violeteyes37

I know what you mean. I havent even been scheduled yet and have been going crazy with eating everything I can think of. Tonight I plan on going to a Chinese Buffet, which is my favorite. The problem is, since I dont have a date yet and have been told that it probably wont be until June, if I keep this up im going to gain alot more weight. Im looking forward to doing my preop diet so that I can stop this maddness:hungry:

Im in Columbus Ohio and Im using the Barix Clinic. Though I have not had my surgery yet, I have gotten my approval through UHC and what I have to pay is the maxium out of pocket deductible which is payable at the time I have my pre op. The only cost up front was my office deductible of 30. Not sure how far away you are but you may want to contact them. Their # is 1 800 282 0066. As has already been stated it makes since if this cost is going to be for pre op and will be coming off of what you have to pay anyway. But im still not sure if I would want to pay it upfront before you even get approval from the insurance.

Thanks for the info. I have UHC and though I have my approval I havent had surgery yet. So this makes me nervous as to if something could happen prior to getting the surgery done. I will definatly be checking further into this. I hope the issue is resolved soon. :nervous

Yes, I finally got approved. I guess when I think about it my wait has not been as long as some. Right now Im just waiting to hear back from scheduling for a date and to do pre op and diet if it is required.

That is crazy. I think they are intentionally messing up claims. It took me about 3 weeks before I got a hold of someone who admitted that they had done something incorrect to my claim and fixed the problem. You know what? I was thinking I looked at your other post and noticed your BMI was not 40 or over. It seems that once you get to 40 it makes it medically necessary. Just a thought but how much would you have to gain to get to 40? About a month prior to my consult I ate anything and everything just to make sure. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do:biggrin1: But I realize that there is always still the chance that you could gain the weight and still be denied.

spectacularone You would think that UHC could give you this info but its obvious that they cant. I think its their way of giving you the run around so that you give up. From what I understand, your benefits handbook or benfits rep at the company should beable to tell you what the requirements are. I also had the option of asking some people at work what they had to go thru to be approved. Luckly for me the only requirements were a BMI of 35 with co- morbidties or a BMI of 40. I happen to have a BMI of 42.9 and high blood pressure, though it is currently untreated.

I called the phone number that you had given in one of your post. I think I was just lucky this time to get someone who was willing to do their job.

Hello everyone, This is my first time posting to this board but I have been lurking and reading all of the post for about a month now, especially post that have to do with UHC. I also have UHC Choice Plus and have been awaiting approval. Im finally posting now because I have finally been APPROVED!!! and I just wanted to share my journey with everyone that is still waiting. Here goes... 2/23/07 Consultation with Barix Clinics 3/8/07 Information submitted to UHC 3/14/07 Called to be told that it was in review 3/23/07 Called again to be told that it was still in review and that they had to request more info from the Dr and that the dr had sent the info requested. Thought this sounded suspious so I called the dr who said they had not heard from the insurance company and had not been asked to send anymore info. So at this point the dr checked the UHC website and found that they had my claim listed as being denied because of no coverage which is not the case so she called them and was told that they didnt know why it was saying that the claim had been denied when it was still pending and to check back 3/29/07 I called again to find out that something had been entered incorrect and that it would be fixed and escalated to a supervisor. A couple of hours later I received a phone call from UHC to say that it had been approved and the letters were mailed to myself and the dr. And that they will be checking back with me after the surgery to see how things were going. So I justed wanted to share my experience to give everyone who is still waiting hope that though things seem crazy it is going to be ok. I guess it just takes longer for some of us to get our approval. :clap2: