bombardier

My insurance company requires a 3 month pre-surgical weight loss diet and exercise program. Now that I'm almost halfway through it I'm appreciating the work. I chose Medifast, which pretty much mimics what I'll be able to eat after surgery and the exercise (which I was already doing) just gets me pumped up for the upcoming weight loss that I look forward to post-op. I am supposed to go to two Bariatric Surgery support groups pre-op per my surgeon and now that I've been to one I'd like to continue going after surgery for the support. I also see a therapist every other week and have no desire to stop at any point. She's helping me a great deal with preparing for the upcoming changes. I say that it couldn't hurt you to make some small changes now to mentally prepare yourself.

I only have 2 appointments left before I get my surgery date and my doctor or surgeon hasnt said anything about a supervised diet..is that something I might not have to do for my insurance to cover it since I have sleep Apnea, Urine Incontinuance and Polysistic Ovarian Disease?

You should call your insurance company to find this out. Your surgeon isn't responsible to tell you about that.

Wow! I'm glad I came to this forum. I asked this question elsewhere and got no replies.

My Aetna had it all in print that I could follow a 6 month weight loss plan that was physician supervised or a 3 month pre-surgical weight loss plan that includes a visit with a nutritionist, frequent face to face visits with my PCP, and an exercise plan that is overseen by a qualified individual. I think those are very vague requirements and plan on calling them during lunch on Monday.

I've seen my doctor twice now (lost 5 lbs in the first two weeks!), am following Medifast, saw the nutritionist the other day, and have signed up with a gym and a personal trainer to stay accountable for my exercise. I plan on seeing my doctor every two weeks and I work out six times a week plus a personal trainer once a week not to mention that my Medifast coach is a personal trainer as well. Everything I do, I document. I forgot to document my meals, bu plan on starting that today.

Can anybody comment on the above and what they used to supply to Aetna for approval of these requirements? I want to make sure that my surgery happens in August because I'm tired of being at this weight despite active exercise and trying to moderate my food intake.

Oh yeah, my Aetna requires a center of excellence for the surgery. Thankfully, I'm close to two of those in my area and chose the closest to home.

Congratulations! What a great job! And your time is a very good one!

Congratulations! A 5K is a good start and next year you'll be running that thing! Heck, I still run a 3.8 mile.

So per insurance requirements, I have to be on a pre-surgical diet for 3 months and I chose Take Shape for Life with Medifast and have lost 5 lbs in the first two weeks! I think it's a realistic meal plan considering the small, frequent portions I'll have to eat after surgery. Just curious how many others have chosen this path and what your results look like. Favorite meals?

Hi all. This is my first post and I looked through pages of threads, but didn't find a similar topic.

My insurance company requires a 3 month pre-surgical diet and exercise plan that includes a visit with a dietician, frequent face-to-face visits with my PCP, and exercise overseen by a person trained in the field. The exercise isn't a problem since I work out 6 days a week anyway and I see my doctor every other week... already lost 5 lbs in the first two weeks on Medifast! Just had the dietician visit yesterday.

I'm just hoping to hear that other people got approved after jumping through these hoops and ask what sort of paperwork you submitted to prove you completed each of these sections?

Can anybody help me sort out the details? I still need to call my insurance company to get specifics on what they require for those stipulations, but in the meantime would like to hear from others.

Thanks in advance!