Hey Lap Band Landers! I have a surgery date, Aug 22, but I first have to jump through all of my ins. company's hoops. I have to have either hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or sleep apnea for Aetna to cover my surgery 100%, and I am terribly afraid that I have none of those things. I don't have hypertension, my blood tests for T2D is next week, and I am currently doing an at home sleep study, which is obviously not going well because I'm totally stressing out HOPING I have sleep apnea (sick right?). I am in generally good health despite having a BMI of 41. If I don't pass...or fail, whichever is better for Aetna...and can not get LB through ins., I am going to be crushed.

Sigh............sorry guys, I'm just venting. )

Yeah that is sick to want comorbidities.

If your BMI is over 40 you should qualify even without any comorbid conditions. Double check the guidelines and you may find you are stressing over nothing. Best of luck to you

Hey Lap Band Landers! I have a surgery date, Aug 22, but I first have to jump through all of my ins. company's hoops. I have to have either hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or sleep apnea for Aetna to cover my surgery 100%, and I am terribly afraid that I have none of those things. I don't have hypertension, my blood tests for T2D is next week, and I am currently doing an at home sleep study, which is obviously not going well because I'm totally stressing out HOPING I have sleep apnea (sick right?). I am in generally good health despite having a BMI of 41. If I don't pass...or fail, whichever is better for Aetna...and can not get LB through ins., I am going to be crushed.

Sigh............sorry guys, I'm just venting. )

Stay on your back during the sleep study..............much sleep apnea is positional.

Been there! With the sleep apnea. I was convinced I did not have it. And my test, they didn't wake me to put me on CPAP. So I thought I had proved the experts wrong. But I do have it.

It's weird but I love my CPAP machine! Every since I've gotten it, my sleep health is so much better. SO MUCH BETTER. I hope that someday I don't have to use it anymore but it has been a God send. My machine is super quiet too which was surprising.

I just had my 12 week post op follow up with my GP. It was also our 1st anniversay since i sheeplishly walked into her office to inquire about bariatric surgery. I went through a lot of tests(A LOT OF TESTS!) the past year until 9 months later, I finally had surgery. So I understand about all the testing. But my was not entirely insurance based. But I am glad now that it took so long to get to surgery because I went in good health, 40 lb lighter and all that made surgery and recovery so much better. My GP remarked how i didn't give up after all the tests (and 1 parathyroidectomy). It was all necessary.

Don't get discouraged. Listen to your team of doctors. They are the experts. The time will go quickly.

Good luck.

PS: I used to have Aetna until my company switched to Blue Cross. My Aetna insurance was one of the reasons I didn't pursue lap band earily. "Crappy Aetna" is what I used ot call them so I understand....I totally understand...

Hey Lap Band Landers! I have a surgery date, Aug 22, but I first have to jump through all of my ins. company's hoops. I have to have either hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or sleep apnea for Aetna to cover my surgery 100%, and I am terribly afraid that I have none of those things. I don't have hypertension, my blood tests for T2D is next week, and I am currently doing an at home sleep study, which is obviously not going well because I'm totally stressing out HOPING I have sleep apnea (sick right?). I am in generally good health despite having a BMI of 41. If I don't pass...or fail, whichever is better for Aetna...and can not get LB through ins., I am going to be crushed.

Sigh............sorry guys, I'm just venting. )

the minute that my dr said that I had hypertension I immediately started the process for the bad. All I need was a comorbity. so I understand.

I have aetna and I do believe with a bmi over 40 you should qualify. I had many comorbidities, so it wasn't an issue for me, but definately recheck the requirements Good luck to you.

Hey Lap Band Landers! I have a surgery date, Aug 22, but I first have to jump through all of my ins. company's hoops. I have to have either hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or sleep apnea for Aetna to cover my surgery 100%, and I am terribly afraid that I have none of those things. I don't have hypertension, my blood tests for T2D is next week, and I am currently doing an at home sleep study, which is obviously not going well because I'm totally stressing out HOPING I have sleep apnea (sick right?). I am in generally good health despite having a BMI of 41. If I don't pass...or fail, whichever is better for Aetna...and can not get LB through ins., I am going to be crushed.

Sigh............sorry guys, I'm just venting. )

I understand where you are coming from! My insurance had an exclusion for WLS, so I was on my own. The place where I went has a great cash price with 1 year of free fills at $9,900, but that was still a little too much for my budget. If I had a hiatal hernia I would only have to pay for the price of the actual band which was $5,500. I figured I had one because I started getting horrible heartburn out of nowhere everyday (that's one of the symptoms of a hiatal hernia). Turns out I did have one (thank God)! No, you are not crazy for wanting a co-morbidity if it means that you won't have to pay a dime for this amazing procedure, plus once you get it the sleep apnea should resolve itself, correct? If you don't have it hopefully they will be able to cover something (unlike my insurance ).

You're totally not nuts.

My husband thought I might have sleep apnea, so I went for a sleep study and it turns out I do have severe sleep apnea. I was thrilled! It meant I could actually DO something about my fatigue and it also qualified me for the lap band surgery.

A couple of suggestions for you...

1. sleep on your back. position during sleep definitely matters

2. Can you get a true monitored sleep study? It wasn't too big a deal -- they stick wires to you and you just sleep in a mock-hotel room. Much easier than trying to do all that at home...

Good luck!

I'm glad I don't have sleep apnea! My fiance was just diagnosed and his CPAP drives me crazy....it's so loud I want to throw it out the window!

I do believe that Aetna should cover you with just having a BMI of 40 or more. I think you have to have comorbidities when your BMI is between 35-40. I have Aetna too and so does my BFF and she is already banded...she had a BMI over 40 without comorbidities and they covered her. Good luck

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words!! I am so relieved that I am not alone. My next appt with my doc is on May 9th so I am hoping to have the sleep study results back by that time. If they tell me that I do not have sleep apnea, then I will contact Aetna to find out if I could, in fact, qualify for the band with just my BMI.

THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYONE. You have no idea how much you all have eased my mind.

P.S. Good luck to you all on your weight loss journeys.

Nope, not crazy at all - I, too, have Aetna and since my BMI is "only" 36 I need a co-morbidity. My husband swears I have sleep apnea so I have already made an appt with the sleep disorders doctor and am praying that I do have it so Aetna will cover the surgery!

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words!! I am so relieved that I am not alone. My next appt with my doc is on May 9th so I am hoping to have the sleep study results back by that time. If they tell me that I do not have sleep apnea, then I will contact Aetna to find out if I could, in fact, qualify for the band with just my BMI.

THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYONE. You have no idea how much you all have eased my mind.

P.S. Good luck to you all on your weight loss journeys.