I am so furious right now. I had a hard time getting approved for Lap Band because my insurance company just felt like dragging their feet, but I confirmed that I WAS approved for the surgery before I went under the knife. I just got a letter in the mail stating that my claim was denied because the surgery was not approved beforehand. WTF?

It's most likely a coding issue, where the surgeon's insurance coordinator and billing people sent the claim under the wrong billing code. Take it back to them and ask them to straighten it out. If you had approval beforehand, (and you should have some documented proof of that), they should be able to make it right.

Good luck!

Dave