I got the call today from the surgeons offoce to set up my first consult with dietician, insurance petson and dr. the office lady called back and told me if my ins didnt pay for the first consult o would have to pay for it $217.00 which id no prob. I called bcbs and ask them would they pay she said not until it has b een approved. How can the dr send it in for approval when this will be our first visit. So anything before surgery I will have to pay.

Are you HMO or PPO? I have BCBS HMO in CA. I asked my PCP for a referral. With that, I knew it was covered. It also covered the nutritionist. At first I was denied the referral by the medical group, but I was able to successfully appeal it.

Its a ppo plan the lady said the letter just needed to come from the surgeon. I was like this is my first visit with him hes not going to send the letter iuntil hes knows about me . Its a weird thing to ask for that first. The ins doesnt require that my pcp send a letter. Thank you.

That does sound odd! Well, I'd say if your BMI is 35 or over it shouldn't be a problem to at least have the consult covered. With a PPO you can generally self-refer to a specialist. Keep us posted!

Maybe they won't pay for it because BCBST does not require dietician visits prior to surgery. The only thing I had to do was the Psych visit...and when you do that make sure that you find out from BCBST in advance exactly what testing they require with your policy. With mine I had to do the MMPI-2 and the EDI-2 and EAT-26. Each policy is slightly different depending on if you work for an employer that is self insured. When you call their customer service area they should be able to tell you exactly what is required and hopefully it messes with what your surgeon's office requires.

Good luck with your process.

Thank you for helping me.