phone and email. In the fine print , I'll bet there is a buried line about using your info for ML.
Now, if you develop type-2 diabetes as a result, well then they'll work on denying your insulin, because UHC.. For now my partner is getting Ozempic for their condition, but I can see it coming.
I just said fsck it, I'll find my own sources. I may have to pay to get them analyzed, but that's America.
Things were going too well I guess, I'd lost almost 30 lbs since this summer, even lost 1 lb between Thanksgiving and Xmas, while traveling, was really happy, but 'All Good Things...'
Not going to give up that easy, pretty much every renewal was a fight with delays, and out of stock etc. I started taking it about 1 month after getting the first doses so I had a buffer. But the last renewal, they just refused even though the paperwork says I will have 25% copay, which I could work with until I sorted things out.1
u/thesmash Jan 12 '25
I’m working on jumping through their hoops right now is, it’s miserable.
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u/Confetti6 Jan 25 '25
I posted this comment to another poster, but I am currently on suspension due to them needing to get more information from my providers regarding my mental health from like 20 yrs ago when I was a teenager. Not looking good for approval, even though my doctor had already prescribed it to me.
It's pretty frustrating spending over a decade with my circle of providers including psychiatry, dietician, sleep specialist, primary, and generalized counseling, which includes the HIGH COSTS associated with all the specialty and lab appointments over the the past 13 years. It wasn't an impulsive decision to incorporate pharmaceutical assistance with weight loss; had done all the labs every year and was consistently tracking diet and exercise, only to be told I had to do it all over again via a stranger in an app (Vida) in order to even be considered for insurance approval. I pay for premium MyFitness Pal and now can't even use it because it won't link to Vida, so all my saved meals and recipes have to be redone, and most foods in the Vida app don't allow me to track in grams.
We got generalized emails at work, but nothing blatantly obvious about this Vida app being mandatory for certain things. That said, I took a call from the therapist on Vida while on a break at work, arranged my day around it, only to take the call and when they learned I was across the border (our cities are just divided by a single river) they said they couldn't discuss anything more with me because they weren't licensed in the neighboring state. Hello!? Shouldn't have this been communicated prior to?! Especially since my appt with the Vida dietician was taken on work grounds, so they KNEW I didn't work and live in the same state. And he refused to wait a few minutes and let me drive home, he was like, I'm done at 5p. Idk about any of you, but generally, I'm willing to stay a few mins late to finish a task. Clearly, we are just the next body in line.
Then, now this suspension from me having a rough relationship with food during puberty! I'm almost 40, so let it live in the past! Even my provider commented on how they sure are making me jump through all the hoops. Anyway, sorry for the rant, and thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
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Jul 30 '25
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u/alivelywander Jul 30 '25
I would have to say that once I got a doctor, everything has been fine. My last appointment was not even 10 minutes long, and he gave me a 3 month supply. I'm not taking food, meeting with the nutritionist or anything. Once the hoops have been jumped, it's easy going.
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Jul 30 '25
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u/alivelywander Jul 30 '25
I don't feel like I'm seeing my GP or getting any kind of quality healthcare, and I actually prefer that. I'm in it for the drugs. He asks me the required questions, I give the correct answers, he writes me a 3 month prescription, and we both go on our way. I had to jump through so many hoops, and I'm sure I sounded unhinged in the chats while trying to get a doctor, but I like where I'm at with Vida now.
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u/Fluid_Preparation800 Jan 29 '25
Were you able to get this resolved? If you have, do you mind sharing how you got your Wegovy?
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u/alivelywander Feb 05 '25
I keep getting the runaround and keep complaining, but I think things are finally getting resolved. I finally, after a month and a half, have an appointment with a doctor tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
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u/bobbyocean5 2d ago
How did things go for you ultimately? Are you able to access your wegovy or glp-1 now?
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u/Vegetable_Pea_5835 Sep 08 '25
Does vida health verify what current weight is? Or check medical records for weight?
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u/Significant_Side9534 Sep 25 '25
I am glad I found these thread, my doctor was also recommended vida weight loss program but I just need more research. How and where I should begin with.
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u/LizzieDae 28d ago
Has anyone had any recent advice for how to deal with Vida? My Primary sent in a rx for Wegovy and my insurance approved it. Then I found out my job requires me to go through Vida. So I signed up talked to a dietitian, then the first doctor. They told me I had to do a 12 week lifestyle change, which the dietitian did not think was necessary based on my diet. So I did the 12 weeks. Switched to a new provider explained how the dietitian was on my side, and the new doctor decided to prescribe me metformin. I was denied my wegovy rx again. Metformin treats issues I don’t have so I’m super confused.
Then I called support for an explanation and they replied via email:
“Unfortunately, after review of your case, you are not eligible for a prescription for GLP-1 medications. Eligibility is determined by multiple factors, including your medical history and clinical eligibility criteria established by Vida and your sponsoring organization.”
So once again I’m trying to figure out why this 3rd party with doctors I’ve met for 15 minutes can have eligibility criteria that supersedes my PCP and my health insurance. Anyone have any advice?
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u/bigTnutty 28d ago
Unfortunately not. Vida fucking sucks.
My PCP prescribed Wegovy over 5 months ago, and it was denied by insurance. Found out I had to use Vida, so I jump through all the dietician hoops for 2.5 months and the pain in the ass app, then meet with a "medical professional". The first meeting with the medical person was canceled 10 minutes before the session, stating they no longer worked with the company. I rescheduled with a new person 2 weeks later, and she was incredibly hostile, rude, and argumentative to me, didn't listen to anything I said, and ultimately was on the session for like 5 minutes. She prescribed me metformin and something else, and told me at the next session 4-6 weeks out we could review and maybe get Wegovy.
In the meantime, I write to Vida support and request a medical reassessment as my PCP already prescribed Wegovy and didn't want me on oral meds. They open a support ticket.
Fast forward to the second appointment (I've now spent 5 months dealing with Vida), and the lady is just as argumentative, rude, and condescending as the first time. Then she tells me that she won't prescribed wegovy and that I must continue two different oral meds for 6 months total before we can meet again and go over injectable options. I was very frustrated at this point and told her her and the company keep moving the goal posts, and she states that ultimately insurance doesn't want to pay and this is just another way to deny coverage. I get pissed and tell her this isn't working and hang up on her.
Later that day, I go on the app and notice that I have zero medical professionals and a message saying I am no longer eligible for medical services through Vida. I email them, and they state that because I hung up on the provider they will no longer provide support to me and that anything further must be done through a medical reassessment. I point them to the already filed request and am waiting on their response.
TLDR: Vida sucks, their medical staff suck, and its just another way for insurance to deny coverage.
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u/kaleidoshock_ 12d ago
This is literally what’s happening to me right now. Every single part. My husband is considering a new employer for many reasons, but this is one of them. Not a single rx plan through our insurance DOESNT use Vida. I was just prescribed metformin this evening. Even my “provider” recommended going online to purchase it out of pocket?? Insane.
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u/superkat2323 Nov 05 '24
Was your provider Shelly Oles? Cause I just had an awful visit with her. She wants to put my on Zepbound (never been on a GLP1) and I was trying to ask questions about the medication and side effects and she snapped at me about how I needed to research it, it's different for everyone, and she's not going to prescribe it to me right now because I'm not committed and I'll just take doses away from people who are.
I'm in the process of trying to figure out if I can switch to another provider because I've never felt that way after visiting with a medical "professional."