I was originally given a surgery date of March 8th but all of my pre-surgery appts. were not done and I was told that it would take my insurance company (GHI) from 60-70 days to review and hopefully approve my case.

I submitted all of my paperwork on 3/16/10 that was 68 days ago today. I went on vacation last week and had every hope that when I got back I would have a message waiting on my phone telling me that I had been approved and I needed to call to set up a surgery date and start my pre-op diet. Well that didn't happen.

I called the surgeons office today and spoke to the admin.assistant who up to this time has been rather cold. I was told that they had to resubmit my paperwork last week because GHI says they never received them. If I hadn't called today I would never have known that and would still be waiting like a dummy.

I broke down crying. I'm crying now as I type this. I'm not a cryer but I feel so helpless. My weight is climbing steadily and I feel ugly and I am dreading the Summer.

I guess my tears made the formerly cold asst. feel bad because she said she would call GHI next week to try to rush them through.

I'm now looking at another 60-70 days to finally get word.

I don't know what I'm asking or needing with this thread but does anyone have experience with this? I guess I just needed to vent.

Do you think I should try to find another surgeon?

I'm in NY. The surgeon is Dr. Gorecki at NY Methodist . My insurance is BC/BS - GHI.

Please don't suggest I call the insurance co. that's like trying to reach Obama at the White House. I feel like giving up maybe doing the HCG diet or something else.

Sorry for the long post. I just feel so helpless and defeated.

Thanx in advance , Dee

Hello I am so sorry you are going through that sounds dreadful I know how you must feel right now, you know why don't you try dr.geiss he is in syosset hes really good!

Thank you for all of your responses, for some reason I stopped being notified that there are replies to my thread.

Well anyway, I'm still in the same spot.

The surgeon did call me early one morning to get my side of the story and I told him . I was impressed that he called me himself but I really did not get any resolve. He told me what we all know that insurance companies can be very unreliable and all that. He said that he would talk to his secretary and she would call me back. I'm still waiting for that call.

I called my insurance company again and I was told they had nothing on file for me. I called the Dr's office again and I told the program coordinator the whole situation she too told me she would check and call me within the hour ...you know I'm still waiting for that call too.

I finally asked my Hubby to call them. He is the Director of a large NYC dept. so with that and maybe hearing a man's voice would put a fire under them . Well she did give him a long story about how they sent my papers in on 3/20 to the address that was on the back of the card...can you believe that like they don't know where to send claims.

To tell you the truth, remember I said when I submitted my papers the secretary was really cold to me. My gut tells me that she just put them aside and forgot about them and didn't submit them until I called .

I will call the insurance company tomorrow again and ask if they have a bariatric claims dept. and see what I can find from there.

Yeah, I was hoping that I would be on the lap band wagon for the Summer so that I could lose some and not feel so ashamed but I know now that whether I find a new surgeon or not that won't happen so tomorrow I'm starting the fat flush smoothie shakedown. I did it a couple of weeks ago and I lost 11 lbs in about 5 days. I would love to lose some good weight before my surgery anyway.

Thank you for all of your tips and suggestions.

Dee

Edited May 30, 201016 yr by msdv

Hang in there. It will happen eventually. It will be worth the wait (weight) LOL

i know what you are going thru. i started this process last august and am being banded on june 28th -- almost a year later!!!! i'm having surgery done at columbia-presbyterian in nyc. they have a metabolic weight loss center. they will provide you with names of providers (nutritionists, psych eval, etc.) so they are very helpful in that way. my ins required 6 months of weighins and i didn't know that until september so i didn't have my last weigh in until feb. it was my primary caretaker on long island that was so difficult about writing a letter for me and i battled with them to get all i needed in a timely fashion. once i had all my paperwork and test results together and sent to columbia it was sent to ins co immediately and i was approved in less than 2 weeks. getting an appt with surgeon (dr marc bessler) was what took so long-- couldn't get an appt until may -- but did get the june date for banding. whew -- that was a long winded story.!!

what i really want to tell you is that i too was getting depressed throughout this long process. i too kept gaining weight. but now that the end is in sight, i have been motivated enough to drop 11 lbs so far( without starting liquid diet) and i am nervous and excited about the surgery. i see a therapist weekly to discuss my frustrations and fears and that has also helped me to get to a good place. good luck and be patient. i highly reccoment columbia if you do decide to switch surgeons and facilities.

Update: I took your advice and me & DH started calling the insurance co. ourselves.

They told me this afternoon that I was approved. :biggrin: :thumbup:

I'm so happy but nervous. We'll see how long it takes the surgeons office to call me.

Hopefully , I'll be a July bandster.

Great! I know it was hard work, but when you look back it will have been so worth it! I'm glad it worked out for you.

Thank you so much.

Now, I'm starting to get nervous but in a good way.

Anticipating a great outcome after all this hassle.

i am in my 3 month visits to the surgeon. I was told by the surgeon's office after my last appt. in August as long as i have all my paperwork and visits completed it should only take 2 1/2 weeks for the approval from the insurance company. I have Aetna. Anyone ever have any problems with Aetna?