Hey everyone...

I have been patiently waiting on a phone call with a surgery date.

Heres my time line

March 23 - Met the DR, talked about which surgery was best for me...Decided on the Lap Band!

March 30 - Had my 5 year weight history faxed to my drs office.

April 4 - Met with nutritionist, got the food for my one week presurgery diet

At my appt on the 23rd, the insurance lady said once the 5 year history was sent to the insurance company, it usually takes 3-4 weeks for a response.

I have called 2-3 times in the last 2 weeks, trying to find out if the records faxed was enough info, I still have not received a return call. Im starting to get aggravated

because they wont return my calls. I have UHC.

How long did it take for anyone else?

Once my info was submitted to the insurance company they approved me within 2 or 3 working days BUT that was after they mandated that I remain in the practice for 6 months before surgery, so. I had no idea any insurance, or any practice, would approve within a month of starting!

Hey everyone...

I have been patiently waiting on a phone call with a surgery date.

Heres my time line

March 23 - Met the DR, talked about which surgery was best for me...Decided on the Lap Band!

March 30 - Had my 5 year weight history faxed to my drs office.

April 4 - Met with nutritionist, got the food for my one week presurgery diet

At my appt on the 23rd, the insurance lady said once the 5 year history was sent to the insurance company, it usually takes 3-4 weeks for a response.

I have called 2-3 times in the last 2 weeks, trying to find out if the records faxed was enough info, I still have not received a return call. Im starting to get aggravated

because they wont return my calls. I have UHC.

How long did it take for anyone else?

Once my info was submitted to the insurance company they approved me within 2 or 3 working days BUT that was after they mandated that I remain in the practice for 6 months before surgery, so. I had no idea any insurance, or any practice, would approve within a month of starting!

I told them I wanted to have my surgery ASAP. So, I said whatever we gotta do, lets do it! They said that I wasnt big enough for a psych eval or a 6 week diet like he would usually require. He just wanted me to do a one week diet, the 7 days prior to the surgery date. The insurance co was only requiring bmi of 40 or no lower than 35 for the last 5 years. The Dr im using said the average patient that comes in for the consultation has their surgery 4-6 afterwards.

BTW, I had an email from the insurance lady this afternoon, and it said she had tried calling me and left 2 voicemails. I know that is not true, because I can check my voicemail online, and I can search up to one year history, and there was no message. Im hoping they just dialed the wrong number and shes not lying..lol

I trust these people. This DR has the highest ratings in this area. I just love him to death, hes great! His name is George Merriman in Shreveport, LA.

Hi ~ I have UHC & started the process in late Dec 2010 & got approval in late Feb 2011, had surgery mid March. I had already completed the 6 month dr supervised diet prior to my 1st consult in Dec (I already knew of that requirement), had to do a psych eval & NUT consult before approval. I had no other health issues but my BMI was high enough to satisfy my insurance requirement. UHC didn't return my phone calls either however the insurance specialist at my doctor's office was really great & would call to check on status every week. She said in her experience, UHC was normally really quick to make a decision once all paperwork was submitted. UHC kept requesting the same paperwork from the doctor saying that they hadn't received something even though the doctor's office said they had turned it in. Anyway, overall I think UHC had some communication issues but I think I got approved fairly quickly.

Just keep calling Good Luck!!

Hi, I'm new and thinking about having the surgery. I go for my first consult on Friday. I also have UHC and they said I didn't have to do the 6 month supervised diet. Are there different UHCs? I was hoping to go for the consult and get approved by my insurance within a couple of weeks, but that doesn't look like its going to happen that way.

Once my info was submitted to the insurance company they approved me within 30min.