Cigna

[Lesley714 4]

How long is this process with Cigna ? I have my psy evaluation tomorrow and I'm nervous and scared to what they will ask as well as my first nutritionist class .. What should I expect ?

[KaranK 22]

Good luck. I also have Cigna I have been working for over 6 months on my prep. Did the supervised diet, got the mental health ok, a letter from my primary care with my co-morbities and his approval. All of that was submitted to Cigna on July 6th. They asked for additional information from my surgeon which was provided over a week ago. I'm sill waiting!

[MiriamE 19]

I also have Cigna..I started the process back in February. I started it with True Results- had the physcial, mental evluation with TR- Cinga required 6 months of nutrionist visits which are really a bit of wast of time. I met with the nutrionist for 10-15 minutes once a month for 3 months, then they called stating Cigna was not going to need anymore nutrionist visits but my surgery had to be done at the Hospital where the Dr. practices. Finally got approved towards the end of July and I'm having my surgery on August 23rd. The process is tedious but well worth it. I like that they are covering 80% so it's only going to cost me out of pocket about 1800.00 overall.

Don't get discouraged, like I said it will be well worth it in the end.

Good Luck

Miriam

[ontherighttrack 13]

I have Cigna and I have now learned that my particular plan with them does not include any bariatrics. (I only wanted a fill, I had already self paid for my lapband). Anyways, before learning that, the office i called made a point of letting me know that Cigna is one of the hardest insurance companies to get approval from. Not trying to be a Debbie downer by saying that, and it may not always be true but just giving my 2 cents. Like everyone says though, it's worth the hoops you have to jump through I would imagine! best of luck to ya!

[Jim1967 3,569]

I have Cigna and was banded in April. I had to undergo a 6 month supervised diet in order to get approval. I was approved in 3 days after submitting. I heard Cigna has recently changed the requirement from 6 month to 3 month.

Also, keep in mind Cigna's coverage may depend on what level of service your employer purchased. Assuming of course it is employer paid Cigna. I definitely recommend to anyone seeking coverage to fully know what they will and will not cover. If you call Cigna and ask for the policy in writing they will send it to you. I got mine via email PDF.

Good Luck!!

[KaranK 22]

Thanks everyone for the support. I do have employer provided insurance and it does cover bariatric surgery if qualified.

[Lesley714 4]

Thanks to all of you for the information! I have Cigna and before I even get to see the bariatric surgeon I have to have a psy evaluation and six sessions with a nutritionist. Then once my doctor has all the papers from the psy evaluation and nutritionist he'll submit everything to my insurance once I complete all of it to see if im approved. I feel like the insurance is doing everything so different and weird! I thought I would see the bariatric first then from there do everything else.

I went for my psy evaluation last week and it was less than 30 minutes. I really thought it would be longer than that.

[Jim1967 3,569]

I didn't meet with my Surgeon until I was two months in. My first appointment was with a Nurse Practitioner Oct 12, 2011 who set up all my testing. Upper GI, stomach ultrasounds, x-rays, EKG, cardiac echo and blood work. Also that day I met with the Nutritionist who set me up with a preop diet plan. They required me to lose 5% of my weight before they would even think about agreeing on a surgery date. I didn't meet with the Surgeon until Dec 13.

[nicolemm 24]

I'm not sure if my plan is different or not but according to my surgeons office Cigna recently (and by recently I think in the last month or two) dropped the six-month waiting period. The insurance/billing woman at my surgeon said she attended a conference where this was announced, apparently bc the six-month waiting period wasn't beneficial to many people.

I have spoken to Cigna about costs, etc. only since I'm still in the process of getting all my pre-op appts done and during that time none of the Cigna reps have mentioned the six month period.

Good luck!

[Lesley714 4]

I'm not sure if my plan is different or not but according to my surgeons office Cigna recently (and by recently I think in the last month or two) dropped the six-month waiting period. The insurance/billing woman at my surgeon said she attended a conference where this was announced' date=' apparently bc the six-month waiting period wasn't beneficial to many people.

I have spoken to Cigna about costs, etc. only since I'm still in the process of getting all my pre-op appts done and during that time none of the Cigna reps have mentioned the six month period.

Good luck![/quote']

Really ? I have Cigna prospect and they haven't mentioned anything about the six or three months. Im going to my nutritional classes but only for six sessions then all my paper work will be submitted. I wonder if I get approved after meeting with the surgeon if the six or three months start from their.

[Jim1967 3,569]

I recommend calling and ask for the policy in writing just to be sure. Last thing you want to do is waste time doing prep work just to find out you need to do the supervised diet. Just my opinion of course.

[nicolemm 24]

I did my first nutrition appointment yesterday and was given a somewhat supervised diet. The nutritionist was very clear that it was not to make me lose weight but to get me on track for after surgery. She also didn't indicate anything about 6 months or even 3.

That said I meet with her again in exactly one month. She mentioned nothing about this being Cigna's policy though.... I think it is just the process my surgeon uses. So we'll see, I have an appt with my surgeon on sept 11th where I expect to get my surgery date. I have had no push-back from Cigna about three or six months so I'm thinking surgery is going to be late October or early Nov.

[KaranK 22]

So, the saga continues. I completed the diet, psych eval, etc. Now they want me to see a nutritionist. The dr office says that this should be the last step. I certainly hope so, I've been working on this since January!

[nicolemm 24]

The nutritionist has been a requirement for me through Cigna since I started. I had my first nutrition appt Monday and go again on sept 27th. Last update i got was that if all goes well I should be having surgery beginning of November which is about 3.5 months since the start